The Circle, by Dave Eggers

The Circle is good fiction, believe it or not.

In 2013, when The Circle was published, reviewers were quick to label the novel as dystopian. And the criticism was harsh, one reviewer using “overexplain” to describe Eggers’s writing. The protagonist in the novel’s dystopian world is Mae. Or would she be an antagonist? Whichever, a reviewer says she is a “dull villain.” It is sad that a reviewer in 2013 didn’t note that the characters and the plot in the novel were reflections in a mirror set in front of the entitled, intellectual purveyors of world view in 2013, purveyors who would march forward with the aid of technology foreseen in The Circle to become the champions today of political correctness. Technocrats most likely continue to miss the point today. Yes, the characters in The Circle were dull. That was what the technology wrought. And it still does today, multiplied exponentially, where conformity hides a lack of intellect, and transgressions trump accomplishment. The Circle presents a clever picture of life, which, in a view of the whole world it creates, shows how society is deteriorating into an ugly uniformity. Today, the Mae’s of our world are commentators, professors, journalists, and, of course, book critics.

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