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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close cover art

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

By: Jonathan Safran Foer
Narrated by: Kerry Shale
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Summary

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, computer consultant, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, amateur astronomer, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, origamist, detective, vegan and collector of butterflies.

When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

©2005 Jonathan Safran Foer (P)2005 HarperCollins UK

Critic reviews

"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)

What listeners say about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

okay

a little overwrought i felt, dragging out the emotions of loss to a tedious degree. though perhaps americans indulge in discussing their inner thoughts and feelings, and comes across as such to an english reader. nowhere near as good as everything is illuminated.

the protaganist is annoyingly precocious - it comes across as if foer is trying to re-imagine his own childhood as a kid who is smarter than he was. this is nothing to do with the narration which is actually excellent.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Brilliantly written and brilliantly read, I listened twice in a row and have recommended it to all my friends.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

extremely wonderful and incredibly narrated

The narrator made this for me. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as a written book. A reminder than everyone you pass every day has their own story to tell and that while you might think of yourself as original and 'different', so are they.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful book, wonderful reading

I got this because I have enjoyed Kerry Shale on the radio. He really brings this book to life.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible performance

Incredible book but I was astounded by the quality and characterisation from the narrator. Probably the best I have ever heard.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fierce and soul searching

My first point HAS to be tge narrator. I had to check that such wildly different vouces were from 1 man: they were. Brilliant

The book is

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