Extremely What?

Following on from the success of 'Everything is Illuminated' Jonathan Safran Foer's second literary foray is a tragi-comic work of genius. Narrated by the eternally inquisitive, marginally autistic Oskar Schell, the novel documents his extremes of emotion as he wrestles to come to terms with the death of his father in the attacks of 9/11.

Far from being your average nine year old boy, Oskar is a cynic, a pragmatist, a scientist - he fills his daybook 'Things That Happened To Me' with countless images snapped with his grandfather's camera. He scours the internet to find answers to his unending string of questions and writes letter after letter to his hero, Stephen Hawking.

And so it is, that following the accidental discovery of a mysterious key, Oskar, dressed only in white, embarks on a quest to discover which of New York's 162 million locks it unlocks - certain that success will somehow bring him closer to his absent father and help him to understand why he can't be where he is. However, during his travels through New York and the five boroughs it plays host to, Oskar finds that his mission takes him on a journey through much more than just districts...

'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' handles the tragedy of September 11th with great sensitivity, and it's lead protagonist becomes a beacon of hope in the aftermath of disaster. Oskar wears 'heavy boots', he gives himself bruises and repeatedly meets with obstacles and yet, as he meanders through the streets of the story, his boots gradually become lighter, along with his heart.

'I moved over to Grandma's side of the limosuine and told Mom, "Why would I need a key to her apartment?" She could tell that I was zipping up the sleeping bag of myself, and I could tell that she didn't really love me. I knew the truth, which was that if she could have chosen, it would have been my funeral we were driving to. I looked up at the limosuine's sunroof, and I imagined the world before there were ceilings, which made me wonder; Does a cave have no ceiling, or is a cave all ceiling?'