From the Bookshelf of 2025 Reading Challenge…

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer

Start date: November 1, 2014

Finish date: November 30, 2014

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Dec 29, 2012 Sarah Shoo rated it liked it

Shelves: read2012

I'm not sold on this book. In fact, I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars. I just didn't love it. Foer tried too hard with the gimmicks--photos, "hand-typed" pages, and other things--that, for me, just took away from the story. Perhaps a more visual person would enjoy it, or perhaps it would be better in hard-copy versus an eReader, but I wanted words, descriptions, a story.
I also had an issue with Oskar's grandparents' story. It was irrelevant. I'm not sure what the purpose was, other than to may ...more

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May 31, 2013 Barbara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-book-group-reads

I wasn't sure if I wanted to give this book 4 stars or 5 stars. So, let's just say 4.5.

I enjoyed the book as much as the movie. I can't help but like the movie with stars like Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Love them both. But, the book is just as good and maybe slightly better since you find out more about the grandfather.

A great story told by the boy and the grandfather's view. Oscar is on a search to open up something that a key fits into which he found in his dad's closet in a vase. The sea ...more

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Jan 25, 2014 Judy rated it really liked it

Oskar Schell is nine years old and he views himself as an inventor, a Shakespearean actor, a Francophile, a pacifist, a jeweler, and a tambourine player. And now he is on a quest. His father died in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and after his father's death, Oskar found a key among his father's possessions that doesn't open any lock in their apartment. Now Oskar is searching for the lock that the key will open and his search leads him all over New York City from Coney Island to Harlem and he me ...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Coco Kimura rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, 2012-summer-src

I wanted to love this book, but had a really hard time connecting with the main character, Oskar, mostly because of how precocious he is. I almost stopped reading halfway through because the storyline took too many tangents for my liking and was a bit too quirky, however I'm glad I finished because in the end it all came together and I did actually shed a couple of tears. ...more

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Feb 08, 2014 Megan BG rated it liked it

Shelves: books-that-are-movies-or-tv

I have mixed feelings about this book. While I liked the overall story (until the end - had hoped for a better ending to the lock mystery), I'm not a fan of the writing style and at times, got a bit lost. Especially when Oskar's narration jumped back and forth in time. I did like how things tied together when viewed through a different narrator's perspective. I was able to get through it quickly, despite getting lost a few times. It definitely held my attention. ...more

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Mar 31, 2008 Genevieve rated it liked it

Strange book. I laughed out loud at the main character. But it has a very strange ending. Sad too, don't read it if you want something happy... ...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Blessedutopia rated it it was ok

Waited so long to read this book and was so disappointed. Hated the writting. Just further proof that hype books aren't necessarily hype worthy. ...more

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