The book perfectly begins with the random wonderings of the main character, Oskar Schell. It also begins right away with a few words and phrases the average person might not know. Entomology, raison d'être, and Ce n'etais pas moi. Ever since rhetoric and research with Dr.Brown, where Dr.Brown gave us daily quizzes always involving a bonus question on the words in the book we read that most people don't understand and skip over anyway, I began to learn every word I didn't know.
Entomology is branch of Zoology that has to deal with insects. Oskar speaks about how he wants to invent a tea kettle that could talk so that he could get it to talk in his dad's voice, or sing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. Then Oskar states how he loves the Beatles because entomology is one of his raison d'etre.
A raison d'etre is French, as you may have guessed. But what you may not have guessed is it's something most of us search for everyday. It's a reason or justification for existence, or the reason we are here and living.
And lastly, Oskar mentions Ce n'etais pas moi when he mentions that he wishes he could train his anus to talk when he passes gas. This way whenever he passes gas it would say, "Ce n'etais pas moi." Which in French roughly means, "It wasn't me." And that is one of the first borderline socially awkward slash socially inappropriate things Oskar says. You pick up from the very first page that Oskar is not afraid to say what he thinks, and it can be funny at times, but it can also be awkward even as a reader.
Oskar also later says Oeuf, which is French for eggs. He tells a joke to a limo driver about how he once kicked a chicken in the stomach and it responded with, "Oeuf." If you haven't been able to tell by now Oskar knows some French.
Then Oskar begins to speak on how everyone should have a microphone attached to their heart so that everyone could hear their heartbeat. He hypothesizes that eventually everyone's hearts would sync together. How interesting would it be though if our hearts were synced together? How would this affect things? For those who believe that our hearts are where we find emotions, would we all feel the same thing? Would we all learn to love one and another easily?
Then Oskar begins to discuss the idea of skyscrapers below the ground for those who are dead since there is beginning to be less and less space on earth for those who are dying. This is where you are first introduced to the idea that someone in Oskar's life has died. Most kids his age seem to only evaluate things that come with death when they know someone who has died. Otherwise most children his age let the idea of death go because it seems so abstract and so unlikely to happen.
You can tell from the start that the book may be a little hard to follow. It begins with Oskar's ramblings on his strange inventions that he creates within his mind. Then it goes into him traveling inside a limousine to someone's funeral. And then it leads into a conversation with him and his father. It's a great book, but I must say it is not something you can skim through and enjoy.
Inside the limousine you begin to get a little more feeling into who Oskar is. He discusses how his grandmother touching him, even though she does so as a way to try and comfort him, makes him feel uncomfortable. He discusses how one of his raison d'être (which as you can remember means a reason to live) is to make his mother happy.You get some insight on what he believes to be humorous when he cracks jokes with the limousine driver. You even begin to learn a little bit of his own version of swear words.
The next thing that really hit me occurred during a conversation b/w Oskar and his Dad. Oskar's dad used to tell him he was too smart for retail, which was exactly the job his dad obtained. Oskar argued that his dad was smarter than he was, and therefore his dad, a retail worker, should be too smart for retail as well. His dad responds back, "I'm not smarter than you, I'm more knowledgeable than you, and that's only because I'm older than you. Parents are always more knowledgeable than their children, and children are always smarter than their parents." I love this quote. It states truth. Most people believe knowledge and intelligence is the same, but it's not.
In "The Know it All" a book by A.J. Jacobs, the author reads through encylopedias from front to back in order to become as smart as he once was. Which is interesting to think that he lost his own intelligence. Jacobs discovers many things, but one major thing is that knowledge and intelligence are different. Knowledge is to know something. Intelligence is to know what to do with knowledge. And wisdom is to know something, what to do with it, and how/when you should do it. This quote from ELIC (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) states the same thing. That the two are different.
Also Oskar's dad, Thomas Schell, states that children are always smarter than their parents and parents are always more knowledgable then their children. I believe this to be basically true. There are always exceptions to rules, especially social rules. I have no way of explaining why this philosophy is true, but I do believe it to be true. I also believe that this is what parents should want. Parents often play the Matilda-like concept "I'm smart, you're dumb; I'm big, you're small; I'm right, you're wrong; and there's nothing you can do about it." Especially when in an argument with their children on why their children should listen. I argue however that parents should want their children to be smarter than them. They should want their children to have a better life. Isn't that the reason behind parenthood? To raise your children to be better people, in a better world, with a better life, doing better things? At least that's what I believe the point is, and I think Thomas Schell shares this belief. I appreciate that Thomas Schell shares this belief.
