Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

9.4/10 dropps

Those of us who have experienced life in an office from nine to five can appreciate the absurdities inherent in such an environment. Days can melt into one another and drag on endlessly. The eccentricities of employees are scrutinized and picked over by coworkers. Peers constantly battle one another for promotions while simultaneously formulating bonds. Several films have already tapped into the trappings of the workplace such as in Office Space and on TV’s The Office and Mad Men, but there have been few examinations of the white collar worker that capture the humor and poignancy of an office complex at the same level as Ferris’ debut novel Then We Came to the End.

Told from the first person plural, the book begins with a series of humorous vignettes and anecdotes surrounding a crumbling ad agency based in Chicago. The seemingly-rambling (albeit humorous) plot structure slowly unfolds into something much more palatable as the various employees within the office transform from obscure coworkers and into layered characters in constant fear of “walking Spanish” to the unemployment line.
The novel is brilliant on many levels, but its most immediate accomplishment is injecting the reader into the heart of the novel’s fictional ad agency so effectively and efficiently. The use of the first person plural will make you feel as though you’re the new employee at the office within the first ten pages. You’ll learn the intricacies of many of the characters’ lives intimately, and with one exception, you’ll never know more about the characters in the office than anyone else in the general group.

Ferris’ first novel is phenomenal. His style is something of a cross between that of Joseph Heller and Cormac McCarthy, but the influences are not so pervasive that they overwhelm Ferris’ unique voice. Frequently hilarious, insightful, and moving, Then We Came to the End is brilliant. I highly recommend it.

-John Jamieson