Review of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Author: Jonathan Safran Foer
Narrators: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, and Richard Ferrone
Published by: Recorded Books
Length: 10 sound discs (11 hr.)
Source: Library
Format: Audio
Rating: 3 stars

Summary from Goodreads: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

I really wanted to love this book and I defiantly tried, but I just didn't.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book and I liked it, but I wasn't blown away like I thought I'd be. 

This may have something to do with the audio or it may not.  I was often confused while listening to the audio and I felt like things were repeated often.  I'm not sure if this occurred in the book or if I was missing something by listening to it instead of reading it.  The narrators were good and evoked many emotions.  Their voices really seemed to fit each character and helped me to picture them easier.  I was just often confused as the story seemed to jump back and forth. 

I did really enjoy the story.  It was so much more than it says for the description of the book.  Sure it involved the story of Oskar and his search for truth, but there was also the story of his grandparents and of each of the "Blacks" he visited.  I really enjoyed meeting each character and hearing a little bit about them.  I felt there were so many connections between people that were explored in this novel and that made Oskar grow as a person and come closer to finding his own truth. 

The characters were interesting and they all seemed to grow and yet at the same time they also seemed to settle.  (Does that even make sense?)  There were some heart-wrenching moments that invoked deep emotions and there were also some laugh-out-loud moments.  I never knew quite what to expect out of the characters but they were fun to get to know.

Usually I'm a huge audio fan, so I was sad that this one didn't work out for me as well as I hoped.  Maybe someday I'll "re-read" the book and see if my opinions change.