Then Oskar talks about the adventures he and his dad used to have. His father used to tell him that things were connected and Oskar would have to find out why they were connected. With these very basic adventures you begin to read through a concept that I think most of us have, even if it is, as Freud would say, subconsciously within us. The concept that everything is connected in someway. That everything has a meaning. And what is that meaning, or that connection? This is what Oskar strived to find out.
On time Oskar came to his dad with "evidence". He asked his father about the evidence, and if he was on the right track. His father just shrugged his shoulders. Oskar becomes upset and wonders how he can ever be right if his father won't tell him so. His father then circles something in the newspaper that he is reading and says to Oskar, "Another way of looking at it would be, how could you ever be wrong?" And then his father walked away. Oskar looked down at the paper and saw what his father had circled. He had circled the phrase, "never stop looking." It was his father's way of hinting to Oskar to never stop looking. To keep pressing on. A kind of spin off of "try, try, try again." Basic words that inspire someone to never give up on what is important to them. Words I believe most of us hear within our childhood, but forget to remember in our adulthood when things get rough and we want to give up.
Then Oskar reveals that after "the worst day" he began to write letters. I think this is an incredibly fascinating part about his character. That a child his age is not afraid to write letters to anyone. Honestly, even if I could get myself to do the same I wouldn't even know where to begin to find out how to send letters to some of the people he sent letters to. Some of those people being Stephen Hawking, Ringo, and others I am sure. I once heard about a girl who for her english assignment decided to write letters to people for thirty days. I found the ideas, both Oskar's and this girl's, fascinating. I often wonder what it would be like if I began to write letters to people I didn't know. Would they ever respond back? Do we still live in a world where I could write a letter to a random person and receive a response? I believe so. If I write to the right person.
Okay, I'm sorry, but I might go one a little bit of a faith rant right now. So just a heads up. Oskar talks about how he used to lie in bed and talk with his father as his father would tell him stories. Oskar then looked at his dad asked why we exist. His father's response was, "We exist because we exist." ... "We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened." I'm sorry, and I don't mean to offend anyone by what I am about to say, but how can someone believe in this? How can someone truly believe that things just all came together? One small change, and everything we know could collapse. How does something that fragile just come together and stay that way? Yes, I am a Christian, but a fairly new one at that. Before I became a Christian I still don't believe that I was completely agnostic or an atheist for I knew there had to be something out there that created the stars and brought everyone exactly where they were. My biggest problem I have with the idea that things just all came together is what is one to do when they fall apart? Who do they call on to help save things? I once knew someone who was having surgery and people were praying for them. They didn't believe in God and prayers so their response was, "Thank you all I except all of your positive energy." I truly don't mean to mock anyone, and I really wish that typing could convey absolute emotion so that you could see I am not completely aggravated, but rather curious. How can someone believe that there is positive energy, and that it makes a difference? Don't get me wrong, I think I could completely fall for the big bang theory and evolution, but it's the other part that gets me. The fact that this world as I said is so fragile. We see it, global warming, comets, black holes, gravity, and even the humans who live amongst it destroying it. So what does one do when they try to explain miracles? When they see a disaster about to happen who or what do they pray to? How do they have faith that everything is going to be okay? I used to be one of these people, who knew no where to go when things went wrong and it almost led to my death. The idea that there was no where to go, and things would never get better almost caused me to take away the life I had. I am so thankful that I didn't. I guess that now that I am on the other side, now that I have finally found the answer to the questions I was asking all along, I just can't understand how someone could say, "We exist because we exist."
Lastly, if you haven't figured it out already, Oskar ends the chapter with giving insight into "the worst day". Oskar describes a story I am familiar with. The day that we (being children in elementary school) were let out early, and the only explanation I was given at least was a plan had crashed. He describes coming home and remaining calm because he knew where his parents were. But then he checks his phone messages, and you read the first message. It's his dad asking if anyone was at the house. He describes that something had happened, but he was told to remain where he was and wait for the firemen. It was a call to insure his family that he was okay. Then the chapter ends when you discover that his father was calling him as he was standing by the phone.
