Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

by Jonathan Safran Foer
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  
published April 4th 2006 by Mariner Books
first published 2005
binding Paperback
isbn 0618711651   (isbn13: 9780618711659)
pages 368
description "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" has been one of the most discussed, acclaimed, and debated novels in recent memory. And with good rea...more
date added
12-06-06



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Amanda
Amanda rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/05/07

bookshelves: all_time_favs, common-reading-experience, read_summer_07
Read in June, 2007
Today while tutoring, I've met with one student right at 1 and another at 4. In between those times, I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Perhaps that was not the smartest thing to do...

Sometimes I find the book so funny that I laugh out loud. Which is fine if I had a quiet laugh, but I don't. And I tutor in a common meeting space which is a center room with offices surrounding it. Clearly, everyone in the office knew I was getting paid to laugh at what I was reading. I felt bad; if I...more
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  2 comments

Lucy
Lucy rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
09/01/07

Read in August, 2007
recommends it for: open-minded readers who don't mind the unconventional
I picked this book up two days ago to read the first page (I personally think you can tell a lot about a book from the first page) and was hooked. I'm in the middle of another book, which is a good book, but the jarring nature of the prose reeled me in. The first chapter is called, "What the?" which is exactly what I was thinking. I was instantly reminded of another great book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, where you actually experience the book as well as read it. ...more
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  2 comments

Nian
Nian rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
04/27/08

Read in April, 2008
recommends it for: everyone
Book Club Book.

When nine-year-old Oskar Schell finds an envelope addressed to Black with a key inside, he thinks that if he finds the lock to the key, he’ll discover something left behind by his father, who died on September 11. The only clue is the word Black, and from that, Oskar plans to go and track down every person whose last name is Black and ask if they know Thomas Schell or have information about the key.

This is one of the most thoughtful and provoking book I’ve read in a ...more
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Jeffrey
Jeffrey rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
05/28/07

Read in May, 2007
recommends it for: Those Interested In A Quick Read
There is something to be said for knowing one's limitations, a lesson that was clearly lost on Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer attempts to be part J.D. Salinger (alienated quest), part William Faulkner (conflict with environment), and part E.L. Doctorow (hybridized novel), but does not have the literary chops to do the job on any count.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the story of a young boy named Oskar whose father is killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11...more
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Teresa
08/10/07

bookshelves: readandreviewed
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in April, 2005
I promised myself that I wouldn't compare Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (EL&IC) with its predecessor, Everything is Illuminated, because they are two completely different books and should each stand on their own. However, as they are both works by an author I admire I will say this: EII was great. EL&IC was good.

EL&IC tells the story of Oskar Schell, a 9-year-old boy in Manhattan whose father died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He finds a key in an envelop...more
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Anna
08/20/07

Read in June, 2007
just finished Jonathan Safran Foer's novel last night, late, because I couldn't sleep and I only had a little bit left to read. At it's end, I wept. It is not a sentimental book. It's written in experimental style, with doodles and photos and random placement of words, phrases, dialogue running into each other sometimes, weird indentations, and POVs that once in a while jump around, even tho' sticking with the "I" voice. There were times I thought, "Hey! This seems like a writing...more
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Sam
Sam rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
08/11/07

Read in July, 2007
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close begins in late fall of 2001. It charts the voyages of three people through their own histories of loss: Oskar Schell, his Grandma, and her estranged husband. The three are distinctly different in both their aspirations and attributes, and as such, Jonathan Safran Foer adeptly creates for them three distinctly different voi...more
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Bart
Bart rated it: 1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars
08/15/08

Read in August, 2008
recommended to Bart by: Everything is Illuminated
recommends it for: No one at all
When Thomas Pynchon invented what James Wood later named “hyper realism”, he did literature no favors. To read Pynchon is to witness genius at its most joyless. A mind capable of inventing myriad things and compelled to record them all. But at least Pynchon showed genius.

What Jonathan Safran Foer shows, however, is mere gimmickry. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes readers who thought they might have seen a glimmer of greatness in Everything is Illuminated and co...more
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Andy
Andy rated it: 1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars1 of 5 stars
08/01/08

Read in July, 2008
recommends it for: Pseudo-intellectuals, people suckered by saccharine emotion

A more apt title would have been Terribly Artificial and Unbearably Pretentious. This seems like the kind of thing I would have thought was a profound idea when I myself was nine, laboring on crayon illustrations to include with my manuscript into the wee hours of the morning. Maybe that means Foer succeeded. I happen to think it means his efforts were an abject failure, and that he has a great many readers and critics completely snowed.

With a book like this, you either accept it as charmi...more
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Derek
Derek rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
01/24/08

Read in January, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Rachel
Rachel rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
02/04/08

After a long string of "so-so" books, I finally picked up "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and hoped for the best.
I struggled through "Everything is Illuminated" because of the hype it recieved, only to find that it was, in my opinion, not very interesting, and hard to follow. This book however, is completely different from Foer's first novel.

The very first page of this book had me instantly excited. The main character, Oskar, reminded me much of the main...more
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Nolatari
Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in July, 2008
recommends it for: lovers of non-linear storytelling
The novels of Jonathan Safran Foer are more than just engaging stories; they are puzzles whose pieces are laid out in non-linear fashion from multiple perspectives over many generations. Although one large story is being told, it takes much attention by the reader to grasp all the small pieces that will eventually drop into place by the final chapter. And even then, some pieces just might not fit the story at large. This, too, is okay. For the stories told by Foer are masterful and seem to be ge...more
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d e v i s a r i
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for: people who like new-way of writing
What would you do if you got a phone message from your father who was trapped in the World Trade Center, minutes before it collapsed?
Oskar decides not to tell his mother and keeps it for it self.

This story is about the 9 year-old boy trying to come to term with the lost of his father. The story begins when Oskar found a key in a blue vase that was kept in his father wardrobe. He does not know what the key opens and eventually decided to find out. He only has one clue; He knows that he shou...more
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Jacob
Jacob rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
11/21/07

Read in November, 2007
recommends it for: human beings only.
Jonathan Safran Foer is one of the most creative storytellers I have ever read. He doesn't just tell you the story - he uses the medium itself as a symbol, weaving his stories as immersive meta-narratives in which you are both an observer and a participant, and in so doing, he achieves emotional connections to an otherwise unreachable depth and provides insights that, in the context of the narrative, feel more like self-evident truths. This was true of Everything Is Illuminated, and it's true ...more
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