What happens when you are icredibly loud and extremely close to an ok book

Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Extremely loud and Incredibly Close is indeed extremely loud and incredibly close to a good book. This book follows a boy named Oskar Schell through his adventures around the five boroughs of New York City. With his father having just died in the tragedies of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Oskar seeks to find meaning in a name written on an envelope and the owner of a key that is found inside the envelope. The question, “Why do we exist” on pg. 13, is asked very early on in the novel. Questions permeate this novel. Questions of identity and meaning can be found in all of the characters. Even questions of believability, both within oneself and in one’s environment, are posed on virtually every page. Questions soak both the city and its people in a downpour of unbelievable circumstances. Foer gets to the very heart of the existential dilemma.

Foer has an uncanny ability to describe vividly New York City. As Oskar follows a precise stratagem to find the person’s whose name is on the envelope and the owner of the key found inside the envelope, Foer constructs a community of people so real that it is down right edible. With a vivid use of descriptive language, each scene is set in bright detail. Foer also messes with the medium of the novel by giving us visual snapshots throughout the novels. These snapshots could be his use of letters or pictures taken by certain characters. In each instance, these snapshots add depth to the novel. Foer’s novel is definitely an original take on an old medium. This novel begs the questions, “What is art?” and, “Where does literature belong in art?” Although he generally comes across well, Foer’s organization does bring stylistic limitations to his work.

Foer organizes his book in an entirely original way. However, some of the actual context and story line, like the love between two characters or the inner turmoil with one, take a back seat to his order. This hierarchy of style is usually in balance, but it can sometimes become very obvious, repetitive and loud

One of the main criticisms of this book is that the main character, Oskar, is not believable. Would you find Oskar in the real world? Most critics of the book would say no. However, Oskar does fit very well in the world Foer has created. This leads to the question, “Is the world that Foer created believable?” The world that Foer is describing is a post 9/11 New York City. He sculpts a city that is emotionally bare and raw with questions. Oskar is distraught and looking for meaning. The five boroughs are also looking in much the same way as Oskar. Oskar is just as much a product of his environment as his environment is product of him. The give and pull between Oscar and New York City lend the book its true believability.

Foer’s world is believable because the very nature of the subject he is writing about is almost fantastic. It is not the fantastic you get when you clean you floors of finish a project, it is the fantastic you get when you read fairytales and legends. The story shocks and startles you into an unknown right in you back yard. Readers don’t have much of a context to judge the psychosomatic effects of a tragedy like that of 9/11. Foer also uses sub-stories like the carpet-bombing of Dresden and the bombing of Hiroshima to set the tone of his book. All three of these settings are unbelievable because of the violence and inhumanity.

As the reader follows young Oskar through his excursions through the five boroughs, he is presented with the very heart of the existential dilemma. What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist? Foer answers these questions through the characters. He answers these questions in a completely original way; for instance, Foer answers his questions through different story lines. Specifically speaking, Foer uses the story line of Oskar’s grandmother and grandfather to answer questions of existence and being that a child might not be able to understand. Grandma and grandpa can delve into questions surrounding an intensely confusing sex life that has been present for several years.

Throughout the novel, the story of a sixth borough acts as another story line that Foer uses to answer the overarching question. How does a community like post 9/11 New York City keep on existing? A tortured community survives only if the people help each other and stick together. Likewise, the question is asked, “Why does a post 9/11 community exits”? Foer answered with a resounding, “So that they can continue helping each other and stick together.” Foer shows us that post tragedy existence depends on a community.

At the books end, all of the questions are answered. Foer has limited his aspects of his novel with his artistic organization. With themes surrounded by pictures and repetition, this novel lacks a certain level of subtlety. Themes are repeated not just with words, but also with items like pictures, letters, and business cards. The themes tend to stack and crescendo into falling roar. The novel becomes a little too extremely loud and incredibly close on occasion. Themes of loss and victimization come across so strong that it is hard to separate them from their sentimental roots. However, taken with a grain of salt, this aspect of the novel is also fitting with its overall theme. Tragic attacks are loud and close and not at all subtle. Most importantly, this book is a relief to finish but a pleasure to read.