Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is not a book that I would recommend to just anyone. I would like to describe this book as extremely contemporary and incredibly blunt. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a boy with very few inhibitions. And, in this story he tells it like it is. Oskar is unlike any other boy you are likely to meet, he loves to play his tambourine, write letters to those who have inspired him, invent instead of sleep (cause ever since the "worst day" he can't sleep anyway), use the words "extremely" and "incredibly" (I found myself highlighting these 2 words each time I saw them), and is so unbelievably intellectually curious and imaginative that it is often crippling for him. This book filled me with so many different types of emotions and feelings. I found myself highlighting words, sentences, and paragraphs on almost every page. Oskar seems to me to be struggling/living with a mix between autism and OCD and I felt, probably all to often, that I could relate with what he was feeling and doing- from his need to make sure that no one is mad at him, or to make sure he hasn't done anything wrong, to his irrational feelings towards giving himself bruises. I fell in love with Oskar- his words, feelings, and his story. I loved this book (minus the vulgar words and a few almost x-rated scenes- see what I mean about not recommending this book to just anyone?). This book is for mature audiences only, and even if you consider yourself to be a mature reader there are still a few parts that would probably just be best to skip over. But, despite those few things, this story has the power to be life-changing in many ways. Here is my favorite quote from the book- "Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time." This quote along with many others from this book become part of the many "themes" that I like to live by in my life- things that make me, me. I truly enjoyed reading this book.
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