Name: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Rating: 4.02319587628866 (485 reviews)
ISBN: 9780618711659

Jonathan Safran Foer

Oskar Schell, the nine-year-old son of a man killed in the World Trade Center attacks, searches the five boroughs of New York City for a lock that fits a black key his father left behind.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Paula Espinosa

Greg Talbot

Walking a fine line between mawkish and heartfelt, Foer gives ELAIC inventive devices that make it feel very precious and inspired. Young protagonist Oscar, who is a bit too precocious and unassuming in his stranger interactions, details his journey of coming to terms with his father's death, and giving burial to his enigmatic key. There is an additional storyline with much more poetic writing. Foer does away punctuation, identified speaker, and gives minimal context, but gives voice to the grandmother/grandfather's look back to their budding relationship and it's shameful walkout by him. Some of the imagery early on I really enjoyed, such as describing this symbiotic relationship between a river and a tree as the bond between the couple. I thought the convention of the none-speaking grandfather, with the tattooed hands was a little too much for me to accept, but was original. ELAIC’s highs are glorious. A gripping example is when Oscar internalizes the 9/11 events, and starts to consider other people's lives as burning towers, all set to fall apart. Also, meeting the woman who finds solace in the Empire State Building, extended the imagery of buildings as both wreckable and fortitude. My former familiarity with Foer's work is his non-fiction"Eating Animals", a project that resonates with me about the cruelty of animals in factory farm settings. It speaks to me, with its simplicity and nonjudgmental tone toward meat eaters. Clearly though his fictional work is more renown. I slightly recommend the book, as it is entertaining, heartfelt and appears more frequently in the cultural conversation on great recent lit.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he disovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

This author understands how to use words to make you feel things. Taking the perspective of a (authistic) child in grief is really something not everyone would come up with. Really unique style of writing and layout of the book. People might not like it, because it's not written like every other book, but if you let yourself in to this story and not limit yourself to "this isn't how books are supposed to be written" or "this is weird, and weird is bad", then you might find a treasure in this book.

A bit hard to read sometimes. Definitely something I had to consume in smaller pieces. Definitely also a bit weird at times. Made me think "who would ever talk like this" or "who would say to or do that with a kid??". But it had a lot of beauty in it's weirdness.

Grief, 9/11, WW2, loss, family, emotional conflict, life of a child that's not like everyone else.

Alisa 

This author understands how to use words to make you feel things. Taking the perspective of a (authistic) child in grief is really something not everyone would come up with. Really unique style of writing and layout of the book. People might not like it, because it's not written like every other book, but if you let yourself in to this story and not limit yourself to "this isn't how books are supposed to be written" or "this is weird, and weird is bad", then you might find a treasure in this book.

A bit hard to read sometimes. Definitely something I had to consume in smaller pieces. Definitely also a bit weird at times. Made me think "who would ever talk like this" or "who would say to or do that with a kid??". But it had a lot of beauty in it's weirdness.

Topics in this book:

Grief, 9/11, WW2, loss, family, emotional conflict, life of a child that's not like everyone else.

Annika Arguemore

after so many efforts of trying to grapple my ever-so-indecisive mind unto putting this book down, I have finally given up. I have so much more to read and I cannot continue this book any longer. don't get me wrong, I liked this book. but I guess, not enough. not enough to keep me reeling for more. 

one thing's for certain, this book had a lot of ideas... and getting a look at those ideas, no matter how scattered the presentation of showcasing it all seemed, was enlightening. this was what this book was... an enlightening experience. of course, by saying that, I'm saying that I'm looking at the bright side of my judgement of this novel. I must say that this book is not perfect but an enjoyable read indeed.

now, enough with the sugar-coating. despite the scattered presentation of ideas, this book disappointed me a teeny tiny bit with its lack of destination. the search for his missing father seemed pointless to me since it was sure that his dearest daddy was dead. but on the other hand, maybe I should have continued reading to make sure his father wasn't dead and that there was a destination after all. I should have continued reading, I should have BUT I couldn't. I couldn't because it lacked the excitement. that was the only problem for me.

hileahrious

Absolutely amazing. You have to read it. It's one of the few books I would read again and enjoy and appreciate so thoroughly a second time through.