Entomology is branch of Zoology that has to deal with insects. Oskar speaks about how he wants to invent a tea kettle that could talk so that he could get it to talk in his dad's voice, or sing Yellow Submarine by the Beatles. Then Oskar states how he loves the Beatles because entomology is one of his raison d'etre.
A raison d'etre is French, as you may have guessed. But what you may not have guessed is it's something most of us search for everyday. It's a reason or justification for existence, or the reason we are here and living.
And lastly, Oskar mentions Ce n'etais pas moi when he mentions that he wishes he could train his anus to talk when he passes gas. This way whenever he passes gas it would say, "Ce n'etais pas moi." Which in French roughly means, "It wasn't me." And that is one of the first borderline socially awkward slash socially inappropriate things Oskar says. You pick up from the very first page that Oskar is not afraid to say what he thinks, and it can be funny at times, but it can also be awkward even as a reader.
Oskar also later says Oeuf, which is French for eggs. He tells a joke to a limo driver about how he once kicked a chicken in the stomach and it responded with, "Oeuf." If you haven't been able to tell by now Oskar knows some French.
Then Oskar begins to speak on how everyone should have a microphone attached to their heart so that everyone could hear their heartbeat. He hypothesizes that eventually everyone's hearts would sync together. How interesting would it be though if our hearts were synced together? How would this affect things? For those who believe that our hearts are where we find emotions, would we all feel the same thing? Would we all learn to love one and another easily?
Then Oskar begins to discuss the idea of skyscrapers below the ground for those who are dead since there is beginning to be less and less space on earth for those who are dying. This is where you are first introduced to the idea that someone in Oskar's life has died. Most kids his age seem to only evaluate things that come with death when they know someone who has died. Otherwise most children his age let the idea of death go because it seems so abstract and so unlikely to happen.
You can tell from the start that the book may be a little hard to follow. It begins with Oskar's ramblings on his strange inventions that he creates within his mind. Then it goes into him traveling inside a limousine to someone's funeral. And then it leads into a conversation with him and his father. It's a great book, but I must say it is not something you can skim through and enjoy.
Inside the limousine you begin to get a little more feeling into who Oskar is. He discusses how his grandmother touching him, even though she does so as a way to try and comfort him, makes him feel uncomfortable. He discusses how one of his raison d'être (which as you can remember means a reason to live) is to make his mother happy.You get some insight on what he believes to be humorous when he cracks jokes with the limousine driver. You even begin to learn a little bit of his own version of swear words.
The next thing that really hit me occurred during a conversation b/w Oskar and his Dad. Oskar's dad used to tell him he was too smart for retail, which was exactly the job his dad obtained. Oskar argued that his dad was smarter than he was, and therefore his dad, a retail worker, should be too smart for retail as well. His dad responds back, "I'm not smarter than you, I'm more knowledgeable than you, and that's only because I'm older than you. Parents are always more knowledgeable than their children, and children are always smarter than their parents." I love this quote. It states truth. Most people believe knowledge and intelligence is the same, but it's not.
In "The Know it All" a book by A.J. Jacobs, the author reads through encylopedias from front to back in order to become as smart as he once was. Which is interesting to think that he lost his own intelligence. Jacobs discovers many things, but one major thing is that knowledge and intelligence are different. Knowledge is to know something. Intelligence is to know what to do with knowledge. And wisdom is to know something, what to do with it, and how/when you should do it. This quote from ELIC (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) states the same thing. That the two are different.
Also Oskar's dad, Thomas Schell, states that children are always smarter than their parents and parents are always more knowledgable then their children. I believe this to be basically true. There are always exceptions to rules, especially social rules. I have no way of explaining why this philosophy is true, but I do believe it to be true. I also believe that this is what parents should want. Parents often play the Matilda-like concept "I'm smart, you're dumb; I'm big, you're small; I'm right, you're wrong; and there's nothing you can do about it." Especially when in an argument with their children on why their children should listen. I argue however that parents should want their children to be smarter than them. They should want their children to have a better life. Isn't that the reason behind parenthood? To raise your children to be better people, in a better world, with a better life, doing better things? At least that's what I believe the point is, and I think Thomas Schell shares this belief. I appreciate that Thomas Schell shares this belief.
