21st Century Literature discussion

For those who have finished the book, feel free to chat here about your experience. Some questions to contemplate:
Who was your favourite character/storyline?
Did you enjoy the magical realist takes?
How was the balance between humour, remembrance and grim topics in your view?
Any favourite quotes?
Would you read more by Jonathan Safran Foer based on this novel?

I have finished and am still processing. The postmodern style Foer chose for this story is out of vogue right now I think but works are still being written which can succeed like this one. But because the style is less used, I found myself frustrated with the book at times and wishing the author did it differently. I followed up with the film and think the film helps one appreciate the novel but the film also highlights the shortcomings both with what was included and omitted.

That is interesting Sam! What other works did the style remind you off? I agree that early 2000s debuts read so differently compared to more conventional debuts published nowadays, which I thought while reading this novel and Under the Skin by Michel Faber recently (and also Ghostwritten by David Mitchell earlier).

Henk wrote: "That is interesting Sam! What other works did the style remind you off? I agree that early 2000s debuts read so differently compared to more conventional debuts published nowadays, which I thought ..."

On the mixing of humor and war horror, Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-Five. Slaughterhouse-Five also has parallel story lines, speculative writing (which in this book might be called magic realism but I don't like the term) and a male oriented somewhat adolescent dark sense of humor. Sophie’s Choice has a similar misogyny.

Ah very good point, Slaughterhouse Five I definitely see, and I think Foer his second book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close has a scene that is directly in dialogue with the famous scene where the bombs are falling up to the planes from the ruins and fires of Dresden.

Is anyone progressing along in the novel? Please let us know your thoughts, I’d love to hear what others found in respect to the book!

Hello Henk, this was a re-read for me, and I think I found it sadder the second time, since I knew what was coming maybe the comedy at the beginning felt darker from the start. I absolutely adore Alex, his voice, his journey of discovery. He is the one who has to deal with human frailty and pain, and so who really grows up. The american visitor who thought he was on a journey of discovery is left just creating myths, never becomes a real person either to us or to himself.

I like those perspectives and agree Alex is a brilliant character who has a remarkable arc of growth!

I hung in there after initial frustration or maybe confusion and finished the book. Still a little confused about Alex the grandfather, Augustine, and Lista. Anyone care to "illuminate?" If I remember the film from years ago those relationships were more clear but not sure I understood those from the novel. Love Sasha and the comedic aspects of the novel, which make the holocaust revelations all the more horrific. Appreciated the recurrent theme of love in its many forms. Here's my favorite quote on that topic: She did all of those things and so many more I would never tell anyone, and she never event loved me. Now that's love.

I thought Augustine was the sister to the wife of Alex the grandfather, the one who crawled out into the woods after being shot, but I might completely misremember it.
I agree that the contrast between humour and the very serious, horrific topics are well executed and give the book a bit more of a gut-punch quality. I mean, it is easier to write a solemn book on horrible things than a funny book about horrible things in a way.

Yes Ellen, that is a good question, one that I wasn't sure of reading but dismissed as I felt it wasn't going to change my opinion of the book and that it may have been intentionally ambiguous. I found that when I read metafiction like this for the first time, I only try and get the rough impressions the author is trying to convey. Then if I am interested I will put the novel through a more studied read to find answers I might have missed, but I look at it that the author intends us to be somewhat confused to what happened.

The movie seemed to relate the grandfather and the boy who was shot (Herschel) and I thought that it suggested a stronger link between the Grandfather and and Lista ,but I seem to remember that the film and book took different directions. Correct me if I am wrong. My memory is getting tricky.

Thank you both. Sam, Don’t know if I have the patience for a second read but agree it’s like an abstract painting many of which I love without a clear understanding of what I am looking at. In the movie the two were sisters (just checked) that never occurred to me in reading the book. In any case there are so many memorable and vivid moments in the book; I don’t think the film had a similar impact (on me at least).