Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey

This book made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me angry. Mostly it made it hard to breath. All these emotions were felt in 200 pages. That, to me, makes a book incredible.

Oskar Schell lost his father in the September 11th terrorist attacks. He has spent months since then in constant depression. During one of his sleep deprived nights he goes into his fathers closet and finds an envelope, in a vase, that contains a key. The envelope contains one word: "Black." From that moment he is determined to find the lock that the key opens.


Oskar is an amazing little boy. He is knowledgeable beyond his years. He is independent and strong-willed but also very confused by life. It is hard, at times, to remember that he is only 9 years old. I fell in love with him instantly.

In between Oskar's story is the story of his grandparents, told by each respectively. There were times where I raised my eyebrows and wondered what this had to do with anything or why would anyone tell this to their grandchild but it all came together in the end. Though it is a bit confusing at first, once all the stories are laid out it becomes very touching and emotional.

The author throws in pictures to go along with the story and different typography that I think really helps put the story together. It makes it that much more lifelike.

My only problem with the whole book was the voices between the 3 story tellers were not distinct. There was nothing to separate them except for their stories. I find it so much easier to connect in these situations when each character has their own dialect, just as people in real life do. That is the only reason I can't give it 5 stars.

In the end this is a fantastic, well imagined book and I highly recommend it.

4.5 out of 5 stars

BUY IT HERE:  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel