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kgarciabug 's review for:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Truthfully, I feel like one of the few people in this world that has truly hated this book. And when I say hate, I really do mean hate, which is why I'm giving it one star. It's not that the story is too sad or has too much angst. I would never hate I book just because it's "too sad". What got me to truly and honestly despise reading this book (and I had to finish because it's a required read) is its writing.
The writing in the book has been called experimental, interactional, and unique. But to me, it felt like a huge gimmick. I felt like it didn't add anything to the story or deepen the writing. Instead, it seemed to draw my attention away and distract me from the story before I could develop any real connection to the characters.
Another thing I hated, though many have applauded, was the switching perspectives. Yes, I've read many books with switching POVs and I've had mixed experiences with them. I've found that too many times the perspectives cause the story to lose focus and be confusing, which is exactly the case in this novel. The perspectives didn't make sense to me and left me wondering why the author even put them in. They didn't allow me to explore any new characters because I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They just annoyed me and frustrated me to the point of no return.
The last thing that sealed the deal on my dislike towards the novel was the characters. Truthfully, I didn't like Oskar. At all. At best I found him sporadic and unfocused, at worse I found him unbelievably infuriating. He also felt entirely fake because of the disconnect between his voice and his age. (For the record, it is hinted that he might have Asperger's, but it isn't confirmed, so he can't even get my pity card.) the other characters weren't very connected either and usually felt distant which kept me from having an even general liking towards them.
Sorry to all those who loved this book and want to share it. (Especially you Ms. Morton) but I throughly despised it.
The writing in the book has been called experimental, interactional, and unique. But to me, it felt like a huge gimmick. I felt like it didn't add anything to the story or deepen the writing. Instead, it seemed to draw my attention away and distract me from the story before I could develop any real connection to the characters.
Another thing I hated, though many have applauded, was the switching perspectives. Yes, I've read many books with switching POVs and I've had mixed experiences with them. I've found that too many times the perspectives cause the story to lose focus and be confusing, which is exactly the case in this novel. The perspectives didn't make sense to me and left me wondering why the author even put them in. They didn't allow me to explore any new characters because I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on. They just annoyed me and frustrated me to the point of no return.
The last thing that sealed the deal on my dislike towards the novel was the characters. Truthfully, I didn't like Oskar. At all. At best I found him sporadic and unfocused, at worse I found him unbelievably infuriating. He also felt entirely fake because of the disconnect between his voice and his age. (For the record, it is hinted that he might have Asperger's, but it isn't confirmed, so he can't even get my pity card.) the other characters weren't very connected either and usually felt distant which kept me from having an even general liking towards them.
Sorry to all those who loved this book and want to share it. (Especially you Ms. Morton) but I throughly despised it.