Then We Came to the End: A Novel Summary and Reviews

Then We Came to the End: A Novel
by Joshua Ferris

Then We Came to the End: A Novel
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Book Summary Information

Author: Joshua Ferris
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-26
ISBN: 031601639X
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Back Bay Books

Book Reviews of Then We Came to the End: A Novel

Book Review: I prefer to watch jelly set.
Summary: 1 Stars

This book was billed as "A terrific first novel....Awfully funny." This should have read "Disappointing last novel....Awful".

It wasn't that I lost the will to live as I am still here just that I did not find that it made me even smile, let alone laugh.

My apologies to the author, after all he did write in good English - or should that be American and tied together many strands of office life and the social activity as he envisaged it and in a way that I would struggle to do.

But I feel very let down by the promise of a laugh or two and the actual lack of anything like this happening at least up to page 62. This is where I decided to call a halt as nothing had caused my chuckle muscles even to twitch.

I have experience of watching paint dry being a decorator and do declare this a rewarding activity compared to reading 'Then we came to the end'.

Comedy can be a way of confronting harsh or difficult facts of life and learning not to take ourselves so seriously. The text in this book lacks life in most part and when there is a spark of a basic truth it is sad and hopeless. Being funny about what ails us can help us to put it in perspective and when we go through those trials we can remember the joke in it all.

Remember the final scene in the film 'Life of Brian' - made by the Monty Python people - where the condemned sing 'Always look on the bright side of life' while nailed to their crosses. How many millions of people know that song and whistle and sing along with it when it is played?

Joshua, I apologise again as you are a fellow human being with all the strengths and frailties same as me but I couldn't get past page 62. Please try writing another novel but perhaps a murder mystery or other serious drama. You might find some funny bits appearing in it even if they aren't meant to be.

Regards
Richard Phillips

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