Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

By: Jonathan Safran Foer

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, Richard Ferrone

Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, wowed critics on its way to winning several literary prizes, including Book of the Year honors from the Los Angeles Times. It has been published in 24 countries and will soon be a major motion picture. Foer's talent continues to shine in this sometimes hilarious and always heartfelt follow-up.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key his father left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a masterfully imagined novel from an author Time hails as "a certified wunderkind".

©2005 Jonathan Safran Foer (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Multi-Voiced Performance

"Piercing and so funny." (The Bookseller)
"[Oskar's] first-person narration of his journey is arrestingly beautiful, and readers won't soon forget him." (Booklist)
"Jonathan Safran Foer's second novel is everything one hoped it would be: ambitious, pyrotechnic, riddling, and above all...extremely moving. An exceptional achievement." (Salman Rushdie)
"Brilliant....Unafraid to show his traumatized characters' constant groping for emotional catharsis, Foer demonstrates once again that he is one of the few contemporary writers willing to risk sentimentalism in order to address great questions of truth, love, and beauty." (Publishers Weekly)

Solid Novel - Only a Few Imperfections

This was my first Audible audio book and I was pleasantly surprised. EL&IC follows the story of young Oskar Schell on a quest that he believes will help him feel closer to his father who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. I've been told that this is a book that's best read, not heard, but the three narrators were great actors and conveyed much more than I would have thought they could.

The story is told through narratives by the three main characters; Oskar, his paternal grandfather and his paternal grandmother. The narrative shifts from character to character, always without warning and sometimes at jarring times. I found some narratives more compelling than others, growing weary about midway through the book of listening to Oskar's grandfather's narrative, but as the book approached resolution I found his narrative fascinating again.

Occasionally the story was slow. Occasionally it was repetitive to the point of minor annoyance. Occasionally I found myself thinking that Oskar's many idiosyncracies felt horribly contrived. But as the narrative closed, I found myself wanting to learn more about quirky young Oskar and his world. It was well worth the listen.

This is a keeper, I will listen again.

PG-13 read (some swearing, some sex, mature themes), quirky, woven, generational, profound. Excellent writing. Could have been a depressing book... and I did have a good cry part way through... but laughed enough to offset and the reading enriched my heart.

extremely important and incredibly monumental

The narrations keep the listeners on their feet as the grandma, the grandpa, and the kid voice their own braided plots. The cleverness of words is, in many places, brilliant and memorable. Recording quality has no hissing or irritating signs of amateurism. What I think is so monumental about this book is that it truly empathizes with the innocent victims of the terrorist attack. It also teaches adults what it can be like inside the mind of a highly sensitive, somewhat special needs child.

Again, this book took me back to 18 years ago when I had not even heard of the terrorists responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers, and I was left asking what did I do? What do we have to do with anything? That was an eye-opening day for me that, even as an educated adult, I was completely ignorant of the secret wars waged between governments and how the people themselves really do not know the "chess players" are doing with us as their pieces. We think we have free will and struggle to make the right or at least the best decisions, but unbeknownst to us, we steer ourselves within climates chosen for us.

I related to many of the characters and will not spoil their secrets, but I will say that an underlying theme among many of them is that of forgiveness, not just against the obvious but even for loved ones and ourselves. Forgiving ourselves is often a merciless judgment.

My favorite character is the kid, and he does vary from child to adult in his ponderings, hovering often in a whirlpool of adolescence complete with dabbling in vulgarity but in a way portrayed artistically by the writer. I plan to listen to more by this author.

Unique, interesting, tortured

This novel is written from the perspective of three different characters, all of whom have experienced trauma and all of whom live with some level of dysfunction. I found myself thoroughly enthralled in each of the characters and despite the incredible sadness each of these characters faced throughout their life times, I felt myself wanted to know what happened next on their crazy ride (vs. curling up in a ball and crying with them). I whole-heartedly recommend this book!

Beautiful

What made the experience of listening to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the most enjoyable?

I was so moved by this elegantly told love story. The relationships are complex and each character's story is unique but completely accessible and relatable. From losing a loved one to finding stability among chaos, the story touches the most basic human experiences...love and loss and the beauty and fear behind both. The performers that brought each character to life were equally brilliant. Wonderful.

Enjoyable read

If you could sum up Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in three words, what would they be?

It is much better than the movie

Who was the most memorable character of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and why?

Oskar!
You will fall in love with his character.

Wow

This book had some of the most hillarious and some of the most sad moments.
The book was great.
My favorite lines:
"My greatest regret is how much I believed in the future."
"It's not a horrible world, but it's filled with a lot of horrible people."
"It's the tragedy of loving, you can't love anything more than something you miss".

I hoped for the best - and got it!!

I loved this book - not the weird parts but thankfully they were few and far between. Mostly it was lovely and sad and really well written and well performed.

Great audiobook.

The dialogue he has with all the people he meets randomly is pretty great. Found myself going from happy to sad but being alright.

Profoundly Thought Prevoking

This novel leaves one conflicted with a plethora of emotion. I found myself thinking about it often. The performances are wonderful and I felt fully immersed. 10/10