Then We Came to the End: A Novel
by Joshua Ferris
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Book Reviews of Then We Came to the End: A Novel
Book Review: Ferris writes from experience
Summary: 4 Stars
Author Joshua Ferris spent three years working for a national advertising company, and he uses it to good effect describing office discord in THEN WE CAME TO THE END. Copy editors and art designers are referred to as "creatives"; working on an ad campaign that has been ruined by client interference is called "polishing the turd." A campaign for caffeinated water is lampooned.
The creatives working at this fictitious advertising agency are bored stiff, despite the sword of Damocles hanging over their collective heads. The agency is in financial trouble, and layoffs are pending. They spend most of their time slinging bull and rumor-mongering in Benny Shassburger's office. One of them can't believe it's "only 3:15."
Although none of them are fully developed, you will recognize most of these people. Joe Pope, about the only one of these people who takes his job seriously, is widely disliked and even bullied. He has received two promotions, and as a senior copy writer, is their boss. Two of them are working on novels and screen plays. Carl Garbedian seems to be going crazy. At one point he does a circuit of the office in the nude. He's depressed because his wife is a doctor, and he feels he's throwing his life away doing what he does. Tom Mota is among the first to be laid off and rumors spread about his seeking revenge. His e-mails to former colleagues don't help.
THEN WE CAME TO THE END will remind you a whole lot of CATCH-22 author Joseph Heller's SOMETHING HAPPENED. At midpoint in SOMETHING HAPPENED the protagonist's son grew ill. In Ferris's novel it's the boss, Lynn Martin, who is sick. Rumor has it that she's got breast cancer and that an operation is imminent. For most of the novel Ferris uses the first person plural "we." In order to get inside the head of Lynn Mason, he switches to third person "she". What was mostly farce, now becomes pathos, as this stalwart woman now becomes vulnerable. The other dramatic scene involves an office shooting with a twist that you won't see coming.
Despite its similarity to SOMETHING HAPPENED, Ferris's effort is fresh and thought-provoking (It was on the short list for the National Book Award.) It also includes an author question and answer session and a list a questions you can use to stimulate your book club.
Book Review: A qualified recommendation
Summary: 3 Stars
For a first novel, this is impressive. Much credit to Joshua Ferris for creating very compelling characters, and drawing the reader into their world. I found myself very absorbed in certain storylines and relatively ambivalent about others, but my sneaking suspicion is that this is exactly how Ferris intended it.
Also credit Ferris for taking a unique and challenging approach to his first novel - narrated anonymously, but in the first person plural, the storyteller claims to speak for the group mentality. Throughout the book I kept wondering which of the characters, if any, the narrator would turn out to be.
My final compliment goes to an interlude section in which the narration switches away from the group mentality and focuses on one character's personal hurdles outside the office. This to me was so gripping, so real, I actually got depressed for the character, this while I was on a vacation... at Disneyland. It was an absolutely appropriate break in tone and quite masterfully woven back into the story.
So why only three stars?
First, I feel he made the mistake that I've seen elsewhere in debut novels - he crammed way too much in. That was part of his point, I know, about the crazy cacophony of intersecting lives in an office, but really, he could have saved some of these threads for future novels. As it is, the sheer volume of mishaps, disasters, personal failures and loony behavior within such a small concentration of people eventually grew tiring.
Second, while I praised the innovation of the narrator perspective, it also made the book hard to stick with at times. It also just grew tiring.
Finally, the ending, in spite of some unfortunate ends for a few characters, still seemed almost conveniently happy. I get the point he was trying to make with it (how removal from a stressful situation can change your perspective entirely), but the delivery of it just ended up a little too "feel-good."
So weighing those pros and cons, I'll say I overall enjoyed it, but wouldn't give it a blanket recommendation - I think you have to be a patient reader to stick with it. I will, however, definitely be interested in reading more from this author.
Book Review: Randomesque thoughts on a randomesque novel
Summary: 4 Stars
-'Tour de force' is an old-school phrase. Rarely used these days, when everything is 'the bomb'. (Yes, I know that's also passé...) And it's perfectly applicable in this case.
-I've always loved the energy of début novels. Because they can be audacious, they often hum, sizzle with chutpah. (After all, I've always said it takes a certain 'arrogance' to write anything, a fiery confidence, and first-efforts require an especially large dollop. This one is no exception.
-It was also quirky. Without being overly so.
-I was often incredulous at Ferris's ability to keep things going. To maintain everything in the way and to the extent that he does. It's easy to forget that he's not got a linear narrative going, and that what he's doing might actually be harder.
