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A review by scottk1265
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
5.0
The 5 star system here on goodreads, means that you thought the Book was amazing. That being the case I logically could have rated it a 10. There is soooo much that is amazing about this book. I only finished last night, this morning while shaving I thought of even another amazing thing.
There are some that complain , "I couldn't get into the writing style", or "I hate the way he did the conversation parts, they were confusing". Well, IMHO, those are just lame ass reasons for not liking this book. I know that I should not cast judgement, and I really am not. I feel bad for them because, again IMHO they are missing one of the greatest books that I have read in 2008. Sure there may be people with black and shriveled hearts that don't "get" this book. I feel badly for them as well.
How an author can take so much pain,hurt,despair and regret,and make it such an enjoyable read DESPITE these things is laudable. If you don't feel something for one of the characters, perhaps you should make a Dr's Appt. maybe you are dead, or a zombie. Oskar Schell will live in my memory as one of my Favorite Characters of all time. Undaunted, by the enormity of his task he with much thought ( but not much caring about what needed to be done) simply did it. Talk with everyone in NYC with the last name of Black?? Most of us would have quit right there,claiming it's impossibility.
I will admit I did not care for Oskar's Mom very much in the beginning,actually not until about the middle of the book when Oskar and his Mom have an arguement and He tells her if he could have chosen who died,he would have chosen her. I began to feel her pain more at that point.
Then near the end when we find out that his Mom had been helping as much as she could, I began to Love her. She knew, she understood, that the search for the lock his key opened was something he had to do on his own. She did not get in his way, or try to hinder him in any way. In fact she acted as if she knew nothing about it, all the time, doing what she could to make his journey an easier one.
It made me think alot about how much parents (I think Mothers moreso)do really go out of their way to guide, Nurture and protect the things they hold most dear. But the thing is MOST of what they do will go unnoticed,it will fly under the radar. The most wonderful thing about that is they (the parents/Mothers) know what they did or are doing will not be acknowledged,they do it anyway.
In the end No one really got what they wanted, except maybe a little more understanding of Love and the way it works. Dad did not miraculously miss the attack. Mom did not find a new love,in fact said she would never fall in love again. Oskar did find the Lock but it was in no way what he wanted or needed it to be, or perhaps it was exactly what he needed it to be. Grandma and Grandpa,did Love each other deeply but neither could escape the Ghosts from their past and therefore could not be together. The last letter we read from his Grandma, in which she finally realized it was important to tell the ones you love that you do indeed love them was a 3 tissue passage for me. Some people never get it,others get it but it comes to them too late. I would like to thank those who recommended this book to me, it was amazing. I know it will stay with me for a long time to come.
There are some that complain , "I couldn't get into the writing style", or "I hate the way he did the conversation parts, they were confusing". Well, IMHO, those are just lame ass reasons for not liking this book. I know that I should not cast judgement, and I really am not. I feel bad for them because, again IMHO they are missing one of the greatest books that I have read in 2008. Sure there may be people with black and shriveled hearts that don't "get" this book. I feel badly for them as well.
How an author can take so much pain,hurt,despair and regret,and make it such an enjoyable read DESPITE these things is laudable. If you don't feel something for one of the characters, perhaps you should make a Dr's Appt. maybe you are dead, or a zombie. Oskar Schell will live in my memory as one of my Favorite Characters of all time. Undaunted, by the enormity of his task he with much thought ( but not much caring about what needed to be done) simply did it. Talk with everyone in NYC with the last name of Black?? Most of us would have quit right there,claiming it's impossibility.
I will admit I did not care for Oskar's Mom very much in the beginning,actually not until about the middle of the book when Oskar and his Mom have an arguement and He tells her if he could have chosen who died,he would have chosen her. I began to feel her pain more at that point.
Then near the end when we find out that his Mom had been helping as much as she could, I began to Love her. She knew, she understood, that the search for the lock his key opened was something he had to do on his own. She did not get in his way, or try to hinder him in any way. In fact she acted as if she knew nothing about it, all the time, doing what she could to make his journey an easier one.
It made me think alot about how much parents (I think Mothers moreso)do really go out of their way to guide, Nurture and protect the things they hold most dear. But the thing is MOST of what they do will go unnoticed,it will fly under the radar. The most wonderful thing about that is they (the parents/Mothers) know what they did or are doing will not be acknowledged,they do it anyway.
In the end No one really got what they wanted, except maybe a little more understanding of Love and the way it works. Dad did not miraculously miss the attack. Mom did not find a new love,in fact said she would never fall in love again. Oskar did find the Lock but it was in no way what he wanted or needed it to be, or perhaps it was exactly what he needed it to be. Grandma and Grandpa,did Love each other deeply but neither could escape the Ghosts from their past and therefore could not be together. The last letter we read from his Grandma, in which she finally realized it was important to tell the ones you love that you do indeed love them was a 3 tissue passage for me. Some people never get it,others get it but it comes to them too late. I would like to thank those who recommended this book to me, it was amazing. I know it will stay with me for a long time to come.