| Then We Came to the End: A Novel |  | Author: Joshua Ferris
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: eBooks
In Stock
Rating:  287 reviews
Sales Rank: 3,901
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 400
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
Publication Date: March 1, 2007
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month Spotlight Title, April 2007: It's 2001. The dot-com bubble has burst and rolling layoffs have hit an unnamed Chicago advertising firm sending employees into an escalating siege mentality as their numbers dwindle. As a parade of employees depart, bankers boxes filled with their personal effects, those left behind raid their fallen comrades' offices, sifting through the detritus for the errant desk lamp or Aeron chair. Written with confidence in the tricky-to-pull-off first-person plural, the collective fishbowl perspective of the "we" voice nails the dynamics of cubicle culture--the deadlines, the gossip, the elaborate pranks to break the boredom, the joy of discovering free food in the breakroom. Arch, achingly funny, and surprisingly heartfelt, it's a view of how your work becomes a symbiotic part of your life. A dysfunctional family of misfits forced together and fondly remembered as it falls apart. Praised as "the Catch-22 of the business world" and "The Office meets Kafka," I'm happy to report that Joshua Ferris's brilliant debut lives up to every ounce of pre-publication hype and instantly became one of my favorite books of the year. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Product Description
No one knows us quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts.- Every office is a family of sorts, and the ad agency Joshua Ferris brilliantly depicts in his debut novel is family at its strangest and best, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks.
---- With a demon's eye for the details that make life worth noticing, Joshua Ferris tells a true and funny story about survival in life's strangest environment--the one we pretend is normal five days a week.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 287
 Dilbert w/o the charm. September 3, 2010
Shirley (MA)
First of all, I don't see how anyone who hasn't worked in an office recently can relate to the humor in "And Then We Came To the End". I just don't see it. I've worked in an office environment for over 25 years, and believe me, there were some LOL moments in this book. I caught myself nodding my head saying, "Oh, yeah" as I read some of the descriptions and antics of these characters. I also think that Joshua Ferris nailed the atmosphere of an office under the constant threat of lay offs. Been there, done that.
The Good News: Joshua Ferris uses a couple of very clever techniques here. First, is the unidentified narrator. The second, is his use of the first person plural. I enjoyed both! The use of the "we" and "us" in telling the story was fresh, and inventive. Personally, I can't remember reading a book with that type of narrative before. I also liked the unexpected change of narrative with "Lynn's story" that appears about half way through. Very clever! And the ending comes with a cute little twist too.
The Bad News: The excessive use of profanity that is almost-but-not-quite on every single page. And it's not from just one or two characters either. No. Every single character is freely using offensive language in the workplace regardless of who they may offend. I found that at odds with the type of professional office Ferris is putting at the center of his story. In my office experience, profanity is just plain not done (out loud). And no, I don't work in a church office. Bottomline here - I found the profanity tedious, and really distracting from an otherwise entertaining story.
 Insert canned-laughter here August 13, 2010
M Norris (Tokyo, Japan)
It seemed like one long endless existential crisis. The characters have this deep well of wisdom but they don't exercise it personally, just pontificate from it to others. And 80% of the dialog wasn't natural, but a forced excuse for people to explain their background or thoughts.
In this way I thought this read like a generic, not-funny sitcom. Office Space covered much of the same ground, but it was funny.
So many of the asides and tangents in the book are simply not interesting (all the trouble about office furniture and serial numbers, I don't care). And reading other peoples gossip and rumors, again, I don't care. I think the book is not as good as it's made out to be and does not deserve the attention it gets. Ironically, I think it's success is due to the fact that it's been marketed well.
The use of first person plural was done well, was appropriate, and not a distraction. But other than that, this book was just generic fiction that will be forgotten about in five years. It's not literature.
 If you hate wearing a corporate suit, polo shirt, and/or Dockers, this is the novel for you August 12, 2010
Jen Padgett Bohle (Germany)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Stellar, really stellar, this novel. It gives legitimacy to the sense of ennui that every intelligent, cynical working person has ever experienced while putting on their dockers in the morning, only to go to work and read mundane memos from fascist bosses while simultaneously trying to win a game of solitaire on the clock. The tone is consistently sardonic and wry as the narrators tirelessly document the intraoffice antics of coworkers at an ad agency. The first person plural point of view is effective, hilarious, and I would argue, essential, to at least one premise of the novel: the ridiculousness and absurdity of a modern corporate office culture that encourages and prefers a herd mentality.
This novel refuses, though, to be pigeonholed as just another savvy and deadpan office satire. Ferris sensitively juxtaposes the story of Lynn, one of the ad agency's partners who is diagnosed with breast cancer,with the rumors and the perceptions her employees have about her. Lyn's story, embedded within the novel and told in 3rd person limited, is an agonizing and painful story of the night before she's scheduled for a life-changing and body-altering surgery. The author's insight into Lyn and her solitary evening, his wit and sarcasm, along with the character development of at least six or seven of the office workers, make him an unforgettable and masterful author.
 Disappointing July 29, 2010
Linda Michaelson (Los Altos, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book strains so hard to be funny that it becomes wearing instead. Have to be honest and say I gave up on it; didn't come close to finishing...too tedious.
 A story for our times July 20, 2010
P. caires
I'm reminded of a line - as so many things do - from a movie... Kissing Jessica Stein. The player said 'Anais Nin said we don't see things as they are - we see things as we are' - that said, and not wishing to wax poetically (as others here seem to do) let me simply proclaim this - for me Then we came to the end was a great read... and I miss it now that it's done. pdc
Showing reviews 1-5 of 287
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
The easiest way to build a complete Amazon Affiliate Store.
| |