Then Oskar talks about the adventures he and his dad used to have. His father used to tell him that things were connected and Oskar would have to find out why they were connected. With these very basic adventures you begin to read through a concept that I think most of us have, even if it is, as Freud would say, subconsciously within us. The concept that everything is connected in someway. That everything has a meaning. And what is that meaning, or that connection? This is what Oskar strived to find out.
On time Oskar came to his dad with "evidence". He asked his father about the evidence, and if he was on the right track. His father just shrugged his shoulders. Oskar becomes upset and wonders how he can ever be right if his father won't tell him so. His father then circles something in the newspaper that he is reading and says to Oskar, "Another way of looking at it would be, how could you ever be wrong?" And then his father walked away. Oskar looked down at the paper and saw what his father had circled. He had circled the phrase, "never stop looking." It was his father's way of hinting to Oskar to never stop looking. To keep pressing on. A kind of spin off of "try, try, try again." Basic words that inspire someone to never give up on what is important to them. Words I believe most of us hear within our childhood, but forget to remember in our adulthood when things get rough and we want to give up.
Then Oskar reveals that after "the worst day" he began to write letters. I think this is an incredibly fascinating part about his character. That a child his age is not afraid to write letters to anyone. Honestly, even if I could get myself to do the same I wouldn't even know where to begin to find out how to send letters to some of the people he sent letters to. Some of those people being Stephen Hawking, Ringo, and others I am sure. I once heard about a girl who for her english assignment decided to write letters to people for thirty days. I found the ideas, both Oskar's and this girl's, fascinating. I often wonder what it would be like if I began to write letters to people I didn't know. Would they ever respond back? Do we still live in a world where I could write a letter to a random person and receive a response? I believe so. If I write to the right person.
Okay, I'm sorry, but I might go one a little bit of a faith rant right now. So just a heads up. Oskar talks about how he used to lie in bed and talk with his father as his father would tell him stories. Oskar then looked at his dad asked why we exist. His father's response was, "We exist because we exist." ... "We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened." I'm sorry, and I don't mean to offend anyone by what I am about to say, but how can someone believe in this? How can someone truly believe that things just all came together? One small change, and everything we know could collapse. How does something that fragile just come together and stay that way? Yes, I am a Christian, but a fairly new one at that. Before I became a Christian I still don't believe that I was completely agnostic or an atheist for I knew there had to be something out there that created the stars and brought everyone exactly where they were. My biggest problem I have with the idea that things just all came together is what is one to do when they fall apart? Who do they call on to help save things? I once knew someone who was having surgery and people were praying for them. They didn't believe in God and prayers so their response was, "Thank you all I except all of your positive energy." I truly don't mean to mock anyone, and I really wish that typing could convey absolute emotion so that you could see I am not completely aggravated, but rather curious. How can someone believe that there is positive energy, and that it makes a difference? Don't get me wrong, I think I could completely fall for the big bang theory and evolution, but it's the other part that gets me. The fact that this world as I said is so fragile. We see it, global warming, comets, black holes, gravity, and even the humans who live amongst it destroying it. So what does one do when they try to explain miracles? When they see a disaster about to happen who or what do they pray to? How do they have faith that everything is going to be okay? I used to be one of these people, who knew no where to go when things went wrong and it almost led to my death. The idea that there was no where to go, and things would never get better almost caused me to take away the life I had. I am so thankful that I didn't. I guess that now that I am on the other side, now that I have finally found the answer to the questions I was asking all along, I just can't understand how someone could say, "We exist because we exist."
Lastly, if you haven't figured it out already, Oskar ends the chapter with giving insight into "the worst day". Oskar describes a story I am familiar with. The day that we (being children in elementary school) were let out early, and the only explanation I was given at least was a plan had crashed. He describes coming home and remaining calm because he knew where his parents were. But then he checks his phone messages, and you read the first message. It's his dad asking if anyone was at the house. He describes that something had happened, but he was told to remain where he was and wait for the firemen. It was a call to insure his family that he was okay. Then the chapter ends when you discover that his father was calling him as he was standing by the phone.
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