Reviews

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

sintari's review

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3.0

So far this book is amazingly reminiscent of my own company as we went through our layoff. I'm moving through it a little more slowly than I normally do because it makes me sad/nostalgic as I read.

jess_mango's review

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3.0

I read "Then We Came to the End" for a book club meeting that I have next week. I m still not 100% sure that I can make it to the meeting, but I read the book all the same.

"Then We came to the End" is Ferris's first novel and is set at the turn of the 21st century at a Chicago advertising agency that is struggling through the dot-com failure era. The workers at the office are being laid off one at a time with very little rationale.

The book is laced with disaffected humor as we are allowed to observe the copywriters and designers partake in their office hijinx and suffer from paranoia that they will be the next layoff. The book for the most part is set in the office so, if you've ever worked in corporate America and sat in a cube, you should be able to find something in this tale that you relate too.

Overall, I enjoyed the book although I think it could've been stronger. There were a lot of characters and most of them weren't very deeply drawn so you don't really "get to know" any of the individuals too well.

karakillough's review

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3.0

I don't know how i feel about this book. It took me a while to get used to the whole first person plural thing. And now i have the unfortunate side effect of thinking about my office as "We." But something about it is sticking with me, and it did have some humorous moments. Kind of reminds me of the British Office; darkly comic yet sadly painful at the same time. Wish i could give it 3.5 stars.

mjoybo's review

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dark funny reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

jessicahill's review

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slow-paced

1.0

mrswhite's review

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3.0

This book seemed overhyped to me. It had its moments, but overall the characters seemed stereotypical and I just couldn't bring myself to care much about any of them. I agree with several of the other reviewers that the collective point of view got a bit annoying and the best part was when it shifted to the boss' point-of-view midway through.

nonfiction_leaning_warthog's review

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Great book. GF and then her father borrowed it which is why I didn't finish it. 

jeff's review

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1.0

I didn't feel connected to any of the characters or the plot. The workplace scenarios were either boring or hyperbolic, which was disappointing because I was excited to read fiction about designers and the like.

ir_sharp2's review

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2.0

Meh

loujoseph's review

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1.0

BAD BAD BAD.

a horribly unfunny book about the drudgery of modern day office life, 10 yrs after office space came out? no thanks.