I just finished reading Jonathan Safran Foer's book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

I loved it.

I'd never heard of this guy until last year's movie, Everything is Illuminated, came out.  I only wanted to see that because I read that it was filmed in Prague and that's where my daughter was studying at the time.  It turned out to be my second favorite movie of '05.  (Cinderella Man, of course.)

We have two copies of ELIC around here, as both Katie and Zack wanted it for Christmas.  They both liked it and since they're both reliable book critics, I read it as soon as I finished the pile of trashy paperbacks next to my bed.

It's written in the aftermath of 9/11 and the main character is a kid who lost his Dad.  It's actually three stories that are each different sides of the same story and it's sad and well written.  It also seemed like the perfect thing to read this week.

One of my favorite bits:

"Everything that's born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers.  The smoke rises at different speeds, but they're all on fire, and we're all trapped."

And:

" A hundred years of happiness can be erased in a single second."

I know this makes it sound like the book is a real downer, but it's not.  Those are just the lines that struck me hardest at this particular time.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion