The Circle
by Dave Eggers · first published 2013
52% recommend44% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Quick, engrossing novel about a Facebook/Google-like tech company where small conveniences slide into total surveillance and enforced transparency; suits tech workers who want to think about privacy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The Circle is a 2013 dystopian novel written by American author Dave Eggers. The novel chronicles tech worker Mae Holland as she joins a powerful Internet company. Her initially rewarding experience turns darker.
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…that you might feel for business processes, can just as easily be felt for customer interactions or the world at large. For an interesting (and very critical) look at this philosophy I recommend The Circle by Dave Eggers.
on “Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them” ↗…with no fancy deep learning algorithms, just plain simple stats. - Statistics Done Wrong by Alex Reinhart. Plenty of gotchas with real world examples from academia. Well written and easy to read. - The Circle by Dave Eggers. This one was scary. About imaginary corporation (a blend of Facebook and Google and Amazon) and probably not too distant future. If you liked Black Mirrors, you will love this. - Brave…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗For anyone who's curious what a world in which everyone is forced to throw away their privacy and embrace complete transparency might look like, Dave Eggers wrote a fantastic book called The Circle (http://www.amazon.com/The-Circle-Dave-Eggers/dp/0385351399) that explores that very concept. Highly recommended.
on “This Man Has Nothing to Hide – Not Even His Email Password” ↗The Circle by Dave Eggers. This one was scary. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, but at the same time, I felt a little disappointed in it. I think I expected a bit, more, somehow, given the premise. I dunno,…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗It is already 6 years old. I had a great time reading it when a friend recommended it to me about 3 years ago: The Circle by Dave Eggers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circle_(Eggers_novel) And do yourself a favour, never watch the movie version from 2017. The end has been butchered which ruins the whole message of…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗"The Circle", by Dave Eggers. Narrowly edging "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" by Robin Sloan. I've been in tech a long time. I came up in the early 90's when the Internet was a tool for collaboration, meeting…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗> There's honestly no way I would ever let Facebook have a device like this in my home Dave Egger's excellent "The Circle" is a well-written, engrossing and quick book about "what if" Facebook becomes even more a part of people's lives with a personal surveillance device. Do not watch the movie, read the book. https://www.amazon.com/Circle-Dave-Eggers/dp/159413961X
on “Facebook Dives into Home Device Market with Video Chat Product Named “Portal”” ↗A great example of forced celebration and socializing is The Circle by Dave Eggers. There's a moment early in the book between two characters. A man is very upset with a woman whom he has never met, and who was just hired by his company, because she failed to RSVP to…
on “The death of 'mandatory fun' in the office” ↗…relatively easily. Three recommendations, aside from the above which I enjoyed a lot. Bill Aulet: Disciplined Entrepreneurship, covers the topic very well and generously references everything else. The Circle by Dave Eggers paints a picture that's creepily familiar already. League of Denial will have you shake your head gently and sadly at NFL and other contact sports.
on “Ask HN: What should I save for offline reading during 5 weeks without Internet?” ↗‘The Circle’ written by David Eggers and published this year, is a modern day twist on 1984 but it seemed so real and so close to where we are heading as a digital society. I recommend it, especially for those in…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2014?” ↗…Mirror. Titled "The Privacy Freaks", it would show people in a social network observing the lives and making fun of the absurd things privacy concerned people do to stay "out". You should read "The Circle" by David Eggers. It is basically this.
on “Get your loved ones off Facebook” ↗There's a great book called The Circle by Dave Eggers that features a scenario with representatives also under constant surveillance. It wasn't painted to be too pretty. But I would agree that accountability in the face of "corruption from…
on “NSA Cheerleaders Discover Value of Privacy Only When Their Own Is Violated” ↗you may want to read the book "The Circle" by Dave Eggers. It is about this exact concept, and is quite good (I'm actually only nearly finished with the book, so maybe the ending will suck and i won't recommend it anymore, great so far though!)
on “Alphabet Becomes the Most Valuable Public Company in the World” ↗This is some fantastic writing. And if you are looking for a longer, slightly better, fictionalized account of Facebook, "The Circle" by David Eggers is a quick, engrossing read and quite hard to tear yourself away from once you begin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Circle_(Eggers_novel)
on “Julie Rubicon” ↗Has anyone read "The Circle" by Dave Eggers? I enjoyed it. Raised a lot of interesting questions that I think we're all going to be debating in coming years. Privacy, surveillance, transparency, etc. Genuinely surprised how rarely…
on “Inside Uber’s Aggressive, Unrestrained Workplace Culture” ↗