Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel: Amazon.co.uk: Jonathan Safran Foer: Books

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Product Description

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 discovers 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.

About the Author

Jonathan Safran Foer was born in 1977. He is the author of Everything is Illuminated, which won the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award.

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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A staggering work of genius..., 6 Sep 2006

By	Snapdragon (London) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Paperback)

Oskar is a nine year old living in New York, who lost his Father in 9/11. Whilst he is going through his things he accidently smashes a vase and comes across a key. Oskar is sure that the key belonged to his father and so attempts to search for which of the 162 million locks in New York it might open, in an attempt to make sense of the tragedy and keep something of his Father alive.

A parrallel narrative involves Oskar's grandparents, their relationship and the similarity between the Dresden bombings (which they witnessed) and 9/11.

I have to say that I approached this novel with some trepidation, fearing an overly sentimental or schmaltzy examination of 9/11, but I needn't have worried. With the exception of 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' by Jon McGregor, this novel would have to be as close to perfection as I have ever read.

The writing is moving and poetic, with plenty of word-play. It's challenging and funny without ever taking the obvious and tested methods. I would have to say that the writing might not be to everyone's taste, there is plenty of mulling over and description, but for me this just added to the experience.

I loved Oskar and although it is hard to believe that a nine year old would be so accomplished it isn't impossible. There are many explorations in this novel of how people attempt to cope with or make sense of loss. I found the grandfather's story the most moving...to leave an unborn child becasue you can't cope with the thought that one day you may lose it.

I cried through large chunks of this book, and even though it could have been my hormones, it might be one to avoid if you have recently suffered bereavement or if you're going through a rough patch.

I'd give it six stars if I could. Remarkable.

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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Heartbreak of Loving in a Dangerous World, 3 Jun 2006

By	J. E. Riddell (N.Ireland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Paperback)

Can love bear all things? Can it believe all things? Is there still room for hope in a world where we see only despair and man's inhumanity to man? Do we have the courage to love knowing the pain of loss? In a chokingly heartbreaking tale which interweaves narratives from different generations of a family ripped open by events so harrowing that they, in one generation, literally take one's voice away, a nine year old boy searches for a lock through which some answers might lie, to help him keep close to a Father taken from him in 9/11.
This book is so utterly convincing that I sobbed through most of its 300 plus pages. If you mix 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' with 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' and then throw in something like 'Birdsong', you might end up with a book like this. It's the best book I've read all year. Please, please read it.
J E Riddell

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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars witty, insightful and incredibly sad, 10 Sep 2006

By	Mike J. Wheeler (Kingswinford, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Paperback)

Having really enjoyed 'Everything is Illuminated' I approached this with caution. I was prepared to be disappointed by 'second book syndrome'. However, having read this it seems that Jonathan Safran Foer is a real talent and not a one book wonder. This is modern literature at its best. The book is witty, insightful and incredibly sad.

Like 'Everything is Illuminated' this is a book written from several viewpoints. We have the story of Oskar whose father was a victim of 9/11 searching New York a lock to fit a key he finds in a vase belonging to his father. This is probably the best part of the book and provides its meat. Oskar is 9 years old and has about every hang up you can imagine. In some ways this part of the book reminds me of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime' though its never stated that the boy has Asperger's syndrome. Oskar is however obsessive and seems to veer strongly towards an autistic personality.

The second and third parts of the book are more in the magical realist style that Foer used for the story of the shtetl in 'Everything is Illuminated'. It follows the relationship between Oskar's Grandmother and Grandfather who is literally dumb and has to communicate by writing. The relationship begins in Dresden immediately prior to the bombing in 1945 and through this provides a sympathetic analogy to the loss of Oskar's father and of course his Grandmother's son in 9/11.

This is a huge achievement considering that 9/11 is still so fresh in everybody's mind. Brave writing that deserves to be read.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mark Haddon and Paul Auster meet Georges Perec, with pleasing results.
Like most the books I read, I stumbled upon this one in a charity shop rather than seeking it out. I had not heard of it before, and bought it after reading the blurb and flicking... Read more

Published 10 days ago by Anton Melnek

4.0 out of 5 stars Creative but often confusing
Bizarre. That's the best word to describe this book!

In a lot of parts it's amusing and very creative but in other parts it is totally confusing and difficult... Read more

Published 12 days ago by Alison

4.0 out of 5 stars Grief and mourning, love and truth
Jonathan Safran Foer has a number of writerly tics - repetition and restatement chief among them, but this book is fuelled throughout with an undertow of intellectual curiosity... Read more

Published 2 months ago by E. Shaw

3.0 out of 5 stars a mixed blessing
Jonathan Safran Foer's first novel concerned, or touched on, the killing of Jews in the East. It was narrated in part via a non-native speaker of English, but in part was also set... Read more

Published 4 months ago by William Jordan

5.0 out of 5 stars Unreserved, and absolutely outstanding!
This book had been on my wish list for at least a year, and I finally got it for my birthday this time round. Read more

Published 6 months ago by K Clay

5.0 out of 5 stars Much more approachable than Everything is Illuminated
This is the story told by a 10 year old boy with an unusual personality, whose dad recently died in New York. Read more

Published 8 months ago by French reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Readable and & Incredibly Good!
What a wonderful, wonderful book. Buy it, read it and enjoy it. You won't regret reading a single word.

Published 9 months ago by Sara Edwards

5.0 out of 5 stars Very creative
This was such a fun book to read! I personally loved all the handwritten, scribbly pages and I thought the photos at the end were truly emotional. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Angel of Nine

4.0 out of 5 stars Beauitful, but some could find it annoying...
I personally found this book truly beautiful and one of the best books I have read in a long time. I read 'if nobody speaks of remarkable things' by Jon McGregor just before, but... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Ms. K. Blewett

4.0 out of 5 stars not everything is illuminated.
i hate books narrated by children, if i was interested in how they saw the world, i would just read harry potter, but this is different. oskar is not your average child.. Read more

Published 13 months ago by lushchica

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	88% buy the item featured on this page: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel 4.1 out of 5 stars (37)
	4% buy The History of Love 4.0 out of 5 stars (63) �6.36
	3% buy Everything is Illuminated 4.0 out of 5 stars (46) �5.71
	2% buy If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things 3.5 out of 5 stars (78) �4.80

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