Vilandra

Alexa M

I actually started this boy a reaaally long time ago but hey! This fucked me up

Patrick Cartelli

Intense and cathartic. I related heavily to the character (who was about my age when the worst day happened). He thought things that I thought and said things that I did. Highly recommended.

Ivy X

what an annoying precocious child...

i also had a hard time getting into the story because i just did not like the characters and how they all connected. wish this story about a child grappling with grief/loss was angled more like A Monster Calls....not impressed.

Jeannette Ordas

I had tried reading Everything is Illuminated but didn't get very far before putting it away. This book was different. Although the nine year old genius Oskar is a bit of a cartoon, he's still very likable and I wanted to follow him around New York on his quest. The drawings, photos, and type helped to make this book a bit more beautiful.

Extremely loud & incredibly close

Arturo Hernández

I'm still not sure as to how I got to this book in the first place, however I'm glad I did. There's something about the way this story is told that really caught my attention. Its sensibility and the way it tackles emotions witch such blunt efforts, it's quite refreshing. There's curiosity around the main topic of the book however the writer uses that element in an interesting and progressive way. It's a really good read, indeed.

Extremely loud and Incredibly Close was defenitely a very interesting read. The title and the cover is totally catchy.

All throughout the book, I felt emotionally connected to Oskar, w/c is what usually happens to me when I read a book with an enormous display of human emotions. I really love reading about huge trials in life and see how the characters deal with them. JSF really did an amazing work on making the reader empathize not only with Oskar but with the people he meets. The sub stories, a great mix of tragedy, love, sadness and happiness really drew Oskar in, and somehow they helped in the desicions he makes along the way. 

The theme of the book is a little dark, but I think it somehow fit with the subject matter of the story, the 9/11 bombing. And, OMG, the ending was mind-blowing. But I wasnt very satisfied, and the ending left me hanging. There's something missing. 

All in all, it was an okay read.

Marisel 

This is one of the most memorable and original books I’ve ever read. Definitely essential reading!

Ofelia

Da bambina la mia vita era una musica che suonava sempre più forte.
Tutto mi emozionava. Un cane che seguiva uno sconosciuto. Era una sensazione così intensa. Un calendario aperto sul mese sbagliato. Avrei potuto piangerci sopra. E piangevo. Quando finiva il fumo di un camino. Il modo in cui una bottiglia rovesciata si appoggiava sull’orlo della tavola. Ho passato la vita imparando a sentire di meno. Sento di meno ogni giorno. É la vecchiaia? O qualcosa di peggio?
Non ci si può difendere dalla tristezza senza difendersi dalla felicità.

Hussein Mahran

it's nothing like anything I've ever read, really charming and thrilling, what I liked most is the incredibly vital role for illustration in the novel, although I lost my interest in some parts due to some unnecessary lengthening, and although it was too much for me to read about the history's worst tragedies in one novel (9/11 - WW II - Hiroshima bombing), I'd say this is a new generation of literature.

Haley

** spoiler alert **
           This book was absolutely amazing. I sat down to read it at 8 pm on Saturday and had it finished by 9pm on Sunday. I could not put it down. Not only was Oskar’s search extremely compelling but also how you see the grandparents stories one point of view at a time and get to slowly see how they meet and come together was amazing. The book was so well written and thought provoking. The pictures and illustrations help visualize and make the story that much more interesting. I love how the author would reference something at the beginning of the book and then have it mentioned again at the end, allowing the reader to see what happened (e.i. When Oskar went to the craft store only to see his dads signature everywhere. Then in the last few chapters his grandfather mentions that he went to the craft store and got so caught up in writing his name in all sorts of mediums). Easily the best book I’ve ever read.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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