It's incredibly loud and incredibly close
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Description
Book Introduction
The book that became a hot topic when Lee Byung-hun introduced it as a “book that heals the mind” in the drama “Iris”!
Oscar is a nine-year-old amateur inventor, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, and pacifist.
And he's on a very urgent and secretive quest that requires him to search every nook and cranny of New York.
His mission is to uncover the identity of the key that was among the belongings of his father, who died during the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing.
As his investigation continues, Oscar meets a variety of people, each with their own sorrows.
And as Oscar's story intertwines with that of his vanished grandfather and his grandmother, who has struggled with loneliness for many years, it becomes a larger story of loss, inability to communicate, memory, and healing.
At the time of its publication, the book attracted attention on several fronts.
The first is that it is the second work by Jonathan Safran Foer, who emerged as a new major writer in American literature with his debut work, Everything Is Beautiful, and the second is that it is a novel dealing with 9/11.
And thirdly, it was because of the experimental text and photos that could be seen immediately with just a quick glance.
The author's experiments, such as writing that captures the characters' psychology and photos taken by the main character, allow readers to become more deeply immersed in this work.
It is such a lovely, beautiful, and tear-jerking novel.
Oscar is a nine-year-old amateur inventor, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, and pacifist.
And he's on a very urgent and secretive quest that requires him to search every nook and cranny of New York.
His mission is to uncover the identity of the key that was among the belongings of his father, who died during the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing.
As his investigation continues, Oscar meets a variety of people, each with their own sorrows.
And as Oscar's story intertwines with that of his vanished grandfather and his grandmother, who has struggled with loneliness for many years, it becomes a larger story of loss, inability to communicate, memory, and healing.
At the time of its publication, the book attracted attention on several fronts.
The first is that it is the second work by Jonathan Safran Foer, who emerged as a new major writer in American literature with his debut work, Everything Is Beautiful, and the second is that it is a novel dealing with 9/11.
And thirdly, it was because of the experimental text and photos that could be seen immediately with just a quick glance.
The author's experiments, such as writing that captures the characters' psychology and photos taken by the main character, allow readers to become more deeply immersed in this work.
It is such a lovely, beautiful, and tear-jerking novel.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
What the heck
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1963.5.21
Googleplex
My feelings
The only animal
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1963.5.21
Heavy boots, heavier boots
My feelings
Happiness, happiness
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1978.4.12
Sixth district
My feelings
Alive and alone
Why Am I Not Where You Are? (2003.9.11)
A simple solution to an impossible problem
My feelings
Beautiful and true
Translator's Note
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1963.5.21
Googleplex
My feelings
The only animal
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1963.5.21
Heavy boots, heavier boots
My feelings
Happiness, happiness
Why Am I Not Where You Are? 1978.4.12
Sixth district
My feelings
Alive and alone
Why Am I Not Where You Are? (2003.9.11)
A simple solution to an impossible problem
My feelings
Beautiful and true
Translator's Note
Publisher's Review
Oscar Schell, the main character and central narrator of this book, is different from the nine-year-old children we often see around us.
Oscar, an amateur inventor, spends his time alone, imagining beautiful things rather than hanging out with his friends, collecting photos for his scrapbook, and writing letters to scientists like Stephen Hawking and Jane Goodall.
When I see the precocious child Oscar, I am reminded of Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye or Oscar in The Tin Drum.
Oscar in "Awesome" wanders the city alone, like Caulfield, and suffers from emotional turmoil and breakdown.
Also, like Oscar, the protagonist of the eponymous film "The Tin Drum," he shakes off his fears about the world around him by shaking a tambourine.
The characteristic of novels featuring children as narrators is usually their unique perspective, which delicately captures even the most trivial things and gives them meaning, even things that adults find familiar and even obvious.
Therefore, when applying these points of view, the author's originality can be revealed more prominently.
This work also makes full use of the effect of such a point of view. As a child with innocence, but at the same time having experienced pain before his peers and becoming mature, the world that Oscar sees seems to be beyond the truth, but in fact, it is closer to the truth than the truth, and it hits the nail on the head.
Oscar lives in constant fear.
