Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
| Author | Jonathan Safran Foer |
| Vote | 7/10 |
| Reviewed on | 2019-10-06 |
| Read in | English |
I’ve started seeing books by Safran Foer while walking in Naples, or maybe even in Turin a few years ago, and got fascinated by the beauty of their titles, without knowing much about the author, the subject, or about how much I’d like them. This is the first that I’ve read and I must say that it’s been a good read.
The story revolves around the facts of 9/11 in New York, but the stories span the whole twentieth century starting from slightly before WWII. The center of the plot is Thomas Schell, who died during the attack on the Twin Towers. It evolves through the actions of his surviving young child, Oskar, that tries to make sense of his father’s death, but touches other members of his family, from the mother to the grandmother to the grandfather, a fugitive from 1945 Germany with another story of irreparable loss.
I liked the characterization and the style, even though in some passages it becomes rather desperate to the point of creating separation from me as the reader. For its originality and since the writing is compelling, I’d recommend it.