Death is easy, for those who are dead; it is continuous excruciating pain for those who are alive. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, takes you into the tragic incident of September 11 from the perspective of a vibrant and creative nine-year-old. Foer grabs hold and pulls you into the powerful and exuberant journey of a young boy trying to find closure to the unexpected death of his father. Oskar Schell, like thousands of others, was unfortunately affected by the tragedy of the Twin Towers’ collapse.

One-of-a-kind, Oskar Schell has heavy boots (many sad feelings that weigh him down), wears only white and plays a tambourine. He is imaginative with his inventions that help make life easier and safer. He creates jewelry, collects stamps and rocks, and corresponds with the famous Stephan Hawking, Jane Goodall and many more of his inspirations. Dearly loved by his mother and grandmother, Oskar’s pain is deep and extremely heart wrenching. His young mind maintains exasperated emotions of a confused little boy.

Oskar’s mother has made a new friend, Ron, and Oskar disapproves because he doesn’t want his mother to fall in love again. He doesn’t want her to forget Thomas, his father, but especially not replace him. Ron tries to gain approval from Oskar by asking to buy him instruments but he declines.

Money can’t buy me love, obviously, but I asked if it would have been Zildjian cymbals. He said, “Whatever you want,” and then he took my yo-yo off my desk and started to walk the dog with it. I know he just wanted to be friendly, but it made me incredibly angry. “Yo-yo, moi!” I told him, grabbing it back. What I really wanted to tell him was, “You’re not my dad, and never will be.”

He shuts himself in his father’s closet to escape life and to be closer to his dad. When Oskar does this, “it made my boots lighter to be around his things, and to touch stuff that he touched.” When in his closet he finds a vase that has an envelope that has Black written on the outside in blue ink and an unmarked key on the inside. Oskar believes that like the quests his father has sent on before this is one in the same. After much deliberation to the meaning of the word Black he decides that it is somebody’s last name. He uses the phone book for the list of Black’s in the New York City area, starts with the A’s and walks to their houses to question them about the key. He meets many Blacks all in the New York City area and they all have interesting stories and lives.

Foer does a fantastic job connecting all of New York City’s pain to that of Oskar’s. Foer makes the connection in many ways but the most attention grabbing was the bedtime story that his father told him about the sixth borough. The sixth borough slowly drifted away from New York City. But before it drifted too far, the citizens dragged beloved parts of the borough onto the mainland. Soon the citizens of the five boroughs and the citizens of the sixth borough lost their connections forever. Oskar was like the people of New York City; he lost someone that was a huge part of who he was. Also like the citizens of the five boroughs, Oskar tried to hang onto what reminded him of his father. He travels all over the five borough of New York City to find the lock that will be opened by the key that his father left for him. He also kept the answering machine that had his father’s dying words safe and concealed and only revealed it to his grandmother’s renter, his unknown grandfather.

Although Oskar is the main focus of the novel, Foer diverts the narrative to the letters of his grandfather to his unborn child, Thomas Shell, and also the stories from his grandmother. Even though his grandparents’ stories are interesting and tearjerkers they still seem completely frivolous and don’t contribute to the plot of the story.

Although irrelevant with Oskar’s journey Foer connects the tragedy of September 11 with the bombings in Dresden; it enhances the mournful mood with more grief and loss. The reader hopes that the young boy will be capable of finding “the good” that can come from the death of his father. His grandmother and grandfather seemed to have never healed from their losses in the bombings. Oskar being so young and innocent was tainted by the pain and loss of his father. The psychological problems that the characters retained through their life experiences helped retain the readers’ interest level.

The separate chapters by grandpa and the photos and drawings take away from the serious wounds of the characters. The single sentences on the black pages were effective in the beginning to demonstrate the way grandpa was communicating but later became excessive. This was a brilliantly written book with great imagination. It may have been unbearable for some people to read, mostly because it touched too close to home too early to the day of the attacks. Oskar started out with emptiness and loneliness with the loss of his father in the attacks, but by the end of the book he realized that he was not. His mom did care about him and she allowed him to find his way around by himself because she probably believed that it would be better that way. Oskar’s story was very unique and one to hold on to we should not forget about him and his story, just like the people of New Your City should not forget about the sixth borough.

BreAnne Baird