X = Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

"Everything that's born has to die, which means our lives are like skyscrapers. The smoke rises at different speeds, but they're all on fire, and we're all trapped."

This is the second year in a row that I have cheated with letter X and gone with 'Ex', but I bet I'm not the only one who has so maybe that's okay. Even 'Ex' was hard to find a book that suited my reading tastes. I considered Douglas Preston's Extinction but found the main character unlikable after the first few chapters, and there was Excavation by James Rollins which I just wasn't in the mood for.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, chronicles Oskar Schell's search for answers. His father dies on 9/11 and Oskar is the last one to hear his father's voice leaving him feeling both guilty and grief stricken. He plays tambourine and keeps a scrapbook, makes up inventions and bruises himself when he feels bad. But when he finds a key hidden in a vase he believes is his father's, Oskar becomes obsessed with finding the lock that it opens.

My initial impression of this book was that it was kind of weird. The whole book is pretty much written in seemingly never-ending sentences that bleed into paragraphs to make a constant stream of flowing human consciousness which, in the beginning, I found to be a little confusing at times.

Oskar's story runs parallel to the story of his grandparents; how they survived the bombing of Dresden in World War 2, how they met, and how they struggled to find normalcy after their trauma. How Thomas Schell Sr was damaged by the loss of his true love and fled fatherhood, loving a son he would never meet. How Oskar's grandmother threw herself into her family after the eventual abandonment of her broken husband.

As I grew accustomed to the writing style, I began to really enjoy the book. Oskar's curiosity proving somewhat contagious as he explores New York looking for answers that he hopes will bring him closer to his father. Oskar is mostly loveable, despite his slightly off-putting desire to kiss almost every woman he meets. (Seriously, the kid is only 9, why is he worried about that?)

The story of his grandparents is emotionally driven and beautifully sad. I loved learning about the relationship of these two people afraid to be alone, although I admit I'm not smart enough to make the connection between the bombing of Dreden and September 11th, other than they were both tragic events in human history. Or maybe that was the point and I'm overthinking. I will say Oskar deals with his grief in a very different way than his grandparents did; they cut themselves off from the world where he embraces it.

I don't know if I consider this book necessary reading in terms of finding reading material that honors the lives lost on 9/11, but I do feel like it's a good example of a book that wants to highlight the impact it had on so many lives.