The Circle, by Dave Eggers, is one of those books you just can’t stop reading, you tend to skip lines in order to know what’s next, to see what happens. I regret I didn’t save it for my holidays, it’s the type of book that doesn’t let you down  when what you are looking for is total involvement.

The story takes us into this perfect working environment, where everyone is happy to work, where every single employee is cared for, and controlled, and compelled to share everything through every type of social network. No matter what one’s feelings towards the web are, day after day everyone finds himself being on line all the time. At a certain stage Mae, the protagonist, believes that everything must be shared with the world, supporting her claim that:  “Secrets are lies  Sharing is caring  Privacy is theft”

These slogans reminded me of other slogans, in a novel that I realized has much in common with Eggers’ bestseller, 1984, where the Ministry of Truth  preaches that: ” War is peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strength”

As I was reading I couldn’t help comparing the two novels: whereas in 1984  we read about a dystopic world, Oceania, where citizens are compelled to live under control of the Big Brother, in The Circle everything comes natural, seems good and is commonly approved by the “Circle people”, with a few exceptions…

At the end of both books the reader wonders where fiction ends and reality starts: how do we rate privacy nowadays? Where is the line between sharing memories and showing off regardless? When does the web start to become a cobweb?

I suggest you read both books and I look forward to reading your opinions and comments.

 

 

 

 

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