I lack the expertise to write a review of a novel, so I won’t pretend that I can. However, having read Joshua Ferris’s 2007 novel Then We Came to the End, I do have an opinion and a blog in which to express it.
What is Then We Came to the End?
The story details the fortunes and foibles of a collection of creatives in a Chicago-based advertising agency. Set in the wake of the dot-com bubble’s burst, an ensemble of colleagues grapple and gossip amongst lay-offs, a waning workload and painful office politics.
The novel is simultaneously comedic and chaotic. The plot unfolds chronologically for the most-part, but in a strange swirling motion. Stories, rumours and events are recounted both as they happen and, at the same time, retold to colleagues who simply won’t believe what just happened! It’s a head-spinning technique that Ferris employs throughout. It’s fascinating in that it allows more characters to comment on events, whether or not they were a part of them or not.
In this style, the novel is a more chaotic, heady read. It’s a more congested read, but it complements the flighty, on-edge atmosphere of a team of creatives constantly looking over their shoulder, praying not to be laid off.
Is it funny in the end?
Then We Came to the End does have some genuinely hilarious moments. This is despite some of the themes, which do command more solemn respect. One of the heftiest themes is the team’s work on a pro bono project for an elusive breast cancer charity. The simple yet seemingly impossible brief is to create a campaign that will make breast cancer sufferers laugh. As they tip-toe around a boss that appears to be fighting the very same illness, it would seem on the surface there’s not a lot to laugh about.
Between the hapless flapping of the team and Ferris’s style, hilarious passages like this are able to shine through;
Jim Jackers was hard at work on the pro bono ads and had been working on them steadily for a few hours, since his return from helping [recently let go] Chris Yop throw his chair into Lake Michigan. Looking up from the blank page to the blinking clock, he discovered it was only three-fifteen. He decided that today was perhaps the longest day of his life. Not only had he been called an idiot to his face [earlier that day by Yop], but he could do nothing to counter that opinion, because he couldn’t come up with even a single funny thing to say about breast cancer.
Of course this is funnier still in context, but the feeling that these creatives are constantly trapped or shackled in some way does make things funnier. Whether it’s being briefed on an impossible project, the fear of getting fired or being ground down by the rumour mill, none of the characters in Then We Came to the End seem particularly free.
At the end of the day
Ironically, whilst the characters within struggle to write anything remotely funny about breast cancer, perhaps Ferris has managed to satisfy the brief with Then We Came to the End. It’s by no means perfect, at times it can feel slow and a tad dull. Perhaps this is a metaphor for office life, but perhaps being gripping is more important for a novel. That being said, Then We Came to the End did achieve something no novel has before: it made me miss working in an office.
I did wonder if reading more from Joshua Ferris. I’m often apprehensive when a writer reaches such acclaim with their debut novel. I’ve read several fantastic debuts only to discover that the works that came next just didn’t measure up. If you’ve read something by Joshua Ferris that isn’t Then We Came to the End that’s worth a read, let me know.