Thursday, May 21, 2009

"i'm quite caught up"... / "i've failed you"...

extremely loud and incredibly close is such a tender... beautifully written novel.

jonathan safran foer is really quite wonderful.

i'd like to pick apart his mind... like purse or a toolbox... take all the items out... wipe the bottom and sides with a clean cloth and then carefully place the items back in... one at a time.. turning them over in my hand and observing each one.

the part i just read...
the letter of the grandfather to his son in which he describes asking his equally neglected wife to write her story down on the type writer...
only to discover when the woman brings him in to read it...
all 2000 pages of her story...
that he tore the ribbon out years ago... out of his fury of not being able to marry Anna... not being able to forget her...

the grandmothers inability to see well kept her from realizing that all of her efforts were for nothing...
2000 empty pages...


i know i described absolutely nothing to whoever is reading this...
but on page 120 of this novel is one of the most gentle but terrible moments i've ever read.
its written so well that i don't know quite what to do with it.

and i keep going over it in my head.

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