Heavy Boots

Oskar Schell, the nine year old narrator of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, pulls a reader deep into an exploration of love, loss, and ways to cope with both. Thomas Schell, Oskar’s father, died in the tragedy of 9/11, leaving his wife, his mother, and his son Oskar, to cope with their grief in their own ways. Oskar finds a key in his dad’s closet, and spends the rest of the novel combing New York and questioning its inhabitants to see if they can help him discover the meaning behind the key. He refers to his grief as “heavy boots.” Grandma finds a “renter” to live with her, and increases the protection of her relationship with Oskar. Oskar’s mom finds a friend named Ron who also lost someone. Grandpa, a continent away in Dresden, returns to New York to reconnect with his wife, and find solace after losing a son he never had. To pile more grief and loss into the story, Grandma and Grandpa lost someone in the Dresden fire-bombings of WWII – Anna. Anna was pregnant with Grandpa’s baby, and was Grandma’s sister. Through the narratives we are given we see how these three very different people cope with their losses, and still continue to love the people they have left.

The novel is written by Jonathan Safran-Foer, an emerging writer who also wrote Everything is Illuminated, which was made into a major motion picture. His foray into the 9/11 tragedy with his most recent book received a variety of responses, some critical, some applauding, of his work. His style is unorthodox to say the least. Rather than straightforward text, Safran-Foer uses pictures, a flip book, letters, editorial red pen, blank pages, numbers, and text that blurs together until unreadable to make his point. I think these tactics are compelling. Foer presents readers with a new challenge, a different type of novel. Instead of being given what we, as readers, expect; we are given something wholly novel and illuminating. We are taken on a journey with Foer’s work, and not just a literary one. We have visuals at our disposal, we have confusion on the page and in the text, and we even have numbers to decipher into words if we can. Foer appears to be introducing readers to a new experience. In an interview with Powell’s Bookstore he said that “People seem to have two reactions to books. Either they describe what they’re about or they describe how the book made them feel. I’d much rather write the kind of book that inspires someone to describe the way it made them feel. When you’re talking about the book, you’re not referring to an object; you’re referring to an experience.” He wants his books to be remembered for how they make a reader feel, and how they create a specific experience.

This story is brilliantly told. Foer navigates sensitive issues that all people deal with surely and bares the emotions of all the characters for the readers to see. At every chapter I was connecting new dots, and questioning motivations of characters. Is Grandpa the “renter?” Does Mom really not care what Oskar is doing on the streets of New York every day? Why does Grandma keep saying she has “crummy eyes?” I would formulate answers to these questions and many others, only to receive new information, or make a new connection in the next section of reading and reformulate all over again. I loved this. Foer created real suspense this way I think. I appreciated the new way he told an old story of grief by including photos, drawings, letters, numbers, red pen marks, etc. I think these visuals fleshed out the novel, and gave us more information to use in our understanding, and to add to our book experience.

I would recommend this book to almost anyone. It was a great read, and worthy of the acclaim it received from many critics. There is sensitive material addressed, but I think this was necessary in order to fully appreciate the grief underwent by the Schell family, and other families after 9/11. If nothing else, read the book to gain some insight into love. As Grandma’s last sentiment reminds us – “Here is the point of everything I have been trying to tell you, Oskar. It’s always necessary [to say I love you to someone you love].” Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a great story, told by a great author. Read, and enjoy!