Reviews with content warning for Death - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

25 reviews

corinnaxsophie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ein berührendes Buch, das aber durch die “verspielte” Form einfach zu lesen ist. Mir hat die aufgebrochene Art sehr gut gefallen.
Plot-bezogen blieb mir nur ein großes Fragezeichen bei der etwas seltsam angedeuteten Liebe der Großmutter zu ihrer Schwester, vielleicht kam das aber nur in der Übersetzung so angedeutet romantisch rüber (Ich kenne niemanden, der mit seinen Geschwistern küssen geübt hat?! lol)

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nikkiisreading's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

First of all, I do not think this is a funny or lighthearted book. It's about grief and pain and all the unpretty things that life is made up of. Secondly, it's a very pretty book. The style is quite bizarre and unlike other books.

I remember reading this as an early teenager and not fully understanding everything. To he honest, there are still things that make little sense to me, yet the overarching themes and feelings hit very different now than during my first read-through. I do thoroughly enjoy the book and am happy to have reread it.

[Small spoiler below]
One of the things that I find most impressive is the characterization of Oskar. He is obviously autistic, but because it's written from his perspective it is never explicitly mentioned and that's is truly beautifully done.

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frietje9's review against another edition

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emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jessieanne11's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I'm a slow reader and I read this in 3 days because I was so captivated. It's a beautifully heart wrenching story of generations of absolutely unfair trauma. Without giving anything away, it shows that the only way to get through grief and loss is for it to have never happened in the first place.

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mdavis26's review

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2.75

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quinnpjd930's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Lots of super great emotional and poignant parts in this book, but I was pretty off-put by the frequent dropping of the R-slur, and casual references to incest, pedophilia, sexual trauma, and how shockingly fine everyone was with a nine year old walking around NYC alone? Part mesmerizing and part bizarre… I understand the hype but I feel this missed the mark for me a bit

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laurenaf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This gave me heavy boots. This book is about loss, pain, and the grief of losing someone you love unexpectedly. Set from the perspective of an 8 year old makes it that much sadder, because at that age you still don’t fully understand death or typically have to experience it, and to read that is just gut wrenching. I enjoyed all the characters because they all seemed pretty well developed. I think the use of multiple points of view is interesting, but at times the grandpas perspective vs. the grandmas was confusing and/or slow, I much preferred Oscars adventures. That being said I do understand that the multiple stories was to show the multiple ways of loss and how people handle it differently which was interesting, it just could have been done a little better. There were also some details through which were strange/uncomfortable. I feel like being written in 2005 some of the language was acceptable then but has since been deemed disrespectful from society (i.e. stereotypical thoughts and phrases regarding different races and people w disabilities). I also found the relationship between Oscar and Abby Black a little uncomfortable- specifically the parts where the 40 year old woman wanted to kiss the 9 year old?? That just felt strange and unnecessary. Overall I enjoyed the main story but the other parts distracted me from loving this book entirely.

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hannahmai's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

A book with the most unique format I've ever read, which sometimes made it really confusing, but it all coming together at the end made it completely worth it. The writing was so clever and you really got a rich image and look into the characters minds.

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lily_eames's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is one of the most unique, interesting books I’ve ever read. The structure is unlike anything else. Can I honestly say that I enjoyed every part of it? Nope. I was even severely uncomfortable at times. However, it was still incredibly well written.

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emileegargano's review

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adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was really confusing and that’s the main reason I didn’t like it that much. However, it was one of the better books I had to read for school.

Also, I would rather not hear about the sex scenes between the grandma and grandpa. And, why is the grandpa writing about his sex life to his son? Same with grandma, except to her grandson?

The plot was interesting and I get the message but the characters are so odd to me. It would be fine if their behaviors were explained much better. Like, yes, I get that most of their behaviors’ reasonings have to be inferred but it’s so annoying that I was constantly questioning if I was actually understanding the plot.

Also, I just want to say that this could totally just be me and the style of books I like reading. This one makes you think hard and dissect the characters. I personally don’t care for books that make me think into things deeply. I’d much rather prefer to just read things that give me the information right in front of my face. That being said, if you like more confusing books, this is for you. The plot is actually pretty good and interesting. It’s a good story, just not executed in a way I prefer.

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