Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

(4) Base Camp

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has three different narrators: nine-year-old Oskar, who has a vocabulary better than most ninety-year-olds; and his Grandma and Grandpa, who both love to write and have a lot to say.

The most confusing part of the book is trying to figure out what's going on with the structure. The words themselves are easy enough to read, but it's difficult to tell what's taking place when. Oskar's our main narrator. Grandpa's letters are all handily dated (and addressed to his son, but never mailed). And all of Grandma's chapters are basically one long letter broken up into four different sections. Plus, there are pictures! Everyone loves pictures!

If you're lost, just keep reading. By the end of the book, everything is illuminated… oh wait, wrong book.