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)

Otherworldly!

The narrator is amazing! His use of tone inflection really gets you into the mood of the book. And the plot! It's very interesting! Think 1984, but in the 21st century. 5/5 would highly recommend!

Absolutely Terrifying

Wow. This is what we are all heading toward. An excellent modern cautionary tale that we should all to take to heart.

Scary Outcome...if everyone is a Sheep

Would you listen to The Circle again? Why?

I probably wouldn't listen to the book a second time, mainly because it just loses the suspense the second time around.

What did you like best about this story?

I think the story is setup really well, it's just not that believable. I would hope that we would not get to this point where we would let a group of people invade how we think, speak, and react.

What does Dion Graham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His sense of pace. There was a section of the book where Mae is getting bombarded by email, text, Zings, voice messages, surveys, etc and Dion just kept reading faster and faster. Added a lot to the suspense.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book makes you think about how your technology controls you.

Great story.

Great, relevant topic, seemed like a bit of a rushed wrap up, but throughly enjoyed it. Great reader as well.

The reader ruins the book!

I haven't finished the book yet. But the reader is so irritating!! He grates on my nerves. I have been listening to audible books for a couple of years, and this is the first time that I have had an issue with the reader!! I like the story. It is very interesting and compelling. But the reader is killing it for me!!

A terrifying glimpse at the future.

A cautionary tale about a horrific future where writing this review is the most important thing I do all day!

Forget the movie...LISTEN (READ) THE BOOK !

The book was so much better than the movie !! The details, the more in depth plot-line and character development. All of the details of how this could be plausible in today's digital age are here.

Mostly Good...

This book kept my interest, but caused a lot of cringing. Mae was unbelievably dense to the feelings of people around her, especially her parents and ex boyfriend, and so easily manipulated by those in the Circle, I found it hard to accept.
And one part that really got me, was about the specimens supposedly brought from the Marianas trench: I dont think any of those animals would be found at such great depths, and they certainly wouldn't have survived being brought to the surface. I get the metaphor of the shark, I just dont believe it.
But the book was entertaining and scary, because the trends it forecasts have not slowed down in the five years since it was published

A cautionary tale but

The main character was unsympathetic. Kept wanting for her to catch on but she never did

May is Meh.

Where does The Circle rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's definitely on the lower end of the audiobooks I've read so far. It's definitely got the interesting aspect of technology becoming eminent in every aspect of our lives. But it's not so much scary as kind of annoying. There were several repetitive aspects that on paper would be great but in an audio book can get really annoying really fast. SPOILER ALERT (***i.e. when May listens to her own voice over and over again. UGH.***). And May was a very annoying character, making me roll my eyes or audibly groan several times throughout the novel. I feel like that's the point but it's still very annoying. Overall the last quarter went by quicker than i would have though considering the slower pace of the rest of the novel.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Perhaps the most interesting part of the novel were the ideas that arose were very interesting as you KNOW they're supposed to be wrong but boy do they sound so good. Eggers really outdoes himself in hitting that line between the needs of the individual and the needs of the society. May is by far the least interesting part of this novel but perhaps that's supposed to be on purpose.

Did Dion Graham do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Not great. It was kind of disappointing the way he was unsure of how to do female voices and sometimes used somewhat odd or even offensive accents. His normal voice is great when narrating but the variations he uses really detract from the novel's flow and creates unintentional reactions or emotions towards character's who are supposed to be background or side characters.

If you could rename The Circle, what would you call it?

Google. 100% Future Evil Google.

Any additional comments?

Overall i'd give it a 6/10. It was okay but not something that I would have picked up had it not been for the hype it's been getting lately.