-I went back and forth on the first-person plural perspective. Especially when it changed entirely...only to veer back. Normally I'm suspicious of (what I'd refer to as) gimmicks like this. But because of the overall accomplishment, I was willing to just let it go. Sorta. Kinda.
-He captured so much so well when it came to creatives and office life and all that. Annoyingly so. (I'm laughing here. I am. Really.)
-Despite the way the delivery of the narrative came across as stilted at times (there was something decidedly unnatural about it), that same stiltedness imbued the characters with an additional- Well, I guess it reminded me of the 'cringe factor' of the original UK version of 'The Office'.
-I hated almost everyone in the book...but had to keep reading. To me that's the very definition of powerful writing: you just can't stop. Given that nothing really happens in the story (or more accurately, everything that happens seems the very stuff of office life: inconsequential and banal), more kudos to the author.
-This isn't a novel for everyone. It's an extended riff on a slice of life, without the usual spine of a compelling story, so some people might not take to it. Having said that, for those who appreciate a great writer in his element, 'Then We Came To The End' is wonderful stuff.
Book Review: Then I Came To The End
Summary: 1 Stars
Joshua Ferris' debut novel, Then We Came To The End, crossed my desk several weeks ago as a freebie being handed out by the books department at the newspaper where I work. Emblazoned with praise from the New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review ("One of the best books of the year"), Nick Hornby, as well as a medallion indicating its status as a finalist for the National Book Award in 2007, I thought surely this would be something I tore through in a single, sleep-deprived night (despite its 400-plus pages).
Yet, I've been plodding through this book for about a week now, willing myself to about page 35 and am -- uncharacteristically -- ready to give it up. The fact that I'm ready to dump it seems all the more unusual since I consider myself a big fan of all things related to office life, especially in the go-go 1990s and beyond (hell, I used write for Fast Company magazine). All I can think as I read the somewhat lifeless prose is that it comes off as a long, hackneyed navel gaze for white-collar yuppies, some of whom are still smarting over a nearly decade-old job loss.
Okay, I thought, maybe I was just hoodwinked by sneakily selective blurbs and engaging cover art. So I set out to check what some of my trusted cultural arbiters had to say. And? Universal praise. I don't get it. Writing a cover review for NYT's Book Review last Sunday, Time Magazine's James Poniewozik described the book as "expansive, great-hearted and acidly funny." Acidly funny? Give me a break!
Similarly, Slate's very talented, very smart Meghan O'Rourke heaped literary points upon the novel for what she saw as its deft use of the collective "we." Ugh. What's worse, this book apparently inspired a monthly Slate column highlighting a debut work.
Even Gawker -- which has spent so many satisfying bits and bytes skewering the likes of literary wunderkind Jonathan Safran Foer -- had faint praise for Ferris and his book. Pettily, I found it nice to read the first comment posted in response to Gawker's gushing: "Sorry, but I'm not having any problems loathing Ferris or his semi-autobiographical debut novel."
Indeed.
Book Review: Didn't want this novel to end!
Summary: 5 Stars
For those of you looking for a quick recommendation, I can say that this is the best book that I've read this year. It was funny but sad, outlandish but true, and I fell head over heels in love with it.
Ferris's novel is set in the fairly mundane setting of an office workplace, but the story extends far beyond this. It focuses on a group of individuals toiling away in a failing company, and examines the relationships that develop not just between these people with each other, but also with their jobs. It's told primarily from the first person perspective ("we"), but I didn't find this style gimmicky or difficult to deal with at all - in fact, I felt it really served the authors purpose of showing that these people were all in it together, for better or for worse, essentially an extended family for each other. Or maybe it also represents the corporate drone mentality that can easily strip away one's identity... take it as you will. Regardless, given this point of view, Ferris does a great job of really developing his characters in believable and compassionate way.
I've read several reviews claiming that this book is not funny. I guess it depends on your sense of humor. If you are looking for ribald, slap-stick humor in book format, then you probably will not find this book enjoyable. If you prefer a darker, wry humor, such as that seen in the movie "Office Space" or the television show "The Office", then you will probably find the humor in this novel as well. You need the ability to see the potential for humor in mundane and often futile situations. Comparisons between it and "Catch-22" are, I think, very apt as well. It won't be to everyone's taste, but for those who can appreciate that the lines between laughter and tears can often be very blurry indeed, then I think this book will be a worthwhile read. I found it both funny and touching, and consequently immensely rewarding. I look forward eagerly to Ferris's next book.