Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Jonathan Safran Foer: Mariner Books: Fiction: 368

In his second novel Jonathan Safron Foer has poignantly captured the pain of loosing a loved one, and, without over-sentimentalizing, the necessity of love in order to overcome it. The main protagonist, Oscar Schell, is a precocious nine year old with a mysterious key that he found in his father's room. Oscar's father was killed in the 9/11 attacks two years earlier and Oscar is determined to find the other half of the key so that he will not have such "heavy boots" all the time. At the same time the often tragic story of Oscar's Grandmother and Grandfather is revealed. Oscar's Grandparents are both deeply scarred by what they experienced in the Dresden bombing of World War II and a significant part of the novel deals with the repercussions to their relationship. The way these stories connect is at once understated and profound. This novel was absolutely beautiful. Told almost in little vignettes as Oscar travels the city and meets many of New York's eccentric inhabitants, each encounter could be self contained. As many critics have noted, Foer has an uncanny ability to address things like love, truth, and beauty without sentimentality or cynicism. Critics have also suggested that you have to have a taste for Foer's stream-of-consciousness writing and time gaps in plot, but anyone willing to invest just a little bit of energy won't be disappointed with this post-modern masterpiece.
BES