Mike’s review
A class of 81 people is huge for 2,000 person town. For perspective: I grew up in a town of 4,220 people. My class, which was abnormally large, was about 100 people.
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We’re still early, so I’m not so sure I’m supposed to be identifying wither Mercer’s anti-online social rant, but I am. (I imagine Mae learns some lesson about how constant meaningless contact is the same as no contact [I was wrong about this]).
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Plot summary: Mae gets a job at The Circle, which is fictional Google. The company is soul-suckingly social in my opinion. I can’t bother to share that much of my life with people. Gross.
The Circle comes up with “going transparent.” Basically, you wear a live-stream camera around your neck at all times so everyone will always know what you’re doing. It starts with politicians, so their constituents can see that they aren’t corrupt, but for some reason that I can no longer remember, becomes a thing for regular ass people too. Something about pride and nothing to hide.
The Circle is going to take over the world and Mae can either go along with it or stop them. I don’t know. This plot summary bores this shit out of me right now.
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There’s a hollowness to the language that leads to a hollowness of emotions. Is he trying to mimic the soul-suck language of the internet? Because the book deals with things that are legitimately sad, but in a way that doesn’t feel it.
“Mae drove back tot the coast, her body shaking with rage. They had no right to do that, to summon her home and then cast her out. She didn’t want to smell his shit! She would help, yes, any time she was asked, but not if they treated her that way.”
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The head over heels instantly for Kalden is disgusting. To his credit, Eggers would probably do the same with a male lead.
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The not participating in Circle Socialness chastize section almost literally gave me a panic attack.
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The amount of local products used by this international corporation is very silly and untenable as a whole.
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Could’ve been a nice stylistic touch to use chapters in Book I, but to stop in Book II, when Mae goes transparent.
The Heart of Literature 