There was never a right time to say it.
It was always unnecessary.
The books in my father’s shed were sighing.
The sheets were rising and falling around me with Anna’s breathing.
I thought about waking her.
But it was unnecessary.
There would be other nights.
And how can you say I love you to someone you love?
I rolled on my side and fell asleep next to her.
Here is the point of everything I have been trying to tell you, Oskar,
It’s always necessary.
The above is a quote from Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly close. It’s an example of the simple, borderline saccharine prose he employs throughout. I left out the next two lines, “I love you, Grandma”, on purpose. Had I let you know who said them, I would have given you an inaccurate portrayal. The book is full of flashbacks, mostly in the form of letters, and most of the time it is not at all clear who is speaking. I found myself going back to figure out who was saying something, thinking I had missed something, but in fact I hadn’t. I found this annoying.
Despite this harsh introduction, I found the book enjoyable enough. It’s a quick read, and Oskar, the main character, is delightful. Extremely emotive, he causes you to both laugh and cry. Oskar lost his father on September 11th and when its not reflecting back on some past tragedy, the book illustrates his somewhat odd attempts to cope with his absense. I didn’t feel like there was exploitation of the tragedy – there is no extreme patriotism, politics, or regret – but, the dearth of difficult emotion, or reflection on why, seems odd given the rest of Oskar’s deductions and inventions.
Reading this book reminded me of Douglas Coupland. The two authors use their stories to deliver simple life lessons, and do so with similar devices: large black and white photos, scribbles, altered font sizes, and occasional color. Personally, I like Coupland better.
Rating: 3 stars on a scale of 5