About an hour ago, perhaps, I finished reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Apparently it is also a movie, but I have not seen it and probably will not make a strong effort to, because the book works so well as a book and I don't see how a movie could do it justice at all. People that I've talked to who have read the book and seen the movie actually do say that the movie does not do the book justice, although they say it is still a good movie.
Anyway.
I strongly recommend this book. Even though it will make you sad, or very sad, it will probably actually be worth it. It was for me.
Halfway through, I was reading it in my friend Travis's room when I looked up and told him that he would like the book because of the way it's written and the way it makes you think a lot and the way it uses interesting, unexpected words, which Travis is in the habit of doing. So he told me that he would consider reading it when I finish.
So, even though I left a few notes in the pages for Travis (which I will not describe to you on the off-chance he reads this post), I'm not going to lend it to him right away because, believe it or not, I had to read the book for a class, and we haven't been tested on it yet.
It was for Social/Personality Psychology, which is taught by a professor whom I very much disliked last time I had a class with him, on account of his conceit and because he offended and embarrassed me once. I'm warming up to him a little now though. A little.
I don't know what the book has to do with Social/Personality Psychology. I'm a psychology major. I should be able to pick up on this sort of thing. But I can't think of things like this academically, which is why I want to go into counseling, not research, and why I've never taken a class on the Bible.
Of course the boy in the book has a strong and extremely interesting personality, but how can I describe it? I love the way he thinks, but I have no idea how he thinks.
Anyway, what should I say about the book? What can I say about the book?
It made me think a lot about war. It made me spend a solid 45 minutes watching 9/11/2001 TV coverage on youtube, and many more minutes replaying that coverage in my mind, as well as thinking back to my experiences that day and how clueless I was to the significance of it. I was nine years old. The main character in the book was seven.
It made me think about safety and how much of an illusion it is. How any moment, a terrorist attack could become a reality for me, or a shooting, or a car accident, or some bizarre freak thing like me or someone I love falling out of bed and breaking my/their neck.
It made me think about safety and how much of a reality it is for me. How death could happen at any moment, and when that moment comes, I will, without question, become more alive than ever before. How I am absolutely assured of eternal life in paradise, no matter what happens to me here on this alien planet. Most of the people in the book, including the main character, do not believe in God, but the book still caused me to think about these things.
I certainly don't look forward to dying, but I certainly look forward to death because of what it means for me. Don't worry, I'll wait, of course.
The book made me think about children and how fragile they are. It made me think about the importance of friendship and family.
The book made me think about language: the way people talk, the words they use, and how people convey meaning.
I suppose the book made me think about love, but not in a way that I've never thought about love before. I think the book was about love in many ways, but isn't that normal? Isn't life about love in many ways?
The book made me think of more things, but those were the big things, and I've just about had enough metacognition for one night.
I highly recommend this book. I hope that it does not make you too sad. It's a fine piece of literature, and even, sometimes, fun to read. I couldn't put it down. The ending was not sad.
God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment