Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in Books I Want To Talk About

May 23, 2009 Jennifer Zimny rated it did not like it

I went into this book expecting something magical. It was recommended to me by what I like to refer to as my 鈥渂ook soul mate.鈥� She raved and raved about how this book didn鈥檛 just capture her from beginning to end, but she went on about how it changed her. Seeing how we had so many other similar opinions about books (including even unpopular ones), I thought I would give it a try.

What I found in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was almost the exact opposite of what my 鈥渂ook soul mate鈥� felt, m I went into this book expecting something magical. It was recommended to me by what I like to refer to as my 鈥渂ook soul mate.鈥� She raved and raved about how this book didn鈥檛 just capture her from beginning to end, but she went on about how it changed her. Seeing how we had so many other similar opinions about books (including even unpopular ones), I thought I would give it a try.

What I found in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was almost the exact opposite of what my 鈥渂ook soul mate鈥� felt, much to her 鈥渋ncredible鈥� disappointment. What I found, in my honest opinion, was. . .to put it bluntly. . .pretentious crap.

My mother (an English teacher) taught me well, so let me back up my 鈥減retentious crap鈥� point with a few examples:

Pretentious crap example #1: The typeset in this book.
Did Jonathan Safran Foer just sit around in his house with every chapter thinking, 鈥淲hat kind of weird and crazy thing can I do with the typeset on this page? I鈥檓 no purist who thinks every book should look exactly the same with nothing new and exciting, but JSF uses what seems like every single trick in the book. There are pages of one single sentence written in the middle of the page in some spots. There鈥檚 a tab (or double spacing, perhaps) between every sentence in others. There鈥檚 and entire chapter where the spacing between the lines get smaller and smaller until you end with four pages of nothing but blackness, absolutely incoherent. There鈥檚 chapters written where every sentence has its own line, and, my own personal favorite. . . .a chapter where there are red circles and lines around certain parts of the text.

Pretentious crap example #2: The character of Oskar.
I don鈥檛 care if you鈥檙e a genius. I don鈥檛 care if you鈥檙e an amateur inventor. A nine-year-old does not think the way Oskar Schell does. He does in some ways, but I could never, from the first page to the last, buy into the idea that this is a nine-year-old boy. I could never buy into the idea that he could just go running around NYC searching for the meaning of this key. We find out later a reason why he may have been able to do it, but by then I was so disconnected from the book that I stopped caring.

Pretentious crap example #3: The pictures
I wonder is JSF first went around finding, or taking, pictures of random things and inserting them into the story, instead of it being the other way around.

Ironically, the only time I was ever affected by this book was when Oskar was playing the Hiroshima interview. I found the interview itself to be compelling and moving. As soon as the interview was over and we returned to Oskar and his obsession with the explosion itself, I was gone again.

To me, the mark of a brilliant writer is one who draws me in with their language, painting three-dimensional characters and places for me. The use of their language teeters between that line of poetry and prose, never falling completely on one side or the other. Rather, they leave me breathless and feeling enveloped in their world. Jonathan Safran Foer, for me, did the exact opposite. I felt distanced by his use of language, not being allowed into his fancy world of funky typesets and strange characters. Sorry, my book soul mate. . . .but that鈥檚 how I feel!
...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2007 Meghan rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, kindle, american, historical-fiction, favorites, dmbc, book-club

I knew nothing about this book other than my 鈥渓iterati鈥� friends all highly recommended it. It was good, as in really well written. And from page one, I was hooked. I enjoyed Oskar the narrator, a nine-year-old boy who asked a lot of questions. It reminded me how easy it is, as an adult, to forget to be curious. Oskar made observations that I found witty and humorous and real. Real in the sense that I have heard other people make similar observations or ones that may have crossed my mind.

For me, I knew nothing about this book other than my 鈥渓iterati鈥� friends all highly recommended it. It was good, as in really well written. And from page one, I was hooked. I enjoyed Oskar the narrator, a nine-year-old boy who asked a lot of questions. It reminded me how easy it is, as an adult, to forget to be curious. Oskar made observations that I found witty and humorous and real. Real in the sense that I have heard other people make similar observations or ones that may have crossed my mind.

For me, this book was like a can of Pringles (or I suppose I should say a bag of Lays)鈥斺€測ou just can鈥檛 eat one.鈥� And before you know it, you鈥檝e gone and eaten the whole can. Had I not had kindle issues, I probably would have finished it the first day I started it. That doesn鈥檛 mean I think this is a 鈥渇luff鈥� book. It is well written. I enjoyed the styles the author chose to insert throughout the story. I think it captured the feeling of the various people Oskar met along the way. Some readers may find it 鈥済immicky鈥� but I felt it was a visual representation to each personality, and so I enjoyed it.

The only part I felt Foer faltered big time was when Oskar went to the Empire State Building. The whole scene felt contrived and unreal. As a huge fan of New York City, I felt this book was a love letter to the city. And so while I understood you can鈥檛 really do a book on NYC without mentioning the Empire State Building, the dialogue and the scenario amongst the characters felt really untrue to the story as a whole. It was too precious and gooey and sentimental鈥攍ike Foer watched Sleepless in Seattle one too many times and somehow owed Meg Ryan a mushy scene.

Also, I wasn鈥檛 really thrilled with the grandparents鈥� story felt too disjointed and because the story came out in dribbles, it got a bit bogged down in the innuendos to the point where it got tedious and confusing. I felt like saying to both of them, 鈥済et on with it already.鈥�

That said, Foer managed to turn everything around at the end and connected the dots of all these different parts really well. I love a good 鈥渞ip-your-heart-out鈥� ending and Foer puts in a doozy.

All-in-all, I would recommend this to most readers and I look forward to reading his other works.
...more

Like · see review

Apr 20, 2012 Brynn rated it really liked it

Really interesting lay out for a story....but lacks real bonds with characters other than Oskar.

Like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Rachael rated it did not like it

Maybe I'll try again some other time. ...more

Like · see review

Oct 08, 2007 Robbie Bashore rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bookclub

I loved this book! It's a sensitive look at the aftermath of 9/11--a subject which I suspect will be heavily addressed in the literature of the future. In a story that's funny and touching and at times gives us "heavy boots," Foer helps us to ponder what it means to live. ...more

Like · see review