Blog EBE English Book Education
Let’s talk about a book that teaches us a lesson.
I have chosen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, written by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was written in 2005 and it’s the second novel by the author. This book is about a family in New York City, and what happened to them after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001.
In my opinion this book teaches us that we cannot have one without the other. There is a sentence in the book that supports my opinion.
“You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness”. I think this is really meaningful and useful in life and it can change many life plans.
Now let’s discuss an interesting question. Books or movies – which is better?
Everyone has their opinion about this question. Some prefer movies because of some specific reasons, and some prefer books. I really like to watch movies, chill and enjoy seeing all those cool scenes.
Even after that I still prefer to read books and there are some reasons why.
Reading can improve our focus, memory, communication skills and writing skills.
It reduces your stress and helps you to relax. Reading improves your creativity, imagination and vocabulary.
Now I will support my opinion through my favorite book: The Speckled Band and other stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
”The bullet which wounded Mrs Cubitt had gone into her brain.”
“Hilton Cubitt had been shot through
the heart.”
Read these quotes and imagine these scenarios. By doing this, you instantaneously improved your imagination and creativity.
Now, let’s discuss books and movies and the similarities and differences between the two.
I have chosen a book called Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen which has also been turned into a movie.
The similarities between the book and movie version of this story include the characters, scenarios, conversations and personalities.
The differences are the relationships between the characters. In the movie, Elizabeth keeps secrets from her family and they grow apart. In the book this is not the case. Elizabeth was more mature in the book and the Bennet’s are poorer but more likable. Darcy’s proposals were way more romantic in the movie, and the movie didn’t end with a wedding.
I liked the book more, because it was more interesting. I liked the end and it was a lot more dramatic than the movie.
Now let’s analyze a character from the book Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Oskar Schell is a nine year old boy who is able to roam the city by himself and who asks profoundly deep questions; in fact, it’s almost unrealistic. I contend that Oskar is strange and bizarre, and is a relatable character on multiple levels.
For one, Oskar is imaginative and always concocting inventions in his head. For instance, Oskar imagines a kettle that would sing “Yellow Submarine” in the opening of the novel. For Oskar, his imagination is an escape from what is real – in this case, his father’s death and inevitably, his own death. Haven’t we all resorted to our imaginations during times of tragedy? Oskar is inherently a spacey and inquisitive boy who isn’t afraid of his own thoughts. He doesn’t stifle his curiosity in fear of disapproval. He resorts to imagination to abate his agony and he fires away with questions when something doesn’t make sense to him. He doesn’t necessarily think before he asks questions. Oskar is the epitome of an average child in terms of his behavior and in terms of his thoughts. Consequently, Foer creates Oskar in the image of children who had to grow up without a father or a fatherly-figure after 9/11. There is a little bit of Oskar in all of us if we examine closely enough.
His motivation is the curiosity of the circumstances surrounding his father’s death. He wants to find out how his father died.
Author: Ana Valievi
