I just finished the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The main character of the book is a nine year old boy who lost his father in the World Trade Center collapse of 9/11. I absolutely loved the book and read through it really quickly. Here is what I liked about the book:
1. The literary style. It was so creative and poetic! The book begins towards the end of the story and the chapters are interspersed with present and the distant past-- which adds a bit of mystery and entices the reader onward.
2. The main character. I read a review that called the main character, Oskar, "precocious" and "irritating," but I thought he was extremely hilarious! Children think and cope differently than adults so using Oskar's point of view made it so much more touching and emotional. Which brings me to my next point...
3. It made me cry! I don't think I've ever cried for a book as much as I cried for this one. This shows me that the author is talented enough to draw real emotion out of me. And ok, I tend to be a pretty empathetic person anyway, but if a story can make me cry, I tend to like it that much more.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was a very touching and somewhat haunting book. At times I felt the style was so poetic and modern that it made the story a little bit unrealistic, but overall I thought it was just a prettier way to express deep emotions. I'd recommend this book to anybody, just keep a box of tissues with you while you're reading.
