Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I just finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I must say first off that Everything is Illuminated is one of my favorite books so I came into Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (called ELIC from here on out. Too bad it's not about that program at Wheaton... ) with an extremely open mind. Therefore, I really liked ELIC. Not anywhere near my top five at this point but I thoroughly enjoyed the read and I would definitely recommend it as a quick and easy but deep and heavy read. It's amazing how Foer fits all those incongruous features together in one book.

ELIC is definitely a "modern novel." (props to Brendan Fox for that comment) The use of what I would call mixed media, in this situation being pictures and different formatting, that would normally bother me. Honestly, I feel like most times, the use of these tactics often end up gimmicky. However, Foer manages to integrate these tactics into the story in a way that is completely gimmick-less. The main character, Oskar, keeps a book for himself of "Stuff That Happened to Me," which includes many photos that he mentions, photos that are then included in the pages of ELIC. The changes in formatting show the different narrators in the book, which allows the reader to differentiate their voices in a visual way along with the tone and speech patterns of each.

Some would probably say that the subject material of ELIC is too soon. That we haven't been able to separate ourselves from 9/11 enough to be able to appreciate literature about it or be able to take it seriously. But I believe that it makes us appreciate it and take it more seriously than we would be able to if we were separated from the event. Foer is speaking about such universal themes, including loss, family, and love, that need some sort of anchor. In ELIC, the anchor is disaster, 9/11 being the most prevalent, with the bombing of Dresden coming second, and including a short bit about the bomb at Hiroshima. Foer is able to bring those disasters to a different light when comparing them to 9/11. Much of his audience has no real connection or tangible feeling about the bombing of Dresden or Hiroshima but can identify, in some way, with 9/11. The subject makes all of the themes resonate better with a modern audience, and I have no feeling that it is too soon.

My last note about ELIC would be the subject of the difference between being loved and knowing that you are loved. Two quotes, one from the grandfather: "That's all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there" (130) and another from the grandmother: "I don't know if I've ever loved your grandfather. But I've loved not being alone." (309) The difference between being loved and not being alone or just knowing that you're loved is truly a fine line. This is a much bigger subject than I have time or energy for, but ELIC brings it up. Foer doesn't elaborate a great deal but at least acknowledges that there is a difference. It's something that our generation doesn't talk about often and really just chooses to ignore. Mostly because we probably don't know the difference and usually err more on the side of not being alone/knowing you're loved than actually caring that you're loved. An interesting conversation that needs more discussion.