Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer.

I found this book quite a hard read as it kept changing tenses and also changing who wrote it. so at one point it would be a boy and the next it would be his father or grandfather. The story was based just after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in 9/11. It starts off explaining about this boy who lost his father who worked there. It then goes on to say how this young child finds a key and travels around the whole of NewYork to find out what it unlocks. This book is very mooving as it shows how the boy deals with his loss. It also deals with the quite tricky subject of the actual events that takes place, including at the back of the book, a few pages of flicker pitures of a man jumping off one of the towers (real picture). I am giving this book 6/10.

MB

This is a fascinatingly compelling book.  The story deals with a young boy with learning difficulties who has lost his father during the 9/11 attck on the twin towers in New York.  His grandmother lives across the road from him and she carries her own loss.  Her husband left her when she was pregnant with the boys father and returned to Germany.  This is a very complex story with a huge amount of layers.  It is an emotional book and deals well with the issue of loss and bereavement. The formation of new friendships and relationships is also a large part of the storyas the boys mother has developed a friendship through her bereavement counselling.  It is difficult to read in places however and the text does not flow in a conventional way.  It can at times be difficult to understand who has said what when the text moves to a conversation between two or even three people.  Though saying all of that it is worth reading.  I give this a 5 out of 10.
JB

Overall, 5.5 out of 10.