Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Ratings207
Average rating4
Though the story was not so captivating, but the narration was absolutely flawless. Very heart-wrenching
I'm really conflicted on how I feel about this book.
There are a lot of great ideas and little touches that I appreciated, but there are just as many lazy attempts at sentimentality that really bugged me.
I liked it overall though, and it is a pretty quick, easy read.
Great book! Somewhat gimmicky, but a sad, sweet story of mourning, forgiveness, and love.
This was an incredibly unique and interesting book. It's going to take some time and reflection to process it. I recommend reading it as opposed to listening, I can see why it would not have the same effect if you're listening to it.
Wow. Just finished with this book.
Every once in a while you run into a gem like this. It's hard to put your finger on why it touches you but it does. All the seemingly random statements, random comments and random thoughts converge into the feeling that it was supposed to convey. And it hits you right in the face. The fear, the anguish, the pain and the sadness. But also the beauty, the joy and the lightheartedness of a young man.
It's all in there. And it's so great.
This will be one of my all-time favorite books. Harper Lee's quote, “the book to read is not one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think” perfectly applies here. I loved the journey it took me on and I was sorry to see it end. As a rule, I don't reread books but I will probably make an exception with this book. I lauged, I cried, I reflected on the smaller details of life, imagination, and relationships. Thank you Jonathan Safran Foer for giving us such a delightful story and told in such a creative way.
sidenote: I don't know how the movie will be able to convey the story the way the book did but I don't really care. I'm sure it will be a good movie but I feel like I have a genuine treasure from reading the book.
Un enfant de 9 ans, à l'intelligence supérieure à la moyenne et à l'imagination débordante, essaye de faire le deuil de son père, mort dans les attentats du 11 Septembre. C'est un drôle de roman, un peu compliqué à suivre : ça part dans tous les sens, c'est bourré d'histoires parallèles, même on parvient à reconstituer les pièces du puzzle à la fin. C'est joli, plein de bons sentiments, parfois émouvant. Mais il m'a manqué quelque chose pour en faire un très bon roman. Peut-être parce que certains passages sont assez pénibles à lire.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the perfect example of a dual perspective novel that doesn't really work for me. I probably would have liked it more without the grandparents storyline. I think the choice to use mixed media was a good one and was executed well. On the other hand, the use of that picture in fiction feels Extremely Wrong and Incredibly Tone Deaf.
I really don't know how to rate this book. I went into it expecting to like a lot, and parts of it I liked quite a bit. But most of it I thought was a muddled mess, and I resented reading it. I wonder if it would work better as a short story.
Le deuil d'un petit garçon pas comme les autres, des rencontres, des retrouvailles, beaucoup d'émotions. Une histoire touchante.
I really wanted to LOVE this book, but in the end I probably Really Liked it. The structure and storytelling is so different to anything else I have read. I loved the use of colour and grammatical errors; of pictures and paragraph spacing, but in the end I felt that this book just tried too hard. It's definitely worth a read but will not go onto my most memorable list.
I found I could see the author too much in the writing of this book. In spite of having chapters from several different characters perspectives, it never quite got to the point where I was hearing several different voices. Everyone's voice felt too similar, and that seems almost impressive when you consider this means a 9-year old boy who “was tested with inconclusive results for aspergers” at times has a voice similar to a 70-something year old woman. Unfortunately, the author's overwhelming voice also sometimes over-steps into being overly-saccharine.; the text seems to have too many with “deep-thoughts (tm)”, where introspection too-often moralizes.
That being said, I enjoyed this book more than I expected to. The two parallel stories were engaging and the imagery in parts was lovely. I was also comfortable with how the text incorporated September 11th in the story, which was a concern I had when starting the novel.
I think I was expecting more from this because everybody told me it was amazing!!
I'm not saying it isn't, it's really good, but I was expecting more.
I don't know that I have ever read a book like this one. It's a fascinating that the subject of the September 11 terrorist attacks is addressed through the eyes of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, and a very unique and intelligent nine-year-old at that. Oskar's father was in the World Trade Center and died when the tower he was in collapsed on September 11, 2001.
The author explores humans and our emotions in a realistic way - messy, vulnerable, self-conscious, angry, hypothetical, repressed, sad, nostalgic and uncertain. While reading the book, I was led to tears, felt uncomfortable, laughed and wanted so desperately for Oskar to find what he is searching for (read the book to find out what that is exactly!). Oskar is an exceptionally perceptive and intelligent character, and I caught myself more than a few times wondering how he could be so immature and naive and had to remind myself that he is only 9 years old.
Nothing in the novel felt artificial or forced; the characters and situations all seem real and I felt as if they could have happened to me or to someone I know. Maybe that is what helps this novel resonate with the reader. Can't wait to see how the movie adaptation rates coming from such an interesting and fantastic novel.
I just found it a bit boring and couldn't wait til
I finished it. Seemed to be trying too hard to be clever. My fellow book clubbers are indicating they loved it and from the reviews here it is certainly a polarizing experience.
This book forever teetered on the brink of being too precious, but to me it ultimately never crossed over. Oskar is a hilarious and tragic character. At first I was annoyed with the grandparents' storyline but it grew on me. I also really liked all the visual elements of the book.
If the “I'm 14 and this is deep” meme was a book about 9/11 it would be this. I hated every single page.
it was an unbearable pain to let go of this story. truly one of the best things i've read in a while. just as oskar didn't want to let go of the last mystery his father left for him. i need to sit on this for a bit before i start another book. the only reason i'm not crying right now is because i'm in public. this is a rare example of a “must-read” book that is actually entirely deserving of its hype.
very very good. 4 stars because I was able to leave my bed after reading ;/
Wow, this one was heart wrenching and amazing. I lost count of the time my eyes filled with tears! The writing is beautiful, the storylines heartbreaking. The author uses various visual techniques that includes photographs, diagrams, blank pages etc. that creates a true intensity to the story. I really don't know what else to say other then I think this should be on everyone's must read list!
I don't know why the average for this book is less than 4. This is a spectacular novel about a young boy (Oskar, 9) trying to find meaning in his father's senseless death on 9/11.
Maybe it was structure people took issue with. I found the timeline jumps hard at the beginning but only because I wasn't paying enough attention to the chapter titles which clearly told me the timing. The dialogue presented as prose might have thrown some off too.
Oskar is such a charmer. His internal dialogue captivating, but his external dialogue was even more delightful. A no-nonsense approach to the world (Asperger's maybe?) made the conversation believable.
