Book Review: The Circle by Dave Eggers

I read quite a few books and very rarely write about any of them. But "The Circle" by Dave Eggers is an exception. This book has been much discussed and debated since its release in October. Dave Eggers has crafted a fairly intriguing dystopian tale that is set in a not so distant future. I found the book an overly simplistic yet engaging read and would recommend it for anyone looking for an interesting page turner cum thriller cum science fiction book. Here is why.The Circle is a corporation not unlike any of your current tech behemoths. It is part Google, part Facebook, a tiny sliver Apple and Twitter and a shade most startups in the Valley. The company it resembles most though is Google. It is pretty hard to imagine Google not being the major inspiration for the author. The Circle is a monopolistic tech giant that is pushing the boundary of social engagement. The protagonist, Mae is an idealistic engineer who lands at its doorstep, hungry and desperate for a challenge. The Circle offers all that and so much more.The Circle is as much a story of Mae as it is of so many thousands of us who are socially engaged via online social mediums. It is about the sharing generation. It is about breaking the walls of what we know to be privacy. And in the process, discover what it really means. Without going into the plot, I can tell you that if you enjoy Facebook or Twitter or Google Plus, this book will definitely give you a pause. A moment to think where we are possibly heading. I say possibly because the book makes a lot of assumptions that could, may and probably will never happen. But if it does and there is definitely one such possibility, what the world may come to is what the book really talks about.Here is where the book fails. It does not take into account the complexities of our online existence. It defines privacy in hollow terms that for the sake of the author's arguments sounds meaningless. It defines internet as much more a scourge than an enabler. It simplifies life to be clear cut set of private and shareable experiences.For all its simplistic assumptions and generic characters, the book offers a brief period of thought and retrospection. It makes us think what our online lives are and should be and how much of that defines who we are and not the other way around. It gives us food for thought and maybe in rare cases, action. And to wrap such a thought in a fairly engaging piece of fiction is a credit to the author. You may disagree with it in the end or agree in parts, but you will definitely spend a few minutes pondering the future it envisions. And for that, I recommend that you give the book a try.Do you define your online self or does your online self define you?