Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the story of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, whose father Thomas died in the 9/11 attacks. One day Oskar finds a mysterious key inside an envelope inside a vase. The envelope says the word “Black” on the outside, and Oskar goes on a quest to find out what the key opens and why his father has it. Thinking the word might be the last name “Black,” Oskar does some research and determines the addresses of all the people in New York City with the surname Black. One by one, he begins visiting them to see if he can find out more about the key. He meets interesting people and leaves an imprint on all the people he touches. Interspersed throughout Oskar’s story is the story of his grandparents and their strange, fraught relationship.

I wanted to like this book a little more than I did. I think Oskar, and possibly his grandfather, are supposed to be autistic, and because of my own children, I do find books about characters with autism interesting. I did like Oskar, though I found his mother strangely unconcerned about letting her son roam all over New York City. I guess you could argue she knew he was going to what he was going to do anyway, but her absence, even if you try to explain it away by pointing out she was grieving, was deeply troubling to me. Oskar’s grandfather abandoned his pregnant wife and did not know his son. One of the reasons I didn’t quite like this book were the portions dealing with Oskar’s grandfather. I found him to be a deeply unsympathetic character, even if I took into account his troubled past and the things he had dealt with. I know some people are better at dealing with grief, and for that matter life, than others, but part of what I think made his story less sympathetic was Foer’s postmodern experiments in his storyline. My least favorite, for example, were pages in which the letters seemed to bleed together, almost falling into a puddle on the bottom of the page, until the page filled up. Rather than interesting, I found these experiments deeply annoying. I found rather than being emotionally affected by Oskar’s story (and that of his grandfather), I really felt more like the story was manipulative and self-indulgent. Not to say I totally hated it. I didn’t. I can’t even say I didn’t like it. I’ll just say it was not a hit for me because of the gimmicky postmodern style. The parts I liked, I really liked, but I did find myself in the midst of a new chapter on Oskar’s grandparents and saying, “Oh, here’s one I need to slog through to get to a good one on Oskar.” I don’t want to feel like that reading a book. Because half the book was pretty good, I can’t give it one or two stars, but because about half the book wasn’t, and also because I found the ending unsatisfying, I can’t give it four or five stars either.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I purchased this book in November, but it’s been on my TBR list for a while. I’m counting it toward both the Shelf Love Challenge and the Mount TBR Challenge.
 

Sunday Post #41: Books and Tea

Sunday Post

I haven’t finished any books this week, but I’ve been making progress on several. After I finished reading Between the World and Me last weekend, I started Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. So far, I like it but I don’t love it. I like Oskar, but I’m still reserving judgment. I don’t really like the sort of postmodern opposition to making sense. It’s like the book is trying and failing to be charming (or worse, deep). But I don’t hate it, and I’ve read a bit too far to quit. Now I want to find out what happens. As Oskar would say, “Anyway.”

I am also progressing slowly through Simon Schama’s Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. That one is just going to take me a long time. In addition to being extremely long, the pages are big and the print is small. It’s one of those books that would probably be much easier and satisfying to read on Kindle. I don’t think it’s available on Kindle.

One of the things I started in my classes before winter break at school is independent reading. Students can read whatever they like. They figure out how many pages they can read in two hours, and their goal is to read two hours a week, which is a pretty doable proposition for high school students. It’s going very well so far. I give students ten minutes at the beginning of class to read, and I read at the same time. It’s been a nice way to begin class, and I think the students are enjoying it. It’s interesting to see the variety of choices they make. Without my suggestion, some have even picked up rather difficult classics. I only have one student who is chronically forgetting his book.

I found a short article (I think—it may have been an ad) in my last issue of Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine for Jane Austen Tea sold by Simpson & Vail as part of their Literary Teas line. They have so many delicious-looking teas that it was hard to choose, but rather than dear old Aunt Jane’s blend, I opted for their Brontë Sisters Black Tea Blend and their Charles Dickens Black Tea Blend. I had a chance to sample both this weekend, and let me tell you, they were excellent. I will definitely be trying more. I know all you book lovers (and tea lovers) will want to check them out. I want to try the Jane Austen Black Tea Blend for sure, but also the Fyodor Dostoyevsky Black Tea Blend. Perhaps some of the others as well. It’s tough for me to resist teas named after my favorite authors, and Simpson & Vail seems to have picked a lot of them, but I’m not at all sure I’d like a floral-tasting tea. Black tea is pretty much a known quantity. I’m not a big green tea or herbal tea fan, either.

This weekend I also watched It Might Get Loud again. Love watching that film. In all honesty, Jimmy Page, the Edge, and Jack White actually are my three favorite guitarists. There is a really transcendent moment near the end of that film when all three of them play “In My Time of Dying” that I can’t watch without a huge grin on my face.

Right now I’m trying to learn to play guitar again, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I realized a dream I’ve had since I was about 16 of owning my very own electric guitar after getting one for Christmas. I have been taking Introduction to Guitar, offered by Berklee College of Music through Coursera. It is mostly a refresher so far, but I have learned a few things. I took a guitar class in high school where I learned most of the basics, and then I took classical guitar in college (one course). I didn’t keep up with it very well for a variety of reasons, but I have a passion for music.

I was also able to catch up a bit on work this weekend as I proctored the SAT for students at school yesterday. My grades and comments for first semester are all done, and I can start grading some of the early assignments I’ve collected for second semester. I have a few things I need to finish up before bed (and Downton Abbey to watch in between). I had the best weekend listening to music, making a batch of soap, and doing logic puzzles. I hope you had a good weekend, too.

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and things we have received. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme. Image adapted from Patrick on Flickr.