Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Recently I have read a real range of books, and they have all been written in unique ways. I have loved all of them, and all the ways they are written, but they are all very, very different."Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is written by Jonathan Safran Foer, and it's mostly from the point of view of a nine year-old boy. The story is about how this boy, Oskar, has lost his father in the 9/11 plane crash, and how he copes with it. It also has another story running through it which slowly unfolds, eventually meeting up with Oskar's storyline. 

It is a very moving book, and written wonderfully. Oskar's mind is unique, and Jonathan portrays this interesting character in a very enjoyable way, it is believably a nine year-old child telling the story (the book is in first-person). It goes through Oskar and his father's relationship, and you see how much his father meant to him, making it even more painful when you discover he was killed in the building that was hit by the plane. Oskar is a very lovely child. He has an open mind, and does things like sends letters to Steven Hawkings and Ringo Starr, he keeps a book of Things That Happened To Me, he has a stamp collection and carries around a tambourine. He has little recurring sayings, like "What the?" and "... making her happy is one of my raisons d'être." He also occasionally ends sentences with something like, "...which I know about." and sometimes "...which I know about, but don't really want to know about." Being in Oskar's mind is very intense. He isn't really coping with his grief, but the character can't see anyway to cope. He starts inventing things to make himself feel secure (like bird-seed shorts to make quick getaways, and giant pockets to keep your loved ones safe), but then he starts to invent horrible consequences of different things in his mind. He also gives himself bruises as a punishment for little things. One very sad thing you find out about Oskar is that he was the first to come home after 'The Worst Day', (which is what he calls it the day of his father's death) and he heard the five messages on the answering machine, and they were all from his dad when he was in the building. Through out the book you eventually find out what these messages are, and you also know that Oskar went out, bought a new telephone exactly the same, and replaced the old phone with it so his mother didn't hear the messages. His mind works in strange ways, but that's what keeps the story going along. I think it's fantastic the way the writer has invented this character that is so young, but still keeps you engaged every step of the way. You can both relate with Oskar's emotions, and him as unique.

The book is really about how people deal with grief. The character of Oskar decides to go on a search to find the lock for a key he found in his father's room, and he believes that with the lock, there will come happiness. It's Oskar's way of coping. As I mentioned earlier, there is another story running along side Oskar's, which is letters and diary entries from Oskar's grandparents. His grandmothers letters are for Oskar, and his grandfathers letters are addressed to Oskar's father, and his diary entries are from his journal. You discover that Oskar's grandparents survived the Dresden bombing in World War II, and their families were killed. It is a very sad part to the story because the grandparents don't really love each other, but they marry because they can't let go of their one connection of their lost lives. None of the characters really cope with their sadness at all, but the book goes through how that effects them and how they change. 

The following is an excerpt from the beginning of the book. It's a good example of Oskar's mind.

But it's not just the writing that's brilliant, it's also the way the writer patches everything together. You have a chapter about Oskar, which is usually quite long. In it he might mention a picture he saw, a photo he took, or even just something that happened to him, then the next page might have a photo of that thing. Like this for example:

And when the grandfather writes in a journal a letter to his dead son, he starts to squish the writing closer and closer together, trying to fit all he wants to say, but he's running out of room. The chapter goes on for a while, but then ends up being four or so pages of this:

I love Jonathan's style so much. It is so... beautiful. It captures something I have never felt before when reading a book. It ends up being this beautiful thing. Intense, interesting and unique. It's really fantastic, and I recommend it, and for a wide range of readers. Just because it's from the point of view of a nine year-old, don't think it's for that age range. Quite the opposite actually. I enjoyed it, but I think it's aimed at young adults and up. 

Good Omens

It's the second time I've read this book, and it's just as brilliant as the last time. Definitely. I think it's so full of detail, jokes and footnotes that I could read it many more times, and still not get bored, and the humor would not get old. You can picture it all perfectly. I have never been to England, but even the name 'Lower Tadfield' brings up images of old trees, green fields and blue skies. A typical English countryside. Read this book. It is a classic, and it is fantastic.


'Good Omens' is about the end of the world, which will happen on Saturday, and the things leading up to it. There is a range of characters, the main ones being a demon named Crowley, his friend, Aziraphale (an angel) and an eleven year old boy named Adam (the Antichrist). The book is written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, so it has a kind of 'split up' feel to it. It's made up of little scenes about different characters, that all eventually meet up (and they actually have links all through the book). It's written in third person, but it follows different stories from a range of characters perspectives. And the book is hilarious. 


One of the main things I love about the book are the characters. Crowley, a young man (in looks), who wear dark glasses even when it's dark. It is is job to be evil. But after six thousand years, he's grown attached to Earth, and when it comes to organizing the Apocalypse, he doesn't really feel it in him to do so. Crowley is a great character. He's synical and sarcastic, listens to Queen, rides a Bentley, but still keeps up with modern technology. He's spent his time on Earth, since it started, tormenting humans and putting fear into their lives. Then there's Aziraphale, the angel. Though his job is to bless people and do good, he has found company in Crowley, seeing he's the only one that's been around consistently for the last six thousand years. He is good-hearted and means well, though is constantly having to resist Crowley's tempting and reasoning on why God is wrong. Aziraphale is torn in that sense. He isn't as attached to Earth as Crowley is, but he still feels bringing Armageddon is necessary, (the lives lost etc, etc). He questions God, which makes him quite a rebellious angel, but he does it in such a timid way, you easily forget this. If a human was to see Aziraphale they would see an Englishman, wearing a camel-fur coat, and who was very, very gay. He isn't of course, because angels do not have sexualities, but he acts so. He is also not English, though he has spent a long time there in England. I love the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale. They  both have different views on life (polar-opposite in fact) but deep down the demon does have a 'spark of kindness', and the angel still hangs out with a demon and gets drunk. And he even swears, but only once. And he hadn't done so since the beginning of time. They are great characters, I can imagine them perfectly. Other characters which appear in 'Good Omens' are Adam's friends, Pepper, Brian and Wensleydale, there's Hells Angels, War, Famine, Pollution and Death, a witch named Agnes Nutter and her descendent Anathema, and there's a witch-finder named Sergeant Shadwell, his Private Newton Pulsifer (known as Newt) and their neighbor, Madame Tracy.


The book draws you in from the very beginning, which is a very important thing for me. Obviously it's important because if it doesn't interest you or pull you in from the very beginning, it's hard to persist with it. The book starts as so:


It was a nice day.
All the days had been nice. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But clouds massing east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on it's way, and it was going to be a big one. 


 The writing is great. It describes things in such depth, and from many different characters perspectives, as I have mentioned. And it's funny, which I also enjoy. It's also quite important to be well written and to have the humour because I don't understand all the Bible references, so it kind of makes up for it. I also don't get all the references to England, like the places and motorways, etc. But the footnotes sometimes help with that. Here's an example:


Crowley took Glasgow, Aziraphale had Edinburgh (neither claimed any responsibility for Milton Keynes*, but both reported it as a success).


*Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient and healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.


OR


She was in a city* at the time.


*Nominally a city. It was the size of an English country town, or, translated into American terms, a shopping mall. 


The whole book builds up, very slowly but surely, to the Saturday. And you, as the reader, enjoy every step of the way.