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  • Reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

  • This novel from Jonathan Safran Foer (recently named one of Granta Magazine's best young American novelists) deals directly with the aftermath of 9/11 and its effect on the lives of those who were touched by the tragedy. The story is (primarily) told from the viewpoint of youngster Oskar Schell, who ... Continue

    This novel from Jonathan Safran Foer (recently named one of Granta Magazine's best young American novelists) deals directly with the aftermath of 9/11 and its effect on the lives of those who were touched by the tragedy. The story is (primarily) told from the viewpoint of youngster Oskar Schell, whose father was killed when the World Trade Center collapsed. Oskar, who was closer to his father than any other person in the world, tries to make sense of his loss. When he discovers a vase with a key inside of it in his father's closet, Oskar makes it his mission to understand what his father had to do with the key and with a mysterious person named Black. To that end, he sets out to meet every single person with the last name in New York City.

    Along with Oskar, the story is also revealed through the journals of his grandfather (a man who cannot speak and must write everything down - he left his wife and unborn son many years ago) and letters of his grandmother.

    The book might be a little too precious for some - Oskar is a brilliant young mastermind with great knowledge of certain things but who is clueless on other subjects. There are also several "devices" used to further the plot that some might find annoying, but I rather liked.

    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close actually comes to a bit of an abrupt end - as if Foer got tired of writing and just decided to wrap it all up. Even so, it's easy to get wrapped up in Oskar's story and see it through to the end.

    

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• ― moogle said on Mar 27, 2007 | 1 feedback| 1 feedback

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  • The best book I've ever read. The most intriguing characters, the most sweet-natured hilarity, the best story.

    

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• ― polacek said on Jul 30, 2007 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

  • This is a book that is hard to do justice in a review. The story is about the family of a man who lost his life in the World Trade Center during 9/11, but it's so much more than that. There is so much raw emotion in this book - love, loss, regret, fear, guilt, forgiveness, happiness, sadness - it ... Continue

    This is a book that is hard to do justice in a review. The story is about the family of a man who lost his life in the World Trade Center during 9/11, but it's so much more than that. There is so much raw emotion in this book - love, loss, regret, fear, guilt, forgiveness, happiness, sadness - it would be hard not to be touched by it. The writing style is highly unconventional. Some pages have one or two words, some have so many you can't even read them, some are nothing but pictures or numbers; but as a whole it works really well to portray the minds and feelings of the characters. An amazing read.

    

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• ― Readingrat said on Jan 12, 2008 | Add your feedback

Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. What he discovers is solace in that most human quality, imagination. Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist, correspondent with Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity who are all survivors in their own way. He befriends a 103-year-old war reporter, a tour guide who never leaves the Empire State Building, and lovers enraptured or scorned. Ultimately, Oskar ends his journey where it began, at his father's grave. But now he is accompanied by the silent stranger who has been renting the spare room of his grandmother's apartment. They are there to dig up his father's empty coffin.

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