Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close A Novel, Jonathan Safran Foer
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1cedargrove
First thing to say is that this book is incredibly... weird, not in a bad way, but in a unique way, and very thought provoking in that. Second thing to say is that because of that, I probably won't be making too many notes, because I'd have to be quoting whole swaths of the book... pages and pages!
I do have a couple to start with though:
Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn't have to invent a thing. P12
The boy is talking about his father (who died in the Towers). But the empathy that went along with that line... the though that we all need a someone that can make our brain quiet... stop those random thoughts, the stresses that create the need for our heads to be full of thoughts and ideas in order to distract ourselves from them... it was a moving thought to me.
Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are. P13
This thought came out of a discussion the boy had with his dad (kind of one of those 'why?' conversations), and the boy finally decided he didn't agree with his dad even though he understood what he was saying.
That secret was a hole in the middle of me that every happy thing fell into P71
Oskar (the boy) has a secret, about his dad, that he has kept from his mother (to protect her) and from his grandmother. The thought in the quote above is from when he's having a conversation with his grandma, via walkie talkie - she lives in the building across the street - about how he misses his dad.
I do have a couple to start with though:
Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn't have to invent a thing. P12
The boy is talking about his father (who died in the Towers). But the empathy that went along with that line... the though that we all need a someone that can make our brain quiet... stop those random thoughts, the stresses that create the need for our heads to be full of thoughts and ideas in order to distract ourselves from them... it was a moving thought to me.
Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are. P13
This thought came out of a discussion the boy had with his dad (kind of one of those 'why?' conversations), and the boy finally decided he didn't agree with his dad even though he understood what he was saying.
That secret was a hole in the middle of me that every happy thing fell into P71
Oskar (the boy) has a secret, about his dad, that he has kept from his mother (to protect her) and from his grandmother. The thought in the quote above is from when he's having a conversation with his grandma, via walkie talkie - she lives in the building across the street - about how he misses his dad.
2cedargrove
The chapter called My Feelings (P75-85) confused me into reading it 3 times before I realised that it was a letter within a letter... I mean, it's a good chapter, don't get me wrong, just... if you miss that point, as I did (I must have been distracted), then it becomes very confusing... anyway, the clue is right at the beginning of the chapter. I feel really stupid now. LOL
I stood on the bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: "I changed the course of human history!" "That's right." "I changed the universe!" "You did." "I'm God!" "You're an atheist." "I don't exist!" I fell back onto the bed, into his arms, and we cracked up together. P86
I cracked up too. There are lots of conversations in this book like this... they're not all quite so funny/ironic, but they're all just as deep. I loved that... and the reason why Oskar has this particular conversation is awesome too, but... spoilers!
That's all for now, due to the reading of a chapter 3 times. LOL
I stood on the bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: "I changed the course of human history!" "That's right." "I changed the universe!" "You did." "I'm God!" "You're an atheist." "I don't exist!" I fell back onto the bed, into his arms, and we cracked up together. P86
I cracked up too. There are lots of conversations in this book like this... they're not all quite so funny/ironic, but they're all just as deep. I loved that... and the reason why Oskar has this particular conversation is awesome too, but... spoilers!
That's all for now, due to the reading of a chapter 3 times. LOL
