Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The first Jonathan Safran Foer book was Everything is Illuminated.  It was a tough book to read.  Lots of different characters.  Each chapter had a different characters point of view.  It took almost half the book to get a handle on everyone.  I finished it.  Impressive first novel.  Smart author to say the least. 

His second book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I read on a plane this week.  What a book.  This novel is seen through the eyes of a 9 year old boy, Oskar,  who lost his father on 9/11.  He goes through a 2 year healing process by trying to find out information on a key that his father left behind.  Oskar, is one smart cookie.  The book is very clever and imaginative.  I really loved it.

What struck me about reading this book was how the horrific day of 9/11 still sits inside me.  We were very lucky that no one close to us was lost that horrible day but we literally lived through it,  as we live downtown.  It was a day that I can recall in a heartbeat.  I can relive it in a moments notice and tears come to my eyes.  I didn't realize how much until as I was reading this book and living through Oskars emotional roller coaster of losing his father, I found myself going back there.  I literally wept through sections of the book.  Oskar touched my heart. 

Jonathan Safran Foer is a very talented writer.  The way he writes is obviously how his mind works.  Incredibly bright and perceptive.  His attachment, just like his first novel, to the Holocaust and WWII has obviously had a major impact on his life. The story circles around intertwining characters and places.  A very original book.