Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Source of picture: patricia elle
Does it break my heart? Of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of. I never thought of myself as quiet, much less silent. I never thought about things at all. Everything changed. The distance that wedged itself between me and my happiness wasn’t the world. It wasn’t the bombs and burning buildings. It was me, my thinking, the cancer of never letting go. Is ignorance bliss? I don’t know, but it’s painful to think, and tell me, what did thinking ever do for me? To what great place did thinking ever bring me? I think and think and think. I’ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it.
I always take a cautious approach of reading books about post 9/11. And hence, why I don't read that many. But I can't shy away from the point of view of a 9-year-old (who expresses himself in a way a 30 year old, Jewish man living in New York might...). It reminded me a little bit of Perks of Being a Wallflower- with the similar writings of the young, naive and innocent viewpoints of a young boy. I also couldn't shy away from the setting of New York; I could read books about New York all day! (Yes, that was a massive hint that I want someone to take me to New York.) I expected the story to discuss blame and anger for the towers falling or the motivation behind the attacks. But the premise of the story was quite simple - a son looking for answers to understand his father's death.

Losing something or someone you love is always a difficult thing one could ever endure. And an ever harder thing is how to come to terms with this loss. The book crosses over several character's lives that parallel the events of 9/11 and it was slightly disheartening to acknowledge how some people chose to deal with such adversity.

However, in all truthfulness, I'm not sure how I felt after reading this book. Sometimes, I felt Foer's point did not come across clearly and at others, I'd completely misinterpreted the meaning behind some of the events taking place. But if you need a cute fix of a curious 9 year old finding answers, then by all means, pick this one up.

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