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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
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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".
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)
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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.
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With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man—also named Jonathan Safran Foer—sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.
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If you like the movie, you won’t like the book.
- By Squirrel on 10-14-22
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What Happened to My Sister
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Flock
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Nine-year-old Carrie Parker and her mother, Libby, are making a fresh start in the small town of Hartsville, North Carolina, ready to put their turbulent past behind them. Violence has shattered their family and left Libby nearly unable to cope. And while Carrie once took comfort in her beloved sister, Emma, her mother has now forbidden even the mention of her name. When Carrie meets Ruth, Honor, and Cricket Chaplin, these three generations of warmhearted women seem to have the loving home Carrie has always dreamed of. But as Carrie and Cricket become fast friends, neither can escape the pull of their families' secrets.
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Breathtaking
- By Pink Amy on 03-11-24
By: Elizabeth Flock
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The Good Luck of Right Now
- By: Matthew Quick
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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For 38 years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday Mass, and the library learn how to fly? Bartholomew thinks he's found a clue when he discovers a "Free Tibet" letter from Richard Gere hidden in his mother's underwear drawer. In her final days, Mom called him Richard - there must be a cosmic connection.
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AMAZING
- By JoAnn on 02-17-14
By: Matthew Quick
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Bright Lights, Big City
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Daniel Passer
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The tragicomedy of a young man in New York City, a writer, never named, who works as a fact-checker for a prestigious magazine. He struggles with the reality of his mother's death, alienation, and the seductive pull of drugs and a vibrant nightlife.
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Curiously, mundanely real
- By Amber on 01-07-12
By: Jay McInerney
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Never Change
- By: Elizabeth Berg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Berg
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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A self-anointed spinster at 51, Myra Lipinski is reasonably content with her quiet life, her dog, Frank, and her career as a visiting nurse. But everything changes when Chip Reardon, the golden boy she adored in high school, is assigned as her new patient. Choosing to forgo treatment for an incurable illness, Chip has returned to his New England hometown to spend what time he has left. Now, Myra and Chip find themselves engaged in a poignant redefinition of roles, and a complicated dance of memory, ambivalence, and longing.
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sweet story and lovely writing
- By LVG on 07-21-22
By: Elizabeth Berg
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The Hour I First Believed
- A Novel
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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When high-school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives. But when Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right.
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excellent all around yarn
- By G. on 01-10-09
By: Wally Lamb
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The Leaving
- By: Tara Altebrando
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Eleven years ago, six kindergartners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to, until today. Today five of those kids returned. But as details of the disappearance begin to unfold, no one is prepared for the truth. This unforgettable novel with its rich characters, high stakes, and plot twists will leave listeners breathless.
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Plot Twist
- By Josh F. on 01-07-21
By: Tara Altebrando
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The Night Ocean
- By: Paul La Farge
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Marina Willett, MD, has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends - or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears.
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Frustratingly Uneven Due to Clumsy Plot Structure
- By Adam on 06-15-17
By: Paul La Farge
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The Name of the Star
- Shades of London, Book 1
- By: Maureen Johnson
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city - gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper in the autumn of 1888. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect.
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Paranormal Ripper-Related YA
- By Amy on 08-05-14
By: Maureen Johnson
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Second Hand Heart
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam, Anthony Bowden
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Vida is only 19, but she knows a lot about dying. Her weak heart has kept her on the edge of death her whole life. It hasn't been much of a life. Thanks to her overprotective mother, Vida's only friend is Esther, an elderly Holocaust survivor who lives upstairs. Vida's heart is finally about to give out unless she can get a donor heart in time. Richard is 36 and blissfully married until he gets the call that his beloved wife has died in a car accident. His world falls to pieces.
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Worst one yet
- By SAL on 06-23-16
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Strong Motion
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 20 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Louis Holland arrives in Boston in a spring of ecological upheaval (a rash of earthquakes on the North Shore) and odd luck: the first one kills his grandmother. Louis tries to maintain his independence, but falls in love with a Harvard seismologist whose discoveries about the earthquakes' cause complicate everything.
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Compelling Story, Ridiculous Narrator
- By DianeReads on 02-28-16
By: Jonathan Franzen
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If you like the movie, you won’t like the book.
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Wonderful novel marred by imperfect narration
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Surprisingly Even-Handed
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Disappointing
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Everyone has that one line they swear they’ll never cross, the one thing they say they’ll never do. We draw the line. Maybe we even believe it. Sage Hendricks was my line. Logan Witherspoon befriends Sage Hendricks at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. He's drawn to Sage, with her constant smile and sexy voice, and his feelings for her grow so strong that he can’t resist kissing her. Sage finally discloses a big secret: She was born a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at her.
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Takes teen angst to a new level
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We Are the Ants
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Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn't sure he wants to. After all, life hasn't been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer's.
