The Circle

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Dion Graham

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A bestselling dystopian novel that tackles surveillance, privacy and the frightening intrusions of technology in our lives—a “compulsively readable parable for the 21st century” (Vanity Fair).

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency.

As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO.

Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.

What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

©2013 Dave Eggers (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A vivid, roaring dissent to the companies that have coaxed us to disgorge every thought and action onto the Web . . . Carries the potential to change how the world views its addicted, compliant thrall to all things digital. If you work in Silicon Valley, or just care about what goes on there, you need to pay attention.” (Dennis K. Berman, The Wall Street Journal)

“The particular charm and power of Eggers’s book . . . could be described as ‘topical’ or ‘timely,’ though those pedestrian words do not nearly capture its imaginative vision . . . Simply a great story, with a fascinating protagonist, sharply drawn supporting characters and an exciting, unpredictable plot . . . As scary as the story’s implications will be to some readers, the reading experience is pure pleasure.” (Hugo Lindgren, The New York Times Magazine)

The future is now

Dystopian view about the dissolution of all personal liberties in the world of internet social media.The circle is a social media company that combine the features of facebook, google and amazon. A combination of 1984 and animal farm. The problem is we already live in this world.

A lot of build up going nowhere

Oddly unsatisfying.

I really liked the exploration of the utopian dystopia and the illustration of information - ALL information about anyone being the right of anyone to access. That theme is creepy as hell, but I feel like I was on an adventure and had the door slammed in my face. I give everything up to book 3 higher, but book three was a disappointment . I get what he was going for, but I'd invested so much time it was a let down

Totalitarian Millennials

Maybe it's because I'm of the Boomer generation and am a fan of history, but the obviousness of the totalitarian intent and the evil uses of Big Data from the very beginning rang alarm bells. Are a millennial sand even the next gen so utterly attached to a data centric world that this seems natural? I would love to hear what younger readers thought of the progression from transparency to domination.

Frighteningly Amazing!

Both terrifying and exciting. Frustrating in the best way! You won't want it to end.

great book terrible narration

The narration just seemed weird from a man as most of the book is from a woman's point of view. His variation of voices was uncomfortable.

so much set up, no payoff

While this story presents many fascinating and terrifying ideas about technology and it's potential, the overwhelming naivety of the characters causes frustration rather than intrigue. The whole book you are waiting for a realization that never comes and the unnessecary subplots add nothing to the complexity of the story. The choice of a make narrorator for a book written in what is supposed to be a female point of view is infuriating and just adds more resentment towards the main character.

weird dystopian view of ther future

This is sort of imagining the world if Facebook Google and Twitter all combined into one big app that consumed the technological world. There isn't much of a plot beyond sort of better elucidating what the ramifications of this could be but it's sort of interesting I guess to see the possibilities.

Technotyranny scary and possible

Most thought provoking book I have ever read. so happy this could never happen. Whew

Great book; outstanding reading by Dion Graham

This was an a very enjoyable read and a good critique of proposed internet utopias. The author did a great job channeling that millennial / internet / social media need for immediate validation and the great book was made even better by Dion Graham's narration. Tiny quibbles is that some of the plot devices seemed a little forced and the ending was a little flat, but I recommend it.

Good idea, bad execution

The lead character, May, is an annoying character. The technology in the story had potential, but the author never expanded on it. Maybe the movie will be better.