The Circle - Dave Eggars

Title: The Circle
Author: Dave Eggars
Pages (File Size): 528 (1.5 MB)
Published: 2013
Challenges: Blogger Summer Reading, E-Book, Chunkster, I Love Libraries
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Psychological
Edition: E-Book
Source: Library

Description: 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. (from Goodreads)

Thoughts: I head about this book about a year ago and had tried to read it earlier this year and wasn't able to get around to it due to reading other books, but it now seemed to the right time to read it.  And it basically creeped me out, especially as the book moved towards the end and really made me think about how much I share and spend on social media sites.

It was very interesting to see how Mae became more and more involved with her life at work and how the world outside of her job became less and less important to her.  While it is primarily a book about how social media sites are playing more and more of a role in our lives, it is also a story about how work has become more and more consuming and how our social lives are basically those that occur online rather than off line.

Bottom line: While it was creepy and worrisome, it does give one pause and does raise concerns to how much social media is playing a role in our lives.  It you enjoy books that have a dystopic themes, you might enjoy this one.  Recommended.

Rating: 3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 17,557

If you have read this book, what did you think about it?

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Title: Crime and Punishment
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Pages: 720
Published: 203 (first published 1866)
Genre: Classics
Challenges: Book Blogger Recommendations, Chunkster, Embarrassment of Riches, Off the Shelf, Tea & Books
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: 'Crime? What crime?...My killing a loathsome, harmful louse, a filthy old moneylender woman...and you call that a crime?'

Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret. He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law. But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck. Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: So glad that this book is done!!  I first started this book about a year and a half ago for a bookclub that I belong to and I wasn't able to finish the book, no matter how much I tried to get the book completed.  I don't know what it was, but it probably had to do with the fact that I was running out of time to complete the book at the time and I was at the point when Raskolnikov was at his lowest and the novel was at its darkest.  But when Wallace at Unputdownables put it up for a readalong, I knew I had to do it.  I always knew it was a matter of not if, but when I would complete the book. 

And quite honestly, I was glad I did read the book.  True a lot of the book is about Raskolnikov and his descent into madness, but it also about how those around Raskolnikov are affected by his descent and how his health deteriorates as a result of his descent.  And quite honestly it is a book that I can rest to bed and may pick up later, but I highly doubt it.

Bottom line: Its a long and dark book and if you aren't into that type of book, I would probably avoid it, but if you like books that are dark and deep, I would recommend this to you.  You may want to quit reading the book and feel like you are descending in the same way that Raskolnikov does and that is quite natural, but it is an interesting study on the human condition and how sometimes just the smallest thing can set a person off.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Pages for 2013: 5814