Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What do you say of a book that speaks of grief in such profound sense.
So much so that it reeks in every emotion, every page, every line and every word that its made of.
The grief that comes through it and surmounts our emotions, rises to imperceptible heights within us, drawing us into it and filling our every pore, extinguishing in our sense of existence and leaving us devoid of souls.
The grief that’s almost tangible and engulfs the silence of irreparable souls, that speaks volumes.
That flows like a river and makes us cringe inwardly for the indestructible quality of human spirit that always tries to find a way irrespective of how much we want to hang on to our losses.
We are damaged, broken, lost.
We are scared of allowing ourselves to feel and our lives are never the same again.
We as human beings are fragile and are continuously overwhelmed and affected by what happens around us as much as what moves us from within.
Oskar is an 8 year old who perceives and understands more that what some normal adults would. He picks up emotions from thin air and reverberates with comprehension that many lack or are incapable of feeling.He loses his father to 9/11 and its resolving the mystery of a key which he finds that he supposes will bring him to peace.
His journey with his loss and grief is impalpable enough to give him heavy boots as he says for a heavy heart. He gives himself bruises probably to silence the noise of his loss that fills his guts and shakes him from within.
Its his immense understanding of human emotions and the world around him that make him a child prodigy of sorts. And in his understanding of what a child like him isn’t supposed to go through he takes on a journey to find the answers to his questions.
Its not just his story but also those of the other broken souls around him who are dealing in their own way with the tragedy that has struck their lives and surmounts every other emotion that they have that makes this story complete.
The tears will come and flow unceasingly and a lot many times(that’s a sure for any thinking soul), but they will not be a burden but rather an easement to the lives that we all live, lightening our heavy hearts, unloading our baggage that we carry.
And what will be left will be a space for brightness to enter our souls through all the tiny cracks that we have in our hearts.
Your forever will be diluted and will be replaced by the acknowledgement that Life is ever changing and ever evolving. Nothing is guaranteed and permanent.
Personally I wish if there was an option of ‘Erase and Rewind’. To be able to erase a few things, people and even experiences from our lives and going back to the happy days.
That would make Life somehow bearable if not a fairy tale exactly.
But, sadly, we haven’t been privileged to change the course of Life according to our whims and fancies or even needs. But, to accept it with whatever it brings us.
What is to be understood is that Life is not about hanging on to the past or chasing the future but to live in the present with all that it shoots us with.
Our fears, our losses, our happiness and learning all a part of the big mess.
We will keep changing, maybe even be scarred.
But, somehow if we change our scars to stars we may have a chance to happiness.
I like the ending with Stephen Hawking’s acknowledgement of Oscar’s letters. Its another way of Life showing us a way of hope and light when we have been disillusioned with the realities of Life. That sometimes all we can have is memories to keep us afloat and moving on is the only option.
Life is nothing if not a kaleidoscope of endless hope and innumerable opportunities.
And we all must enjoy it to the best we can.
Living it to the fullest, giving it another chance.
Never stopping to LIVE, LOVE and NEVER LETTING GO!
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