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minheepeaches's review against another edition
kind of a weird one. i read this in piecemeal on my commute to and from NYC. the book as it is was disjointed, and i think i need to read it again eventually. the last part was great tho. live love ed park!
jeffmauch's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this novel, but I just don't think it was very good in the end. Park is trying to craft an office type drama, but you really don't care for any of the characters in this book. The reader doesn't get invested in who they are or what is going on with any of them and in the end you are just glad that the story is over, regardless of the conclusion. I could spend a lot of time pointing out the numerous flaws in how this book was executed, but frankly, I've already spent more time on this than I should have to begin with.
nssutton's review against another edition
3.0
very, very, very similar to then we came to an end. i don't know why i enjoy reading these corporate novels so much (they're never as good as microserfs, the original) - maybe because i no longer work in that environment myself, but miss the camaraderie, the craziness. the format took a little getting used to, but the ending is such a capper.
ginbott's review against another edition
3.0
In this novel Park uses three distinctively different techniques, dividing the novel into separate parts. While you could argue this works for an office setting, certainly the middle part feels contrived and unnecessary. The use of first-person plural mostly works, as does the more personal email-form used for the novel’s ending. If Park had decided to use one form of narration the novel might have benefitted as a whole.
The start-stop nature of the narrative does not allow the reader to bond with any of the characters, but it could be argued this is intentional. Starting relatively strong with the collective ‘we’, this style is never revisited after the first section and in later parts of the novel the reader only interacts with the characters from a distance, never again feeling part of the action. The characters are not well-rounded and mostly easily forgotten.
The daily grind these co-workers find themselves is presented to the reader in a witty and recognizable manner. However, once the actual plot takes hold the novel becomes confused in its intentions. Particularly towards the very end the credibility is stretched to within an inch of its life.
This novel has a strong start; Park manages to capture something true and familiar about office life with a real sense of humour. However, the plot feels contrived and does not demand much from the reader. There is something cliché and overworked about the storyline which deters from the initial enjoyment.
Park triumphs in terms of winning the reader over in the first couple of pages. There is a kind of ease, intelligence and sense of fun about his writing which is engaging. We are left with a light read not without merit, but in terms of story and character development the novel is not as strong as the very similar Then We Came to the End
The start-stop nature of the narrative does not allow the reader to bond with any of the characters, but it could be argued this is intentional. Starting relatively strong with the collective ‘we’, this style is never revisited after the first section and in later parts of the novel the reader only interacts with the characters from a distance, never again feeling part of the action. The characters are not well-rounded and mostly easily forgotten.
The daily grind these co-workers find themselves is presented to the reader in a witty and recognizable manner. However, once the actual plot takes hold the novel becomes confused in its intentions. Particularly towards the very end the credibility is stretched to within an inch of its life.
This novel has a strong start; Park manages to capture something true and familiar about office life with a real sense of humour. However, the plot feels contrived and does not demand much from the reader. There is something cliché and overworked about the storyline which deters from the initial enjoyment.
Park triumphs in terms of winning the reader over in the first couple of pages. There is a kind of ease, intelligence and sense of fun about his writing which is engaging. We are left with a light read not without merit, but in terms of story and character development the novel is not as strong as the very similar Then We Came to the End
dkai's review against another edition
3.0
The crowning achievement of this book is effective execution of the "corporate we" point of view. Paying attention to the pronoun usage throughout the book is fascinating, despite the drudgery of all but the last section. If you've started, I recommend speed reading to the final section.