Extremely Loud and Incredibly Confusing

We met on an April night. It was one hundred dollars. Apparently, I have a terrible mother who lets me wander the streets of New York City upchapparoned.  My grandmother gives me explicit recollections of her sexual encounters with my grandfather aka the renter even though I am only 12, I think.  I have a terrible secret that causes me to abuse myself and I like to find creative ways to curse.  I experienced something unimaginable on 9/11 and I needed to find a way to hang on to my father's memory in order to cope.  I am bent, but not broken.  "I'm ok."  The discussion gave me heavy boots.

So, we actually did meet on an April evening to discuss this book.  I think overall we each pulled something different from the chaos of the story.  The story wasn't terrible and in some ways even enlightening, but the story was written in such a fashion that it was hard to get through, making it less than enjoyable.  Flashbacks and journal entries mixed with the monologue of a child that suffers from what my limited knowledge would lead me to categorize as  high functioning autism or Asberger's syndrome, which I no doubt misspelled, made a recipe for confusion. 

I was drawn to Oscar's perspective of the world and the way he dealt with it, but I was put out with the mental aerobics it required to seperate the here and now from the then and where.  As a group I believe we agreed that the book earned a 3 out of 5 star rating solely for the subject matter and the depth of the characters.  Having said that though, I wouldn't recommend it.  Just rent the movie.  It is easier to follow and takes much less commitment.