Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris is easily one of my favorite books of this decade. It takes place in an ad agency just after the dot-com bubble burst and was hailed as the Catch-22 of the business world and Kafka meets The Office. Throw in the narrative tweak of second person plural and you have something worth reading.
So how does Joshua Ferris follow up the brilliant Then We Came to the End? Does he rely on narrative gimmicks and end up being a one trick pony? Or does he hit another one out of the park? The answer is neither. But he does manage to hit a triple with The Unnamed. The Unnamed is the story of hotshot New York attorney Tim Farnsworth. He lives in a beautiful home, takes extravagant vacations with his wife, and works on the most high profile cases. But there's a problem. On occasion, he's compelled to walk great distances. He walks until he collapses. He has no control over where he walks, and he is unable to stop regardless of how hungry he might be or how treacherous the weather.
You know, as I recently learned to walk, I totally get this. Walking is great! I can get from Point A to Point B in quick fashion, or I can decide that Point B is suddenly boring and go to Point C instead. So I didn't totally get what the big deal was when Tim had to battle his 'affliction' for the first half of the novel. Just enjoy the walk, man! That's what I do. Sometimes, I walk back and forth between my room and the kitchen for absolutely no reason. I don't know why. I just sort of feel like it sometimes. And no one's writing a book about me.
But then things got interesting in the second half of the novel. Rather than trying to control the impulse, he attempts to allow it to run its course as he crisscrosses the United States on foot as his family begins to unravel at home. The impulse or affliction or whatever you want to call it begins to take on its own persona as Tim weakens both physically and mentally.
In case you didn't know, books now have trailers just like the movies. Here's the trailer for The Unnamed:
So, yeah. It's not the most uplifting of reads, but it is an interesting commentary on the duality of human nature (that was a really English major-y sentence, right there). It's another unique plot from Ferris, but he takes what could easily be a gimmick and turns it into something thoughtful. So is it worth your time? Absolutely. But it is huge departure from his previous work. And you know what? That's fine with me. This just goes to show that Joshua Ferris is one to watch.
I award The Unnamed 8.0 rattles out of a possible 10. Thanks to my pal Miriam at Hachette Book Group for sending a copy of The Unnamed. You can pick up a copy of The Unnamed on January 18, 2010, and I really recommend that you do.
See you tomorrow!
You know, as I recently learned to walk, I totally get this. Walking is great! I can get from Point A to Point B in quick fashion, or I can decide that Point B is suddenly boring and go to Point C instead. So I didn't totally get what the big deal was when Tim had to battle his 'affliction' for the first half of the novel. Just enjoy the walk, man! That's what I do. Sometimes, I walk back and forth between my room and the kitchen for absolutely no reason. I don't know why. I just sort of feel like it sometimes. And no one's writing a book about me.
But then things got interesting in the second half of the novel. Rather than trying to control the impulse, he attempts to allow it to run its course as he crisscrosses the United States on foot as his family begins to unravel at home. The impulse or affliction or whatever you want to call it begins to take on its own persona as Tim weakens both physically and mentally.
In case you didn't know, books now have trailers just like the movies. Here's the trailer for The Unnamed:
So, yeah. It's not the most uplifting of reads, but it is an interesting commentary on the duality of human nature (that was a really English major-y sentence, right there). It's another unique plot from Ferris, but he takes what could easily be a gimmick and turns it into something thoughtful. So is it worth your time? Absolutely. But it is huge departure from his previous work. And you know what? That's fine with me. This just goes to show that Joshua Ferris is one to watch.
I award The Unnamed 8.0 rattles out of a possible 10. Thanks to my pal Miriam at Hachette Book Group for sending a copy of The Unnamed. You can pick up a copy of The Unnamed on January 18, 2010, and I really recommend that you do.
See you tomorrow!
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