Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

I actually wanted to read Everything Is Illuminated by this author, but this is the book that I could find, so I read it. I knew nothing about what would be within these pages, and if I had, I probably would not have picked it up next. Aren't I lucky I didn't know, because this has to be one of the most stunning books I have read in a long time.

This story is set shortly after 9/11, and it is about dealing with loss. But it is also about living. I think one of the themes is that if you don't take risks, and if you don't allow yourself to feel love for fear of losing it, you will not get to live.

I have always considered myself a rather cold reader. I will acknowledge that something is sad, but I won't feel it to my core. This book is one of the few that made it through. Maybe it is because I too have lost my father, or maybe it is because I witnessed the events of 9/11 from the safe shores of Africa. Maybe it is all of the above and a lot more that I can't even think of. This book has left me feeling - everything.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is constructed in such a different way. There are pictures and strewn throughout, text that is actually edited in red, random collections of things that Oskar finds. And that leads me to Oskar, an interesting character who is both really intelligent but also so young. It is through Oskar's eyes that most of this story is told. At one point, his father tells him that there is a difference between being intelligent and knowledgeable. Oskar is both, although I would like to state that wisdom comes later in life. (He is a character that I would like to see as an adult in the future. I think it could be interesting to see how he turned out.) He had a fascinating mind.

The other characters in the story are also quite fascinating. The tale of his grandparents was devastating, not because of World War 2 (although that one letter written about the time was enough to make me need to take a long breath before continuing the read), but because of the the possibilities that were never taken. One feels for Oskar's mother too - even though she comes across as indifferent.

It is the 67th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this 5 stars on Goodreads. One of the best books I have read this year.