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Then What Are People Reading on The Circumvolve?

Shubham reading. Photo: Netflix

"What volume would you bring with y'all to a deserted island?"

This question — often asked during office team-building exercises, or on first dates when you've run out of anything else to talk nigh — is profoundly troubling. It forces you to consider how you would similar to spend your time in the aftermath of a traumatic disaster that rips y'all abroad from your dwelling house and loved ones, and leaves you stranded and probably injured on an uninhabited patch of country with express resources. Aye, this scenario posits, you lot're probably wrestling with a nasty instance of dysentery, and somewhere your family is grieving your mysterious disappearance, but at to the lowest degree you have Tolstoy's War and Peace to keep you visitor.

A better, more pleasant, and more than realistic, question, I call up, would exist: "What book would you bring with you lot to compete in a streaming service'south social media–based reality-competition serial where yous are kept physically isolated in a one-bedroom Chicago apartment for days at a time, with only a voice-activated platform called 'The Circumvolve' for company, while you try to win coin by becoming an 'influencer' amidst your competitors?"

This is the question I found myself contemplating equally I watched The Circle on Netflix. Based on a British TV serial by the same proper name, Netflix'due south Americanized version premiered on January 1. The game goes like this: eight players set up profiles on The Circle that include a photo and a brief bio, and then they conversation with the other players, who they have not met in person. At some point in each episode, players must rate their competitors. The two players with the highest ratings go the "influencers," and must cull another player to be "blocked" from the game. The highest rated player at the finale wins the game, and $100,000. Good for them.

In betwixt all of this chatting and influencing, though, players seem to accept a lot of downwardly fourth dimension. The prove is full of shots of them cooking, and drawing, and playing with a mini wooden bowling set. They too have books, but most of the covers have been obscured, taped over with colored paper.

What books did people choose to back-trail them on their reality-Television journey, I wondered. Did they get to selection their books, or did Netflix provide them, like a mid-tier AirBnB?

I wondered, specifically, about the books I saw in the first episode. What is Shubham reading equally he bemoans the horror of social media while participating in a social media–based show?

Shubham, reading – what?? Photo: Netflix

What is Karyn, a.thou.a. Mercedez, reading while she catfishes Antonio?

Karyn, reading – what?? Photo: Netflix

What is Seaburn, a.m.a Rebecca, reading while he poses equally his own girlfriend?

Seaburn, reading – what?? Photo: Netflix

I embarked on a journey to find out.

The journey was pretty short, it turned out. It only involved i electronic mail to Netflix. I learned that contestants were allowed to bring their ain books with them, and that they brought the following:

Shubham: A collection of Shakespeare's plays (the greenish book); Following the Equator, by Mark Twain (the regal book).

Karyn brought: Condign, by Michelle Obama (the green book).

And Seaburn brought: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey (the purple book).

Are these the books you would bring with yous to compete in a social media–based reality-contest series? Would yous choose a novel in which to escape, or a self-help book to guide y'all in your journey? Would yous bring a book at all, or would you spend your fourth dimension drawing, like sugariness meatball Joey?

Maybe bring these questions up during your office's next team building do, or on a outset date where yous've run out of things to talk about. If y'all get stuck on a deserted island, though, I don't know what to tell you. My thoughts are with you and your loved ones.

So What Are People Reading in The Circumvolve?