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Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close Book Report

Good Essays

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, as written by Jonathan Safran Foer, offers a truly unique insight into the life of too-smart-for-his-own-good, nine-year-old Oskar Schell. The book mainly follows Oskar in his search for closure in the aftermath of the death of his father, Thomas Schell, who died tragically in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Months after his father’s death, Oskar finds a key in an envelope seemingly hidden away in a vase in his father’s closet. Oskar wonders if this could be another of his father’s famous scavenger hunts; the scavenger hunt to end all scavenger hunts. The envelope has the word “Black” scrawled on it in red pen, Oskar decides Black must be the name o someone who knew his father. In order to discover what exactly the key unlocks, “I decided I would meet every person in New York with the last name …show more content…

His story is told chronically; one of the many aspects of this book which contributes to the reader’s sensation of experiencing that which Oskar experiences, first hand. The disorientation Oskar feels as he searches for something or someone to fill the hole the death of his father created is mirrored in the style of Foer’s writing. Foer masterfully crafts the depiction of events in such a way that the reader rarely has a better understanding of said events than the character in question, contributing greatly to the reader’s sense of confusion and frustration. As readers, we are used to the privileges the average reader can expect to receive, one most unknowingly take advantage of, that of the all-knowing outsider looking in. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is not the typical novel; there are no long winded introductions. There are no detailed descriptions of events which alleviate the stress of NOT knowing. No, instead the book follows the scattered thoughts of the narrator, and therefore the reader only knows that which the narrator chances to

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