extremely loud and incredibly close book pages

His favorite book is A Brief History of Time by his hero, Stephen Hawking. He is not allowed to watch much TV, but likes to read. Oskar switches subjects to discuss other interests. However, the more objects he found, 'the less understood” (10). When he saw his father circle the words “not stop looking,” he interpreted it as a clue and continued to search nightly in the park. All he found in the park were odds and ends - a quarter, some paperclips, a bent spoon - and though he examined them in his laboratory (his closet), he discovered no overarching pattern.Ĭonfused, he brought his findings to his Dad, who was sitting with their cat Buckminster, “reading The New York Times… marking the mistakes with red pen” (9). Though he understood that his father often assigned expeditions to encourage him to talk to others (he readily admits his anti-social tendency), he decided to pursue the expedition by using a metal detector. Oskar was unable to finish the last Reconnaissance Expedition before his father died - his father had given him a map of Central Park, with no other clues to guide him. Oskar remembers how he and his dad used to play a game called Reconnaissance Expedition, in which Oskar would interpret clues that his dad laid out in order to find a final prize. Because the father's body was not found after the attacks, the service was merely symbolic.) (This happens in the novel's final sections. He then shares that the second time he rode in a limousine was when he later went to the same cemetery to dig up his Father's empty coffin. Confused as to why she is upset, he 'could tell that she didn’t really love me” (6). Meanwhile, his Mom (he never names her outside this) was angry with him for giving copies of their apartment key to the mailman and to Stan, their doorman. Oskar’s Grandma, who was knitting white mittens for him, tried to touch him sympathetically, but Oskar hates being touched. In the limo, Oskar wore white, because he refuses to wear any other color, and joked in French with the driver, Gerald. had died in the World Trade Center during the 09/11 attack. Oskar remembers the first time he rode in a limousine, on the way to his father’s funeral. He also admits that he is wearing 'heavy boots,' a term he uses to describe depression (2). He shares that he is comforted by playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” on his tambourine. For example, he justifies recently quitting his jujitsu class on the grounds that he is a pacifist. In the first pages, Oskar drifts quickly from subject to subject. Although his imagined inventions are impractical - they include a teakettle that sings the chorus of “Yellow Submarine” and a birdseed shirt that allows the user to fly - they illustrate the incessant and imaginative outpouring of ideas that gives the narrative its fast-paced, unfiltered style. The novel is narrated by nine-year-old Oskar Schell.

Extremely loud and incredibly close book pages