Then We Came to the End: A Novel

I read 2-3 novels a month, and this one has completely bored me from page one on. Im not sure what he is trying to say, except that we are all stuck in ruts and fear for our careers, and we don't need him to tell us that. Sharing his trivialities of his everyday office life is nothing more than an overblown, unorganized minute by minute journal, written by someone who has nothing better to do then share his day to day boredom with the world for money. I put it down FINALLY at page 74, HOPING...if not BEGGING for it to become organized, thoughtful, and at least slightly entertianing. Needless to say, it was brought to the used book store within a week for exchange.

I can understand the mixed reviews of this book, though I loved every page of it and wished it would never end. To appreciate it, you not only need to have worked in an office, you need to have worked in this KIND of office.

I happened to work in two offices where everyone had their noses in everyone else's business, where people had conniptions over nonsense such as where their "legitimate" chair is located, and whether or not the axe will fall anytime soon. That it is set in the Spring and Summer just prior to 9/11 is no accident; the economy was already starting to tank and 9/11 only made things worse for those teetering on the brink. In this office, people are being fired right and left, but the remaining folks are more worried about the health situation of their boss and the private lives of their co-workers. Who has a crush on whom? Who is a complete whackjob? This is office life, folks, at least in my old office.

This book is so full of quotable lines and great twists that there isn't much I can say without giving it away. People who have worked in my situation will likely love it. People who haven't, or who don't enjoy programs such as The Office because they hit too close to home, will not like it at all.

Joshua Ferris is an excellent writer and this is a stunning debut. I'm very much looking forward to what comes next.

This has to be the worst book I have ever read. I love to read and I work in a cubicle. So this book sounded like it might be good. This book made me want to poke my eyes out. It was so boring and didn't make sense. It jumped from funny little stories to a sad story about cancer. I actually threw this book in the trash. I have never done that before. It took forever to read because it did not grab my attention. I forced myself to stick with it but I couldn't even finish it. I think I had one or two chapters left.

This book made a big splash when it came out, and it's easy to see why. A tour-de-force written in the first-person-plural, it's remarkable in that it sustains the tone and humor of satire for the length of an entire novel.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. There's a diversion about halfway through in which the "we" voice takes a break. Still, the feat is remarkable.

Beyond stylistic interest, the book is highly readable, with plenty of sharp and entertaining observations about how we behave at work. It's sort of like the TV show The Office, but in text, so it necessarily has some more emotional depth.

But, frankly, not a whole lot more. This is a book that's fun to read, but doesn't have a lot of staying power.

Well written, well done, but not much to it.

Do not waste your time or your money. The characters have no character and garner no emotional attachment. I did not care if they lived or died. The conversations are cumbersome, repetitive and witless. The content is vacuous, shallow and lacking.

Some reviews have said that if you liked "the Office" then you would like this book. I loved "The Office" - it is comedy genius. This book does not deserve to be mentioned in the same paragraph, let alone sentence as "The Office".

I genuinely do not believe that I have ever read a worse book than this - I only finished it out of a bloody-minded determination and a belief that it must improve. Sadly it never did but thankfully it did come to an end.