Nantucket Blogworks

This week I’m so excited to blog about my overwhelming love for the audiobook Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  Cristina told me multiple times how awesome this book is and I have to admit I wasn’t super jazzed to read it.  The blurb on the back did not pique my interest… A boy hunting down his already deceased father in the wake of 9/11.  Not really my cup of tea. The author, however, I do enjoy..I saw the movie Everything is Illuminated and absolutely love it. I know, the book is soooooo much better, at least that’s what I’m told, and is factly true in 99.9% of the cases.  But I haven’t read that book yet, I did however stumble upon the audio of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and thought, “Okay, I’ll give it a go.”

Right away… and I mean instantly, I was sucked into Oskar Schell’s world.  He’s such an amazing character to focus on … In the most beautiful way to convey an event that’s so horrific, Foer gives you this eccentric little boy who’s manner of speaking and acting are so captivating you can focus on nothing else.  I would literally just sit and listen, mounds of work in front of me, listening intently to the lives of three people, pasts being unearthed and futures being unfolded.  Oskar’s segments were easily my favorites especially when he’s joined by his elderly upstairs neighbor whose cooky wisdom compliments Oskar’s naivety perfectly.  Searching for anyone who knows about his key, asking for kisses, spreading knowledge about elephants, and overcoming his fear of public transportation, Oskar makes you believe in humanity in the wake of terrorism.

There are three narrators( and if you’ve read my reviews before you know how much I love more than one narrator); Oskar, read by Jeff Woodman, his Grandmother, read by Barbara Caruso, and the Roommate, read by Richard Ferrone.  (click the names to get a little preview of their voices)

I give this audio book an A. solid, fully deserved A.  

Foer has a new book, this one non-fiction…Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales can lull us into a brutal forgetting.

P.S.  Last night (Feb. 8th) Foer was on the Colbert Report, which happens to be another of my many many addictions.  So here’s the interview for your viewing pleasure…