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Then We Came to the End

By Joshua Ferris

(72)

| Mass Market Paperback | No ISBN

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Welcome to the real Office

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris Viking £14.99, pp387 America, that country's favourite myth insists, was built by the individual: the 'calm, mature' man praised by de Tocqueville; Emerson's self-reliant 'true prince'. But in Joshua Ferris's ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Office hours

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris 385pp, Viking, £14.99 In Mike Judge's 1999 film Office Space, the main character, Peter, is called in by management to account for his time and prove that he is an efficient, productive, unlayoffable team memb ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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8 Reviews

6 people find this helpful

Can someone please tell me why this book received such excellent reviews? The prose is lazy and frequently repetitive. Very little insight here that you can't find in works with similar themes--like George Saunders' short stories. Occasional interesting moments of comedy/irony, but not enough to rec ... (continue)

Can someone please tell me why this book received such excellent reviews? The prose is lazy and frequently repetitive. Very little insight here that you can't find in works with similar themes--like George Saunders' short stories. Occasional interesting moments of comedy/irony, but not enough to recommend the book. Must admit that after about the first hundred pages I found the book so tedious I almost put it down forever.

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Albion said on Jan 16, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

3 people find this helpful

After hearing how funny this book was I tried to read it several times. Recently picked it back up (after putting it down months ago) but quickly just gave up again - permanently this time. The long rambling pointless prose style just got to me. It's like listening to that long-winded person everyon ... (continue)

After hearing how funny this book was I tried to read it several times. Recently picked it back up (after putting it down months ago) but quickly just gave up again - permanently this time. The long rambling pointless prose style just got to me. It's like listening to that long-winded person everyone has in their office tell what should be a brief story about what they did last night - they drone on and on and won't just get to the point, and when they finally do you forgot why you even cared. Yes, there are some very pointed and funny observations in the book, but they are buried within long passages that go nowhere and serve no purpose.

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Cuzzin Todd said on Sep 1, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Loved this book. Interesting narration: first person plural! It really works. The book is spot-on for the collective conscious of people in the workplace. Why aren't there more books about the workplace? It's where we spend so much of our time. I've recommended this to many people without reservatio ... (continue)

Loved this book. Interesting narration: first person plural! It really works. The book is spot-on for the collective conscious of people in the workplace. Why aren't there more books about the workplace? It's where we spend so much of our time. I've recommended this to many people without reservations.

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Neighbors said on Jan 27, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

This is lighter (and better) than “The Unnamed”, with plenty of dark humour – the story of an ad business slowly failing, and how this plays out among employees. A great, pertinent read with a style we really got into.

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Philip Downer said on Jun 20, 2011 | Add your feedback

Disappointing...

to the extent that I decided not to waste my time to finish it. The writing was not bad, but there is literally no plot at all. The first half of the book which I managed to read through describes plain old ordinary office life that is even more boring than my own. The many random characters in this ... (continue)

to the extent that I decided not to waste my time to finish it. The writing was not bad, but there is literally no plot at all. The first half of the book which I managed to read through describes plain old ordinary office life that is even more boring than my own. The many random characters in this book didn't help either, it thins out the plot and makes it difficult to attach with any of the characters.
I would only recommend this book to people who have never worked in an office and wants to know what it's like. Otherwise there is really not much point to read this in my opinion.

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olivia said on Jun 18, 2010 | Add your feedback

I finally got to the books end

For the workaday professionals bound in the fishbowl of office life, Joshua Ferris' freshman novel, Then We Came To The End, will be familiar territory with comical twists and reminiscent characters. The story covers the intertwined office and often personal lives of an advertising firm's employees ... (continue)

For the workaday professionals bound in the fishbowl of office life, Joshua Ferris' freshman novel, Then We Came To The End, will be familiar territory with comical twists and reminiscent characters. The story covers the intertwined office and often personal lives of an advertising firm's employees as they endure the turbulent bust period of the dot-com era.
Ferris imbues his book with rich characters who display the anti-social, psychotic group think prevalent but overlooked in the 9 to 5 office existence. Conversations around watercolors spawn plots and generate resentment among the advertising employees who answer to Joe Pope, even though they report to the bigger than life Lynn Mason.
The book is written in the first person plural which allows us to sit inside the heads of the employees as they cycle through their madness. Ever looked at a co-worker in dread and wondered, what in the world were they thinking? If you could think in first person plural, you would know. The technique is useful in painting a full picture of the dysfunction generated by the band of misfits comprising the staff. What used to be thought of as the 'royal we' could now be considered the 'corporate we'," says Ferris when asked about the style in an interview at the end of the book.
As the company loses clients they begin to go into perpetual downsizing mode. As the team is arbitrarily and summarily dismantled and sent packing, the groveling office mates shift their attitudes, their allegiances, their gripes, and their complaints, each survivor thankful for another day's reprieve from "walking Spanish" - a euphemism concocted by surviving employees. The quirky, funny and unique euphemism of course is code for being fired.
They're prisoners of their own making, delusional in their desire to control and know the tidbits of everyone's life. Case in point, the group can't understand why Benny the Jew would hold on to a totem pole left to him by an old deceased office worker who lived for nothing more than his daily cigarette, often smoked in the bitter cold. When the answer for his affection for the totem pole escapes the group, they create their own answers to suite their tastes.
Each character lends a unique color to the rainbow that is the we. Tom Moto, before he is let go is the free spirit in the bunch who rebels in hopes of inspiring. He is the poster boy for "when keeping it real goes to far." After he is let go, rather than being remembered for the inspirational challenge to authority, he is feared as the one that could come back and go postal.
In Ferris' book we find the cynical nature inherent in the American dream. Spending all of our time at a job most can't stand so that we can hold on to the safety of the American dream buckled tightly into the drivers seat of our Mercedes and Beamers. It is the safety found in the mindless work that protects our image of ourselves and who we are in life. It is a comical look at American life that shows the irony of inept communication and under appreciation of those we spend much of our lives with.
The book took a little while to get into, but once it got going, I felt the character development was strong, the writing was crisp and fresh. The plot meandered but it seemed right in line with the lives lead by the characters. For anyone searching for the something to help quantify the value found in the average workplace, pick up this book and enjoy.

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Soulpundit said on May 30, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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Book Details

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English Books
Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Also available as: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Others and eBook
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