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Evocative and moving
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With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man—also named Jonathan Safran Foer—sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.
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If you like the movie, you won’t like the book.
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How do we fulfill our conflicting duties as father, husband, and son; wife and mother; child and adult? Jew and American? How can we claim our own identities when our lives are linked so closely to others’? These are the questions at the heart of Jonathan Safran Foer’s first novel in eleven years—a work of extraordinary scope and heartbreaking intimacy. Unfolding over four tumultuous weeks in present-day Washington, D.C., Here I Am is the story of a fracturing family in a moment of crisis.
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Wonderful novel marred by imperfect narration
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Surprisingly Even-Handed
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In We Are the Weather, Jonathan Safran Foer explores the central global dilemma of our time in a surprising, deeply personal, and urgent new way. Some people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to act on what we know.
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Disappointing
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Everyone has that one line they swear they’ll never cross, the one thing they say they’ll never do. We draw the line. Maybe we even believe it. Sage Hendricks was my line. Logan Witherspoon befriends Sage Hendricks at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people. He's drawn to Sage, with her constant smile and sexy voice, and his feelings for her grow so strong that he can’t resist kissing her. Sage finally discloses a big secret: She was born a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at her.
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Takes teen angst to a new level
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Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice. Ask anybody. Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the "slut stall" in the girls' bathroom: "Alice had sex in exchange for math test answers" and "Alice got an abortion last semester." After Brandon dies, the rumors start to spiral out of control.
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Surprised but I liked it!
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Smart and complex
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Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for you. There's a long-running joke that after "coming out", a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. This is that instruction manual. You're welcome.
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Parents of younger teens should read it first
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By: Juno Dawson, and others
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The God of Small Things
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Likened to the works of Faulkner and Dickens when it was first published 20 years ago, this extraordinarily accomplished debut novel is a brilliantly plotted story of forbidden love and piercing political drama, centered on the tragic decline of an Indian family in the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India. Armed only with the invincible innocence of children, the twins Rahel and Esthappen fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family.
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Worthy Booker winner!
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Lily and the Octopus
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When you listen to Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride. The magic of this novel is in the listening, and we don't want to spoil it by giving away too many details. We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can't live without. For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion, Lily, who happens to be a dog.
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OMG WHY!!???!??? last hour redeemed the first 7
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"Life changes fast....You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." These were among the first words Joan Didion wrote in January 2004. Her daughter was lying unconscious in an intensive care unit, a victim of pneumonia and septic shock. Her husband, John Gregory Dunne, was dead. The night before New Year's Eve, while they were sitting down to dinner, he suffered a massive and fatal coronary. The two had lived and worked side by side for nearly 40 years.
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Great book to Read, but I didn’t like it
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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Fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition similar to autism. He doesn't like to be touched or meet new people, he cannot make small talk, and he hates the colors brown and yellow. He is a math whiz with a very logical brain who loves solving puzzles that have definite answers.
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A Different View of the World
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Nickel and Dimed
- On (Not) Getting By in America
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This engrossing piece of undercover reportage has been a fixture on the New York Times best seller list since its publication. With nearly a million copies in print, Nickel and Dimed is a modern classic that deftly portrays the plight of America's working-class poor.
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Good concept, but poor execution.
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Atonement
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In Atonement, three children lose their innocence, as the sweltering summer heat bears down on the hottest day in 1935, and their lives are changed forever. Cecilia Tallis is of England's priviledged class; Robbie Turner is the housekeeper's son. In their moment of intimate surrender, they are interrupted by Cecilia's hyperimaginative and scheming 13-year-old sister, Briony. And as chaos consumes the family, Briony commits a crime, the guilt of which she shall carry throughout her life.
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An amazing book about complex human perception
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The History of Love
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Nicole Krauss' first novel, Man Walks Into a Room, was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Award and her short fiction has been collected in Best American Short Stories. Now The History of Love proves Krauss is among our finest and freshest literary voices.
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Like Garcia-Marquez on Anti-Pschyotics
- By Jane on 10-14-08
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Lawn Boy
- By: Jonathan Evison
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For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work - and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew - he knows that he's got to be the one to shake things up if he's ever going to change his life. But how?
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CATEGORY AND SUMMARY MISLEADING
- By Gretchen on 05-01-18
By: Jonathan Evison
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Sold
- By: Patricia McCormick
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Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.
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Perfectly Haunting....
- By Theodore on 01-13-13
What listeners say about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Angie
- 05-04-08
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
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Overall
- Catherine
- 05-17-05
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
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Overall
- Dr.
- 06-25-10
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
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Susan
- 12-10-13
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
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Mike From Mesa
- 11-10-13
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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- Kelli
- 10-27-13
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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- Kerry's Comments
- 05-28-13
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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- Jan
- 02-15-13
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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- Maria
- 08-07-12
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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- Marti
- 01-30-12
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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