Title: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Goodreads)
Author: Jonathan Safran Foer
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005
Pages: 326
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kindle (or visit your local Indie bookstore)
I read this book because in preparation for the movie and thought that was a good excuse to read it. I’ve been interested in reading a Jonathan Safran Foer for a while (yet another step in becoming a book snob) and now I had no excuse. While the movie looks really good, I’ve struggled with how it would work now that I’ve read the book. There is a lot of key elements of this book that would not translate well in a movie, for example Oskar’s inner thoughts, the letters he writes to random people that interest him and then there is the renter (Oskar’s grandfather) who doesn’t speak at all and writes everything on paper for others to read.
This book was such a pleasure to read, while it’s not a particularly exciting plot; the characters and the writing were just so great that it was nothing but a joy to read. I’ve heard people call Jonathan Safran Foer’s writing manipulative and even overly sweet and I can see what they are saying, in this book everyone seemed to be nice and have very little flaws but for me I think this is just simply because this particular story was told by a 9 year old boy. There are a lot of elements of trauma and mourning as the family struggle to come to terms with the events of 9/11 and losing someone so close to them. Even Oskar himself struggles between self-destruction and self-preservation throughout this book but overall the book comes across as very light and sweet.
I really did enjoy this book, while I might have some issues with the book and the upcoming movie adaptation I highly recommend this book. Not often do I get such pleasure in the writing style of a book but Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was one of those books I liked simply because it was beautifully written.
I’m still to read any Safran Foer, but like you, I’ve wondered how his words could be translated to the screen. I went to a talk with Geoffrey Eugenides a while back where he noted that it’s essential that the *feel* of the book rather than the plot or style is the thing that’s captured in a film adaptation. I think it’s an interesting point.
that is an interesting point