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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

In the book, Foer adds pieces of photography and when he demonstrates the silence leaves pages blank. Foer says he does this because he writes about “the miscommunication between characters and their inability to communicate deep emotions”. 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Based on how Foer gets his ideas about what to write, I found out that he tends to find an importance to the places he’s lived or going to live. He states, “It was as inevitable that I would write about Washington as that I would move to New York. It felt good to me. I felt at home with it as a setting.” After reading this, I thought more about Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close since the setting was in New York. Having the main character, Oskar, a young nine year old boy, allows me to believe that Foer enjoys writing about his youth and his roots. When he writes about his youth, it allows him to explore different aspects and dive deeper into larger issues, like the 9/11 attack and the Dresden bombing. This book addresses the way people try to deal with their problems and try to make peace with non-negotiable tragedies to heal themselves.

I decided to review an interview about Jonathan Foer because I wanted to see how his writing style connects to his books and the meaning behind what he decides to write about. I came across a quote from his editor Eric Chinski that says, “Writing for him became a way to communicate other things, wrestling with emotional questions - and, in this book, political questions and family questions - not writing for writing’s sake.” The connection that I made from this in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was the emotions that the characters were experiencing during different parts of the novel, and the emotions that I was feeling during the reading. I found it very easy to attach onto the characters especially through their emotional times when losing a loved one.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The book and movie “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” involves a young boy whose father died in the 9/11 attacks. I recently watched the movie and tried to find comparisons to the book. In the book, Oskar’s life revolves around the streets of New York City on a scavenger hunt. The part that gets confusing is when the book intertwines Oskar’s narrative with the story of his grandparent’s life on how they got through the Dresden bombing in World War II.

In the movie, a young boy Oskar (THomas Horn) loses his father (Tom Hanks) during the 9/11 terrorist attack. In the aftermath, Oskar finds a key that was left behind by his father, which he thinks is a resource that will give him answers to his father. He explores New York City, looking for answers, and finds help from an old man who doesn’t speak and lives with Oskar’s grandma.

Oskar’s objective in the book he tries to find meaning with the mysterious key he finds in his dad’s closet. And in the movie, Oskar’s aim is to find the lock that fits the key and to emotionally be able to accept his father’s death. Another difference I found between the book and the movie was the role of the main characters. The grandparents are the supporters in the book and in the movie the Renter (old man) and Oskar’s mother are his supporters. Another thing that I found interesting was the connection of the most meaningful scene. In the book, I thought that the best scene was when Oskar is standing on top of the Empire State Building thinking about how his father died. I think this scene is important because it captures Oskar’s psychological thoughts and shows his personality. While watching the movie, I noticed that the most dramatic scene was when Oskar told his mother that he wishes she should have died instead of his father, and she agreed. I think this moment is very touching considering the mother and son relationship and the loss that they both went through. With Oskar being so young I don’t think he realizes what he said to her and the meaning that came out of it. Being a mother and hearing this from your own child leaves you thinking… Did I raise them good enough?”

Overall, I really enjoyed bothe the movie and the book but I feel like the book is better. However, I liked watching the movie so you can visually see what is happening and the characters' expressions during different emotions. I wasn’t shocked about the differences because they were both very similar in ways so I was able to stay on track with the book while watching the movie. I enjoyed the minor changes that were made because it makes you look at it from a different perspective and then you can determine which character plays the role the best.

“I don’t believe in God, but I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything ever could be. But it was also incredibly simple. In my only life, she was my mom, and I was her son.”

In this passage, my understanding of what the importance was about the key has switched in a different direction. I was thinking this whole time that Oskar was on this journey to look for the lock that matches the key, but it was really about making peace with his father and remembering the memories with him. Oskar learned to accept his father’s death which had a major impact on his life as a young boy. This whole journey led Oskar to become a more responsible young adult that now has knowledge of exploring the real world alone. He learned that his father influenced his life tremendously.

Foer makes it very clear that Oskar is having major issues dealing with his father’s death, and having a hard time coping with it. It’s been a year and he still can’t seem to live his life right. Oskar thinks about his father every day and is unable to sleep because of the continuous thoughts. Oskar’s mother suggests that he sees a psychiatrist, Dr, Fein, so Oskar can explain what he is feeling and his worries he has. During the sessions with Dr. Fein, Oskar feels that they are pointless because he thinks that it is normal to be depressed and feel sad after losing someone special in your life. Oskar then starts to argue about people being depressed after a loss should not have to get help.

In this section, Oskar finds himself going through his father’s closet, admiring all of his dad’s old stuff. I think this is the reason why he can’t sleep at night because Oskar keeps reminding himself of his father more and more each day. Oskar starts to notice the things in his dad’s closet that he had never realized were in there before, such as the tuxedo on the chair, the blue vase on the shelf, his slippers, and his old white t-shirts. Oskar tries to get the vase down off of the shelf and breaks it, he then finds an envelope with the word “Black” written on it. When Oskar opens the envelope, he finds a key and he thinks that it is connected to his father in some way.

This scene is important because it sets the message and pathway for the rest of the book. Finding the key, Oskar becomes determined to find the lock that matches it and he tries all the locks in his house but none seem to fit. He then comes up with an idea in relation to the work “Black” written on the envelope. He goes out to find every person in New York City with the last name Black and asks them if they know his father. This scene leads up to Oskar’s long journey to find the meaning behind the key and figure out why it was left in his dad’s closet.

The beginning of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes place in New York City where a young boy Oskar is trying to deal with depression and figure out his father’s death on September 11. In the first chapter there is a childish tone that is set based off of the main character, Oskar. There are times throughout the book when the tone switches to happy and more enthusiastic, and then towards the end when it changes to a more suspenseful tone.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by: Jonathan Foer

I decided to read the book called Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. This book tells a story about a young boy who lost his father in the World Trade Center attack. I had a difficult time trying to find a book that was going to interest me enough to be spent a lot of time on. I had multiple books in mind that shared similar stories but were different in a way.

Witness” by Sarah Kay

“The Type” by Sarah Kay

“Postcards” by Sarah Kay sets the tone for people who are dealing with long distance relationships. I thought this was a good poem to reflect on since we are going off to college and leaving our loved ones, family and friends. It covers the majority of the feelings that you would go through during a hard time of leaving someone that meant a lot to you and it also shows the reactions of the one leaving.

In the first section, Sarah mentions a postage stamp which is used when you are sending someone a letter from far away. She also talks about how easy it is to fall in love with someone whether its long distance or short. I connect to this section because I’ve met so many new friends this year from different schools and knowing that I am going away to college is going to be so difficult.

In the fifth section, it Sarah explains the idea of no matter how much you talk to someone that is far away, it will never be the same as talking to them in person. It is a lot different to write letters and try to express your feelings rather than talking and feeling the emotion with their words. Also, many people who come home to visit family or friends find it hard to engage in conversations because they’ve missed so much. This is what I am worried about when I go away. I am afraid of coming home and no one acknowledges me or doesn’t know what to talk about.

Finally, the eighth section is the last one that connected to me because it sets the idea about knowing how and when a relationship with fail. Personally knowing when you are going to lose someone is the hardest thing, especially when the other person doesn’t care or notice. Sarah’s message in the section really stands out to me, mistakes get the worst of us but we just have to look past and leave them behind.