PVCC One Book Project: Complete the Circle

This semester, PVCC presents the 2016 One Book Project, featuring the novel The Circle, by David Eggers. 2016 will introduce a live tweet component by which students can share their thoughts on the story as they read it, according to Assistant Professor Tamara Whyte, a member of the One Book Project Committee.

“Readers will be encouraged to tweet their impressions as they read the book. A Twitter-like system is very important in the story, so we thought it would be fun to try something similar,” said Assistant Professor Laura Skinner. Skinner also mentioned other activities in association with the book, including speakers, though nothing was definite yet.

What is definite is the provocative nature of The Circle. Whyte summarized the novel by saying, “It is a compelling read, and it raises some really interesting questions about our increasingly digital lives. We give away a lot of privacy for convenience and cool technology without really thinking about it.”

The Circle has already been compared to the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. These comparisons, along with the live-tweet feature, potentially give students the opportunity to help decide the effect of social media on their lives in the future.

“I’m really excited about this year’s project,” said Whyte, praising this year’s thought-provoking selection and the activities associated with it. Whyte addressed some of the questions that occurred to her as she read: “Is there a line where we say, that’s too much information? And what do we do if we crossed that line before knowing it was there?”

Students can tweet while reading the book using hashtag #PvccOneBook

Learn more: http://www.pvcc.edu/student-services/library/one-book-program