As far as realism goes – ELAIC isn’t. So how exactly did our man Foer write such an amazingly emotive novel that is based on full-on fantasies? How did he jack the literary ball completely out of the park while delving into unrealistic portrayals of mind altering topics like 9/11, the Dresden fire bombings and the American bombing of Hiroshima? Maybe it was the amalgam of unrealism and hyper-realism that melded perfectly in a balance act worthy of Wringling Brothers - I don’t know. All I know is that this book filleted and gutted me in ways I haven’t been moved since “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”, which is saying something.

The Plot
So what is it about? Oskar Schell is an 11 year old over-the-top eccentric who’s father died two years earlier in the World Trade Center bombings. He dresses completely in white, compulsively invents as he goes about his day, habitually writes to his favorite scientists asking if he can be their assistant and whose favorite musical instrument is the tambourine. At the center of Oskar’s cathartic journey is his discovery of five recorded messages from his father on their answering machine. He quickly hides them from the rest of the world and only takes them out on occasion to play them for himself. This coupled with a ‘clue’ left to Oskar by his father and the Shakespearian tragedy stage is set as Oskar sets out to figure out what his father is communicating to him from beyond the grave.

Foer narrates ELAIC from a variety of vantage points – which is very similar to his narrative technique in EII. Of course we have the sections narrated by Oskar, but we are also treated to letters written from Oskar’s grandfather (that were never sent) to Oskar’s father (that I might add he’s never met) attempting to explain his life up to that particular point. These two vastly divergent narrative perspectives intertwine to yield a very rich and fertile background that each independently draw upon (unknowingly of course, because they too, have never met) in brilliant juxtaposition of one another.

Publishing Tricks
Pulling a play from the Dave Eggers independent publishing tool book of tricks – Foer has piled pictures, typographic slights of hand and the now infamous flip book that ends the novel. One chapter narrated by Oskar’s grandfather is one long paragraph that eventually becomes so dense the type is impossible to read. The page becomes completely black. In another section written by the grandfather he narrates out a coded message keyed to his wife (remember he doesn’t speak anymore) that she is incapable of understanding. Yet, the message goes on for several pages… both the reader and his wife are at a loss – but we know that he is desperately trying to communicate something important. The publishing tricks take the novel to the next level in my opinion – they leap beyond the place where words are able to go and head off into a supra-subliminal emotive language that speak words only our spirits will understand.

Interestingly enough the structuring of ELAIC reminded me very much of Eggers’ latest book “You Shall Know Our Velocity”. Two guys run around the world looking for worthy people to give inherited cash away to. In ELAIC, Oskar and his hundred plus year old counterpart Mr. Black spend large sections of the novel running about interviewing each and every other individual in New York with the last name Black. But where Eggers failed Foer succeeded. He was able to tie a bow on these anarchic and random wanderings about New York. Eggers basically threw his literary hands in the air in exasperation at the end of the day. And although Eggers' defeatism might have been more realistic - Foer's approach was more profound ultimately.

The Denouement
The pain here is palpable. Oskar’s pain is so blatantly apparent that when the psychologist recommends he be institutionalized we are not surprised in the least. And there is also Oskar’s grandfather who lost his one true love in the fire-bombing of Dresden and finds himself incapable of ever speaking again. The grandfather’s wife that we learn is Anna’s sister (Anna being the grandfather’s first love that died) that deals with the perpetual reality of being an also-ran. Oskar’s mother that is smothering her grief in a guy named Phil and apparently ignoring Oskar and his own grieving process. Not to mention all the sad and broken people Oskar encounters as he meanders across New York haphazardly. And while the pain is wrapped in a pleasant, often upbeat, package – we still see it throughout.

What is it about books like Foer’s latest, “The Corrections”, “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”, “Infinite Jest”, et al. that makes such an impact? Is it the new push for availability among the mass market while still attempting to derive at a deeper meaning? Or is it the likeability of the authors themselves? Or maybe its just the fascinating characters and plots that this new breed of authors are striving for. I don’t really know. But I do know that this new trend among young authors today is good. As is Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” It is very good indeed.


Recommended:
Yes