Review: “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer

Written by Teri Lawen
October 1, 2008

Something and nothing or extreme and incredible? Jonathan Safran Foer presents these as options to living in his book “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” A book so profoundly exhilarating one can hardly bear to put it down.

Foer begins by introducing us to the inventions of a nine year old child, inventions to solve all the world’s problems as only a nine year old could: a birdseed shirt for those times when we non-winged humans need to take flight and make a quick escape; a device that could sense when the person inside an ambulance was approaching a loved one nearby and would emit a message to them; a teakettle whose spout turns into a mouth and provides comfort by reading in the voice of his father, who was killed in the 9/11 tragedies. Wait…death of his father? Killed 9/11? At this point, many readers might think, “Whoa, I’m not ready to combine literary fiction with the catastrophic, emotional attacks on our precious United States soil - the wounds are too fresh, the scars to deep.

While the backdrop is 9/11, the book’s focus is on loss, coping, and eventual healing. It is no coincidence that Foer’s writing includes such powerfully traumatic events as 9/11, the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima. These horrific events remind us, as Foer’s character of Grandma put it, that we should never assume there will be a tomorrow or that it is “unnecessary” to share feelings today. “It is always necessary” as there may not be a tomorrow.

The book captures the reader by presenting so many questions and peculiarities that along with Oskar, the nine year old protagonist, the reader finds them self searching. Oskar searching for the meaning of the key found in a vase in his father’s closet, and the reader searching for the meaning of the story. Along the way, the reader becomes emotionally connected to the characters and their relationships. Foer has something for everyone: the struggles of a boy dealing with the loss of his father; a mother dealing with the loss of a husband, and the emotional disconnect of her son; a grandmother coping with the loss of a sister, son, and an estranged husband; and a grandfather who coped by leaving his family because of his fear of losing the ones he loves.

Oskar lives life extreme and incredible. Everything he feels, sees or does is with depth. He is extremely curious about self-defense; the tambourine plays incredibly fast in his “The Flight of the Bumblebee” ring tone; his imaginary inverted skyscraper built underground so when the elevator button was pushed, that particular floor would rise up—“extremely useful” according to Oskar. Foer contrasts this intensity with the indifference shared between Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa established zones within their apartment that represented either “something” or “nothing.” In the nothing zones, they could disappear, not exist as their lives together eventually did.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” forces us into the grieving process of its characters and enriches our lives with hope at their ability to cope and persevere; challenging us to live our lives as either something and nothing or extreme and incredible.