The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Foer is intriguing and well written. Some argue that it is Foer’s greatest work to date. Jonathon Foer was born in 1977 and has one other well known novel named "Everything Is Illuminated." I personally believe that Foer is a very talented writer who has a unique style to his work. I have not had the opportunity until now, to read a novel written in this style of writing before and don’t think that I will see many in the future with as much creativity as this piece possesses.
The novel is about a nine-year-old boy named Oskar who lost his father during the September 11th attacks. After two years have passed since his father’s death, Oskar is still having a hard time accepting it and letting his father go. One of the things making Oskar’s father’s death so hard to accept is that Oskar was the only one to listen to the five heart wrenching voicemails left by his father the day of the September 11th attacks. One of the voicemails states, “I’m OK. Everything. Is. Fine. When you get this, give Grandma a call. Let her know that I’m OK. I’ll call again in a few minutes. Hopefully the fireman will be. Up here by then. I’ll call.” Oskar could tell by the messages that something was terribly wrong and that his father was trying to be calm only for him.
Oskar has a grandmother that lives across the street from him who he is tremendously close to. His grandfather left his grandmother forty years ago when he found out that Oskar’s grandmother was pregnant with his father. Before Oskar’s grandfather married his grandmother, he was in love with his grandmother’s sister who was pregnant with his child when she died in the bombings of Dresden. When Oskar’s grandfather found out about his wife being pregnant with Oskar’s father, he forced himself to leave because he was scared to loose another person that he loved.
One night while Oskar is looking through his father’s things he drops a vase, which shatters and reveals an envelope labeled with the name Black on it holding a mysterious key inside. Oskar is determined to find what the key opens and why his father had it hidden in a vase. Oskar comes up with the idea to meet everyone by the name of Black to hopefully find someone with the answer. Oskar allows his imagination to take him on an unforgettable adventure allowing him to find acceptance of his father’s death.
Along the way, Oskar meets many amazing people; some of whom he learns from and others that learn from him. One of the Blacks turns out to be his neighbor and becomes a close friend to Oskar. Oskar’s neighbor assists him until Oskar’s grandfather reappears as his grandmother’s renter. Oskar then becomes friends with the man that he does not know is his grandfather to finish the journey together. Both Oskar and his grandfather find a way to accept the death of Oskar’s father and are able to live life a little happier.
Foer leaves many unanswered questions at the end of the novel, which I think that he did on purpose. I believe that he wanted the audience to have the ability to have their own interpretation and ending to the story. Many readers may not care for the puzzling ending while others may praise Foer for it. I honestly think that it all depends on the reader’s personal preference and how creative they are.
The novel does have a small amount of content not appropriate for teens and children however; I recommend this novel to every adult. This novel offers so many lessons and reminds those that need to be reminded about what really matters in life. Grandmother leaves a letter for Oskar explaining her point of everything and tells him “it is always necessary.” Therefore, the greatest lesson that I got out of the novel is that you should never wait to say “I love you” or let someone know how much you care about them because you never know when they will be taken from you; not allowing you to tell them what you wanted to.
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