On September 11, 2001, tragedy struck New York as terrorists crashed airplanes in the World Trade Center. Thousands of people suffered losses and lost loved ones because of an attack. The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer explores how it felt to lose a loved one during the attack and how a child managed to cope with his father being gone. 

The novel is about a child named Oskar Schell who has just lost his father during 9/11. He and his father had a special bond as they both enjoyed treasure hunting: his father would set up these treasure hunts and let Oskar figure it out. Before he passed away, he made one last treasure hunt for Oskar, and after he died, Oskar tried to figure it out. Oskar becomes engaged in the hunt, finding clues, exploring New York, and even asking hundreds of people because of a hunch he had about a key. The book then explores Oskar’s grandma's past. It explains everything she had done, including meeting with a boy who had lost everything, including the will to speak, and eventually getting married. Oskar finds a key as one of his clues and finally finds where it goes. As he realizes that the key has nothing to do with his dad and his colleague, he formulates a plan to dig up his grave to see if he can find more clues, as his last one ended in a dead end. The novel ends with photographs of a man falling. He rearranges the picture so that the man floats up.

This novel is riveting as I have not read anything like it. The story clearly portrays how one might feel after an incident. How Oskar copes with the loss he has just experienced was very interesting. During the hunt, Oskar finds voice messages on the phone. Realizing that they are from his dad, he listens to them. If I were him, I would feel worse. Reminding someone of an accident in which they lost someone is terrible. Interestingly, Oskar doesn’t get knocked down. Instead, he feels more engaged in the hunt as he connects to his father more. He doesn’t let other people push him down in his never-ending search for treasure. 

This book surprised me as I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story was fascinating and perfectly written. The writing style is also engaging as it keeps pulling the reader back in. In addition, the book's concept of healing from a tragic accident is fully explored, and reading it was a life-changing experience.