Extremely Engaging and Incredibly Insightful

A review of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Like realizing one day that your childhood is past, finishing this book made me feel

trepidation about what came next; I feared that whatever new book I began, it could never

give me that same feeling.

I was reminded to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close when I heard my friend

Rob reading it in a café—he was laughing out loud so much it was distracting. He read

me a passage from it, which I have since realized is impossible to avoid while reading

this book. You simply must share it, or else burst with the oddness and hilarity and

humility of trying to keep it all inside.

When I was done with the book, having searched in vain for another copy, I gave my

copy to my friend Joel—a young man who, like Oskar, is somewhat lacking in social

niceties, yet so full of real grace and vivacity that one must enjoy his company, not even

despite the lack but indeed because of it. Upon his reception of the book, others in the

room quickly learned that Joel was no longer present in the conversation, although the

flow was punctuated often by his helpless chuckles.

The precocious nine-year-old protagonist, Oskar, is living in New York City through

the aftermath of the World Trade Centre attack, and suffering through the loss of his dad

in the crash. His search for some meaning in his situation is enlivened by his constant,

stream-of-consciousness observations, musings and inventions. He is so intelligent that it

hurts, so sensitive he becomes remote, and so insightful it’s surprisingly hilarious.

In the tradition of older authors with three names, Jonathan Safran Foer explores not

only Oskar’s point of view but the earlier generations of his family as well. The second

and third viewpoints, from an earlier time, mirror Oskar’s devastation and reveal that his

bizarreness is hereditary—or maybe, in the end, that not only Oskar but also each of us

is neurotic, insightful, frantically loving, and sensitive like raw skin, and we are more

fascinating and strong and in need of each other than we realize.

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