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View Full Version : SWFans Book Club: February '09 "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"



Dasquian Belargic
Feb 1st, 2009, 04:41:06 PM
Yes, it's February so it's time to read another book! As suggested by Droo...


http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww277/droogydroo/loudclose.jpg


The reason I am suggesting it is because it was a Christmas gift from my auntie and having read the first few chapters already, I can safely recommend it in the knowledge that it is something very special. The narrative is dynamic, kinetic, hilarious and extremely touching. This isn't a very new novel, it is available in paperback, but if no-one else has read it before then we could always give this a try either as an alternative or as an option for a future instalment in the book club. Below are non-spoiler details about the novel and its plot.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by New York writer Jonathan Safran Foer. It was one of the first novels to deal with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The book is an example of an emerging school of contempory postmodernism which challenges the technical limitations of the novel to create a more immersive work. Foer, like his friend and sometime collaborator Dave Eggers, is often called a product of the information age. He brings a multimedia sensibility to the book. He uses type settings, spaces and even blank pages to give the book a visual dimension beyond the prose narrative.


Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.



Let's see if we can all get finished on time this month? ^_^; How about we try to be done reading by Feb 22nd?

Ilias Nytrau
Feb 1st, 2009, 05:31:32 PM
Cool. I put a hold on it at the library. There's a few other holds, so I should have it by mid-month at the latest.

Lilaena De'Ville
Feb 2nd, 2009, 05:14:33 PM
Woooohooo I will have to join in this month. :eee

Wyl Staedtler
Feb 2nd, 2009, 08:43:54 PM
Bought it this afternoon. The boys are very excited and Alexandre has decided to use it for his February book report at school, so I'll be sure to pass his thoughts along as well. ;)

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 2nd, 2009, 09:35:24 PM
In related news, BBC Radio 7 is having a Terry Pratchett mini-season at the moment and airing radio-drama versions of many of the Discworld books! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b5lx0 :)

Ilias Nytrau
Feb 3rd, 2009, 04:22:57 PM
Nooooo... I'm now #23 of 23 holds on 12 copies at the library. I'll never get my hands on this book. I bet youth readers get first dibs because it's catalogued in the youth books section. Curse being jobless and penniless. :(

Yog
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:34:57 PM
Haha, expected waiting time at my local library: 2-3 weeks.

Might look for a paperback copy at a bookstore though, because the story sounds interesting. It also enhances the experience of reading a book when you can share it with others.

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:37:22 PM
I don't think it's out in paperback yet, since it's a fairly new book.

If anyone else would like to suggest another book, that we would be more likely to find readily available either at the library or in paperback, please do so :)

Droo
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:46:48 PM
I'm all for this book, I'll just pick up a copy from Waterstones this weekend but if we are going to change books can we make a decision prior to then, please?

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:49:08 PM
Someone make a suggestion and we'll go with it. Ideally something that isn't a thriller/spy novel since we just did that for January.

I just started reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher, which is available in paperback. How about that? It's the first book in "The Dresden Files". Google it and you'll get some idea of what it is.

Yog
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:54:43 PM
Looks like Nation is out in paperback to me:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nation-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0385613717

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 04:58:58 PM
Oh. My mistake.

Yog
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:03:03 PM
Actually, you may be right. I noticed it is titled "paperback", but the price listings only mention hardcover. Anyway, does not matter to me. They are not too expensive. Looking at the online listings at my bookstores. v:)v

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:04:48 PM
I don't mind buying it either but not everyone can afford hardbacks.

So how about we give until the weekend to pick something new. If no one suggests anything, we just go with Nation (...which I will probably buy this week anyway, regardless of whether or not we're all reading it).

Yog
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:09:24 PM
Sounds good to me. Don't ask me to suggest anything though, because I would only list old stuff everyone already read. I am terrible at finding contemporary literature... :p

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:11:42 PM
I just went on Amazon and looked a popular releases from the last couple of months :mneh

Droo
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:35:20 PM
Well, as an alternative, I will suggest:


http://i727.photobucket.com/albums/ww277/droogydroo/loudclose.jpg


The reason I am suggesting it is because it was a Christmas gift from my auntie and having read the first few chapters already, I can safely recommend it in the knowledge that it is something very special. The narrative is dynamic, kinetic, hilarious and extremely touching. This isn't a very new novel, it is available in paperback, but if no-one else has read it before then we could always give this a try either as an alternative or as an option for a future instalment in the book club. Below are non-spoiler details about the novel and its plot.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by New York writer Jonathan Safran Foer. It was one of the first novels to deal with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The book is an example of an emerging school of contempory postmodernism which challenges the technical limitations of the novel to create a more immersive work. Foer, like his friend and sometime collaborator Dave Eggers, is often called a product of the information age. He brings a multimedia sensibility to the book. He uses type settings, spaces and even blank pages to give the book a visual dimension beyond the prose narrative.


Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 4th, 2009, 05:44:27 PM
I have actually always wanted to read that book, so yes it has my vote.

Wyl Staedtler
Feb 4th, 2009, 09:05:25 PM
Oooh, yes.

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 5th, 2009, 06:17:02 AM
Ok new book confirmed. I picked it up in paperback for only £4.99 at Amazon, so it's hardly breaking the bank :)

Perhaps we could read Terry Pratchett's Nation in March? That should give library goers a chance to get it reserved ;)

Ilias Nytrau
Feb 5th, 2009, 08:42:31 PM
I'll be heading over to the library after I've eaten something, picking up my holds and this book, since it's in the library and available. ^_^

Dasquian Belargic
Feb 13th, 2009, 04:40:24 AM
My copy is this finaaaaally arrived!