This is the aftermath of the tragic event of 9/11.
However, in modern society, disasters such as terrorism and war are no longer special circumstances; they have already become everyday fears.
Oscar's appearance can also be seen as a self-portrait of us living in the modern world, a world where dangerous situations are always lurking.
So Oscar's fear is not unfamiliar.
In the novel, fear is not only Oscar's.
For Oscar's grandfather, who survived the Dresden air raids during World War II, life is full of fear.
The experience of witnessing “everyone lose everything” leaves Oscar’s grandparents unable to own anything or anyone.
The fear of losing again.
Because of that, they can't love again or talk to anyone.
Fear of loss and the resulting breakdown in communication.
This is also something we commonly witness today and can discover in ourselves.
Although Foer sets his story against the backdrop of specific historical tragedies—World War II and 9/11—he does not address them politically.
The significance of this background can be found in the effect it has on the fact that it actually existed.
Memories derived from real experiences, vividly unfold before us through Foer's sentences, conveying the inevitability and enormity of that fear.
Foer's sentences succeed in portraying that feeling, that psychology, with "tremendous and incredible" accuracy.
This novel does not depict the world through Oscar's eyes.
What this novel consistently depicts is Oscar's mind as he looks at the world.
It is not about drawing what is visible, but rather describing how it is perceived.
Oscar spends every moment in a state of “emotional overload.”
It's a state where you're neither happy, nor sad, nor angry, and all those emotions are swirling around in your head at once.
A state that we, who have become emotionally numb to the point of being unable to easily experience, is constantly present for Oscar.
When faced with a tragic situation, we find it difficult to express our fear or sadness.
That doesn't mean we're hardened by life and can easily overcome all of it.
In reality, fear and sadness are lurking in our heads, but we are not accustomed to easily revealing them.
This problem of 'inability to express' is shown in an extreme form in Oscar's grandfather.
Oscar's grandfather Thomas, who lost everything in the Dresden air raid, is speechless.
All the words begin to slip away from him one by one, and eventually he reaches a state of complete 'communication breakdown' where he cannot speak.
This disconnect cannot be overcome even between spouses, the closest and most intimate of relationships.
What symbolically shows this is the ‘empty space’ in his house.
A space that is right next to you, but may no longer exist the moment you step inside.
Oscar's grandparents create 'empty spaces' throughout the house, and they think in them and dress and undress in them.
They live together but do not live together.
As time passes, the space of nothingness encroaches on the entire house to the point where it is impossible to tell where the 'space of nothingness' is and where the 'space of existence' is, and when they reach a point where they have no choice but to deny the existence of others and even their own existence, they are faced with the inevitable question of whether they are 'existence' or 'nothingness'.
And when they come to terms with their own 'existence', they realize that they can no longer continue living as they are, and Thomas leaves.
Thomas, unable to overcome his 'inability to express', refuses to communicate with anyone, but eventually realizes that this only adds to the sadness of not only himself but also the other person.
Oscar's case is the exact opposite.
Oscar sets out to find the "Black Cs" living in New York to uncover the key's true identity, and along the way, he meets others who are living with their own sorrows.
Oscar must tell his own story to hear the story of the key, and as he shares his story with his father, he also shares the stories of others.
Oscar gradually overcomes his wounds by 'expressing' his sadness and fears to others and listening to theirs.
In this way, Pore shows us a way to overcome loss, grief, and the breakdown of communication through stories.
The moment we overcome it, we discover that the world is 'extremely noisy' with its own stories, yet they are all 'incredibly close' to us.
Oscar, an amateur inventor, spends his time alone, imagining beautiful things rather than hanging out with his friends, collecting photos for his scrapbook, and writing letters to scientists like Stephen Hawking and Jane Goodall.
When I see the precocious child Oscar, I am reminded of Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye or Oscar in The Tin Drum.
Oscar in "Awesome" wanders the city alone, like Caulfield, and suffers from emotional turmoil and breakdown.
Also, like Oscar, the protagonist of the eponymous film "The Tin Drum," he shakes off his fears about the world around him by shaking a tambourine.
