Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

By: Jonathan Safran Foer

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, Richard Ferrone

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

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)

Unbelievable

I would actually rank this book among the top best books I've ever read in my entire life. The performance is understated brilliance, and the book itself is beyond amazing. I thought Foer was incredible in Everything is Illuminated, but Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close knocks it out of the park. It's poetic and sad and raw and I don't have enough space to write all I want, so I'll end this here.

Loved this!

Great, rollicking story...both hilariously funny, and heart-rendingly sad. I highly recommend it!

Mixed feelings

I am very glad I read/heard the book. However, I struggled initially with the narrator's voice but eventually got used to his style. And, I also wavered back and forth from enjoying the story to sometimes not liking it. Jumping back and forth from the grandparent's story to the boy's was at times jarring. I read it for a book club and we were all surprised how much this book inspired discussion afterwards. There were many intense, heartbreaking passages. I think I was able to appreciate the story by being able to hear the inflections of the narrator. Other book club members who read the book said there was a lot of wonderful images in the printed book that helped communicate some of what the characters were experiencing.

Amazing!

Any additional comments?

I can only say great things! An amazing story told in a unique way by vivid characters. The readers were outstanding. There's a lot of pain in this book and some moments of joy. I like fiction that gives me an emotional ride, and this sure did!

Wrap your head around this and you will love it

It took me awhile to wrap my head around this storyline; but loved it when I did

The best audio book I have listened to

What did you love best about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close?

The writing is beautiful. The performances enhance the great writing.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I fell in love with Oskar.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. It is the first time I've been so in to the story that I had to take it inside and listen until the end.

Completely Original Storytelling

I almost didn't read this book, simply because it introduces us to its hero with pre-adolescent scatology. Ignore it and you'll find yourself in a charming tale that is unlike anything you've read before.

Not Realistic

If ever there was an assemblage of unbelievable characters, this is it. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading. I recall a few English Lit professors who would have thought this perfect for analysis. What do all the characters' foibles really mean?

To be fair, this isn't the kind of book I normally download. I thought the narration was excellent and the storytelling techniques, e.g., the letters, were interesting. I even found some of the characters entertaining, but not in the least believable. That said, their pain came through truthfully.

In the end, I am going out on a limb to say you probably never read/heard a book like this, so it's an experience you might enjoy on that merit if nothing else.

Wow

Great book. Wasn't sure what I downloaded but once I got into it (first hour) I was in love! Happy reading.

Haunting depths

Jonathan Safron Foer paints the reader into a landscape of sharing the horrors experienced and unspeakable grief shared by the characters woven together in this story.

Oskar's journey of finding truth ties the recent loss of his father with the tragedy of his grandparents' lifelong journey of denying their own truths related to their shared losses experienced as teenagers.

It is captivating!