Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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| Author | Jonathan Safran Foer |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Jon Gray |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
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Publication date
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1 April 2005 (1st edition) |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 368 pp (hardback & paperback editions) |
| ISBN | (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 57319795 |
| 813/.6 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3606.O38 E97 2005 |
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. In the story, Oskar discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father, a year after he is killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The discovery inspires Oskar to search all around New York for information about the key.
Oskar Schell is a nine-year-old boy whose father, Thomas Schell, died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The novel begins after the tragedy, with Oskar narrating. Since his fathers' death, Oskar struggles with insomnia, panic attacks, and depression. He often describes the feeling of depression as wearing heavy boots, and deals with this by giving himself bruises.
One day, in his father's closet, Oskar finds a key in a small envelope inside a vase that he accidentally broke; on the outside of the envelope the word "Black" is written in the top left corner. Curious, Oskar sets out on a mission to contact every person in New York City with the last name Black, in alphabetical order, in the hope of finding the lock that belongs to the key his father left behind. One of the first people Oskar meets in his search for the key's origin is a 48-year-old woman named Abby Black. Oskar and Abby become friends instantly, but she has no information on the key. Oskar continues to search the city, towards the end of his journey Oskar meets an old man he calls "the renter" because until the point of meeting, Oskar had only heard of the old man's existence from his Grandmother who referred to him as the new tenant in her apartment. (We learn towards the end of the book that "The renter" is actually Oskar's grandfather.)
The book spans many months of Oskar's journey, some of which he was accompanied by his elderly neighbour, Mr. A. Black. Eight months after Oskar initially met Abby, he finds a message from her on the answering machine. Oskar had not touched that phone since his father died because his father's last words had been on an identical answering machine which Oskar had kept hidden from his mother. Oskar finds out that Abby called him directly after his visit, saying she wasn't completely honest with him and might be able to help. Oskar returns to Abby's apartment after listening to this message, and Abby directs him to her ex-husband, William Black.
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