Book #73: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close


Author: Jonathan Safran Foer


In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the progatonist, Oskar Schell is a nine year-old on a mission. After losing his father in the World Trade Center on September 11th, he discovers a jar in his father's closet with a key inside. Oskar decides that his dad is sending him on a quest to find the lock that fits the key. Oskar is brilliant, mourning, and more than a little bit maladjusted, and it's extremely entertaining to follow him throughout the five boroughs of New York in his search for the lock that fits his key.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a pretty unconventional novel. There are pages filled with pictures of people jumping from the windows of the World Trade Center. Other pages show the signatures on a scratch pad in an art supply store. Some reviewers have compared Schell to Holden Caulfield and Huck Finn. In his previous novel, Everything is Illuminated, Safran Foer's writing style is fun and a little bit manic, and that definitely keeps things interesting. The supporting characters, especially Oskar's grandparents, add depth and perspective to the story.


--originally published 11/11/06