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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  By  cover art

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

By: Jonathan Safran Foer
Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, Richard Ferrone
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Publisher's summary

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)

Featured Article: 15 Essential Jewish Authors to Hear in Audio


The Jewish diaspora is vast, diverse, and full of stories. In recent years, Jewish authors have published books about everything from love, identity, and history to crime, romance, and what it means to come of age in the modern world. While this list is by no means complete, these 15 Jewish authors have written some of the most fascinating Jewish literature, and they represent a deep catalog of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry in a range of genres.

What listeners say about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

I think that this is one of the best books I have ever read. This book and The Book Thief are amazing stories of love and loss and heartbreak and very important historical events seen through the eyes of children. I read this book first and now have listened to it. The only thing that is lost is that in the book you get to see pages from Oskar's journals "Stuff that Has Happened to Me" It is the story of a family set at the time of about a year after Septmber 11. Oskar is 9 and having a hard time dealing with the death of his father. His mother is having a hard time dealing with him and her own grief. This is also the story of his grandmother and grandfather. It is an excellent family drama and I loved it.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Oh So Precious Child

I just couldn't finish it. After only a couple of hours of listening, I just couldn't hear any more about this preternaturally sensitive, thoughtful, and intelligent child. He was not a credible character and I was tired of pretending that any child would think and act like this.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Incredibly Different

As another reviewer remarked, this is a difficult book to review. There were portions of the book I enjoyed, other sections I found strange. Oscar's struggles and grief over his father's death were poignant, often bringing tears to my eyes. Yet there were also portions of the story that were just plain odd. As the audiobook went on I began to dread hearing Oscar's grandmother as she read her letter. The grandfather, at least for me, wasn't quite as annoying, although he too was an odd cookie.
The narration for Oscar was excellent. The narrator (Jeff Woodman) captured Oscar's different emotions beautifully. He gives a 5 star performance. I didn't care for the narration of the grandmother, and felt Barbara Caruso's reading was flat.
Would I recommend Extremely Loud and Incredibily Close? Yes, overall I enjoyed the book, in spite of Oscar's strange grandparents. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a funny, sweet, touching story with a bit of oddity added in.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Tedious and largely meaningless

This book has generally received very good reviews so I must be the odd man out here. I found it to be mostly boring with one of the most dysfunctional families I have every had the displeasure to meet. While the story is supposedly about the search of a boy for the origins of a key linked to his father, there are really 3 main characters in the book; Oscar, the boy, his grandmother and his grandfather.

Oscar, the boy who lost his father in the 9/11 terrorist attack, seems largely normal for a boy his age and reminds me somewhat of myself at that age, although he carries more phobias that any boy I ever met growing up in New York City. Some of that probably is supposed to come from the experience of losing his father but some seem to come from nowhere I can understand and it strains credibility that a boy who lives in New York who is afraid to get on a ferry or ride a subway will plan to walk all over the 5 boroughs of New York looking for the person who knows something about the key he found. It seems even stranger that his mother allows him to do this without being overly concerned. But, even if you can live with that it is even more difficult to understand his grandparents.

His grandmother and grandfather are decidedly strange and, since their story constitutes about 60% of the book, that is not a trivial thing. The stream-of-consciousness writing and the total lack of any relationship between their story and Oscar's makes it difficult for me to understand why it is even part of this book. Add to that the fact that they are not particularly interesting characters and that their relationship strains credulity and you have a recipe for a meaningless book.

Perhaps it is because I worked as an engineer and expect events to bear some relationship to the story that I found this book so disjointed and without purpose. Perhaps those who are more open to the psychology of people rather than the purposeful relationships of events will find this book more interesting and worthwhile. I found it to be boring and it took an effort for me to finish it. On the upside the book is well narrated and there are some interesting surprises but I am unable to give this book more than 3 stars.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

couldn't finish, indulgent prose

I realize I am bucking the trend of love letters for this book. I couldn't finish it. I listened for a hour or so, as far as the chapter where the grandfather (?) speaks about losing his speech, a single word at a time...as though it is a medical condition. The boy is just annoying. His superiority, his distain for his mother, his grandiose speech and inventions. I had zero desire to continue.
The narration is excellent, though.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

This book should be R rated.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I know none of my friends would like this book. It's filthy language, especially from a young boy, would not appeal to them or me. I am very disappointed with this book. Did not see the movie and would not if it is like the book. I tried fast-forwarding, thinking that maybe, just maybe, the boy said a few things I didn't like; no way! Give me a break! This is certainly not a book to listen to if you would a nice, clean, relaxing read.
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Has Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close turned you off from other books in this genre?

Don't know.

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

Don't think it was the narrator; just the content of the book.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No redeeming qualities. Just smut!

Any additional comments?

I want my money back!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected...

...although I'm not quite sure what I expected.

I downloaded this book to listen to on vacation and was a little skeptical about a sad book down by the beach. It wasn't quite like that though. The book is surprisingly heartwarming, the characters loveable, the innocence of youth, refreshing.

The book isn't ABOUT 9/11. It's about the life that happens around it. It's about the sadness, but it's also about how life continues buzzing even after dreadful events. Not just 9/11 but the war, too.

Simply put, it's a balance: on one hand, its the pain, the sorrow, the hurt, the sadness, the loneliness, the scars. On the other, it's the beauty of innocence, the wonder of life itself, the power of imagination, the strength of love. It's all beautifully woven together.

Worth the listen.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Incredibly depressing....

Would you try another book from Jonathan Safran Foer and/or the narrators?

No

Did the narrators do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, good job of narrating.

Any additional comments?

Sorry, but I find no redeeming qualities in this book. I have no problem with stories that are sad. No problem with unresolved conflicts. I would just like to come away from a book, having learned something. Relentlessly depressing with no lessons learned, no new knowledge about life or living. Nothing that makes me want to remember this book, I would like the hours back that it took to listen to it.

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3 people found this helpful