The characteristic of novels featuring children as narrators is usually their unique perspective, which delicately captures even the most trivial things and gives them meaning, even things that adults find familiar and even obvious.
Therefore, when applying these points of view, the author's originality can be revealed more prominently.
This work also makes full use of the effect of such a point of view. As a child with innocence, but at the same time having experienced pain before his peers and becoming mature, the world that Oscar sees seems to be beyond the truth, but in fact, it is closer to the truth than the truth, and it hits the nail on the head.
Oscar lives in constant fear.
This is the aftermath of the tragic event of 9/11.
However, in modern society, disasters such as terrorism and war are no longer special circumstances; they have already become everyday fears.
Oscar's appearance can also be seen as a self-portrait of us living in the modern world, a world where dangerous situations are always lurking.
So Oscar's fear is not unfamiliar.
In the novel, fear is not only Oscar's.
For Oscar's grandfather, who survived the Dresden air raids during World War II, life is full of fear.
The experience of witnessing “everyone lose everything” leaves Oscar’s grandparents unable to own anything or anyone.
The fear of losing again.
Because of that, they can't love again or talk to anyone.
Fear of loss and the resulting breakdown in communication.
This is also something we commonly witness today and can discover in ourselves.
Although Foer sets his story against the backdrop of specific historical tragedies—World War II and 9/11—he does not address them politically.
The significance of this background can be found in the effect it has on the fact that it actually existed.
Memories derived from real experiences, vividly unfold before us through Foer's sentences, conveying the inevitability and enormity of that fear.
Foer's sentences succeed in portraying that feeling, that psychology, with "tremendous and incredible" accuracy.
This novel does not depict the world through Oscar's eyes.
What this novel consistently depicts is Oscar's mind as he looks at the world.
It is not about drawing what is visible, but rather describing how it is perceived.
Oscar spends every moment in a state of “emotional overload.”
It's a state where you're neither happy, nor sad, nor angry, and all those emotions are swirling around in your head at once.
A state that we, who have become emotionally numb to the point of being unable to easily experience, is constantly present for Oscar.
When faced with a tragic situation, we find it difficult to express our fear or sadness.
That doesn't mean we're hardened by life and can easily overcome all of it.
In reality, fear and sadness are lurking in our heads, but we are not accustomed to easily revealing them.
This problem of 'inability to express' is shown in an extreme form in Oscar's grandfather.
Oscar's grandfather Thomas, who lost everything in the Dresden air raid, is speechless.
All the words begin to slip away from him one by one, and eventually he reaches a state of complete 'communication breakdown' where he cannot speak.
This disconnect cannot be overcome even between spouses, the closest and most intimate of relationships.
What symbolically shows this is the ‘empty space’ in his house.
A space that is right next to you, but may no longer exist the moment you step inside.
Oscar's grandparents create 'empty spaces' throughout the house, and they think in them and dress and undress in them.
They live together but do not live together.
As time passes, the space of nothingness encroaches on the entire house to the point where it is impossible to tell where the 'space of nothingness' is and where the 'space of existence' is, and when they reach a point where they have no choice but to deny the existence of others and even their own existence, they are faced with the inevitable question of whether they are 'existence' or 'nothingness'.
And when they come to terms with their own 'existence', they realize that they can no longer continue living as they are, and Thomas leaves.
Thomas, unable to overcome his 'inability to express', refuses to communicate with anyone, but eventually realizes that this only adds to the sadness of not only himself but also the other person.
Oscar's case is the exact opposite.
Oscar sets out to find the "Black Cs" living in New York to uncover the key's true identity, and along the way, he meets others who are living with their own sorrows.
Oscar must tell his own story to hear the story of the key, and as he shares his story with his father, he also shares the stories of others.
Oscar gradually overcomes his wounds by 'expressing' his sadness and fears to others and listening to theirs.
In this way, Pore shows us a way to overcome loss, grief, and the breakdown of communication through stories.
The moment we overcome it, we discover that the world is 'extremely noisy' with its own stories, yet they are all 'incredibly close' to us.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: August 16, 2006
- Page count, weight, size: 489 pages | 614g | 148*210*30mm
- ISBN13: 9788937480973
- ISBN10: 8937480972
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