Has the howl from the political wilderness of vulgar and
unrighteous thought, lies and sons and daughters of lies, the parade to come of
soul-degrading attack ads marching down roads built by oligarchs obsessed by
absolute power got you down?
Then turn to Dave Eggers. I’m here to tell you that his
sleeper novel, the object of attacks, “The Circle” http://bit.ly/1oYaeSu, pings just the right
tone. This is a dissent for the ages. The screen-obsessed ages. If Munch
defined “The Scream” of the human soul in the industrial age, Eggers in “The
Circle” defines “The Screen” in the digital age. A cautionary tale in this the
most cautionary of times.
Great stuff. Scary. Not the fully developed characters we’ve
come to expect from the author (I’m looking at you, “What Is the What” http://bit.ly/1SNPrx8 ) but as I’m writing
this note it’s come to me that that is the point. Be too immersed in social
media as culture and sacrifice character. Consider the continuum: less screen
time, more character, more screen time, less inner life. Writing powerful inner
lives for his characters has been an Eggers hallmark in his previous works. In “The
Circle,” he drained his characters of that dimension to make a chilling point
in his novel of digital dissent.
(Oh, and the twist at the end … took my breath away.)
But don’t take my word for it. Take Eggers’s. You won’t be
sorry.
Next: Running for
Your Life: What Else Are You Reading?
