Bookish Sundays: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

Category: Fiction

Synopsis [c/o Barnes & Noble]: "Jonathan Safran Foer confronts the traumas of our recent history. What he discovers is solace in that most human quality, imagination." "Meet Oskar Schell, an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, and pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York. His mission is to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11." An inspired innocent, Oskar is alternately endearing, exasperating, and hilarious as he careens from Central Park to Coney Island to Harlem on his search. Along the way he is always dreaming up inventions to keep those he loves safe from harm. What about a birdseed shirt to let you fly away? What if you could actually hear everyone's heartbeat? His goal is hopeful, but the past speaks a loud warning in stories of those who've lost loved ones before. As Oskar roams New York, he encounters a motley assortment of humanity who are all survivors in their own way. He befriends a 103-year-old war reporter, a tour guide who never leaves the Empire State Building, and lovers enraptured or scorned. Ultimately, Oskar ends his journey where it began, at his father's grave. But now he is accompanied by the silent stranger who has been renting the spare room of his grandmother's apartment. They are there to dig up his father's empty coffin.

c/o B&N

Overview:  Written in a style that reminds me very much of The History of Love, Foer's main character is forced to deal with an untimely tragedy that shakes his entire world.  While witty and charming, it is also heartbreaking to watch someone so young try to hold on to the memory of his father.  The growth and development of the characters are phenomenal, if overly unbelievable.  But each member of the cast in his/her own way helps Oskar in his search, and are in turn affected by his quirky personality and innocent purity.  Definitely a must read.  

Have you seen the movie? Is it worth watching?  And thank you, Talia, for recommending this to me.  Definitely as great as you said it would be!