Friday, August 31, 2012

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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 (Written by Jonathan Safran Foer)

**

I picked up this book because my sister reviewed it on her book review blog.  
I don't remember now what she said in her review and I'm not going to go back and read
it until after I have finished writing mine.  But I'm interested in her thoughts again ... because mine
are so varied.  This book is different from other books I have read.  At times I found it difficult
to follow.  I found myself having to go back and figure out who was talking to who and 
especially when I'd put it down and picked it back up to read the next day, I was 
lost and had to find where I was again.  Having said that, when I was
able to sit and read for long periods of time and not have to put
it down, I found myself totally engrossed in what I 
was reading.  Another thing that was different,
and the jury is still out as to whether I
liked this difference is that the 
book was interspersed with
photos and blank 
pages and 
other things like 
red circles, as if the entire 
chapter had been edited.  There 
were pages with just one or two words, 
and pages full of numbers or typing that all ran over 
itself.  I think those weird things kept with the tone of the book 
though, so I'd say they added rather than detracted from the writing.  I
noticed that the spacing of the words was different depending on who was interacting
too.  I thought that was clever, but also a little bit annoying.  The subject matter ... it's about a 
young boy trying to process the death of his father.  His father died September 11, 2001 ... he was in
one of the towers.  It's about the boys family too.  And how they all cope.  His grandma and 
grandpa ... it's their story too.  Intertwined and disconnected all at the same time.  It's 
about strangers and stories and life.  

I liked it.

I think you might too.



3 comments:

Anonymous August 31, 2012 at 6:34 AM  

Intertwined and disconnected all at the same time. That is a great line for how the whole book goes. You did a great job in your descriptions... it's not an easy thing to describe.
We did have a lot of the same thoughts, you're right. I keep seeing the movie in Blockbuster and I'm not sure I want to watch it... will you see it?

andrafaye August 31, 2012 at 7:14 AM  

Have you read anything else by Jonathan Safran Foer? I kind of feel like you described how most of his books are written! I read, Everything is Illuminated, and while it was hard for me to follow at points, I enjoyed it. And actually, really enjoyed the movie too.
I don't think I'll ever read this book though...or watch the movie.

andrafaye August 31, 2012 at 7:17 AM  

Agh! Where'd my comment go?!!

I feel like you just described how most of his books are written! I read Everything is Illuminated and while I enjoyed it, it was hard for me to follow at points. I liked the movie too.
I'll probably never read this book or see the movie. Your reviews were just enough!


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