Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

1. Short resume

Oskar is a nine year old boys who loses his father on 9/11. He finds a key hidden in a blue vase in his father's closet. On the envelope were he find the key in, was written the name Black. Oskar thinks it had something to do with one of his dads discovering games they used to play together. So he makes up a plan to find the lock the key fits. But in order to do so, he has to find out who Black is and how he or she can help him in his expedition. But Black is a really common name so he has to visit a lot of Blacks. He calculated he would search for 3 years if he could visit 2 blacks each Saturday. But we can tell you his search will last 6 months. In his journey he meets a lot of different people from all over New York City.

2. Differences between the book and the movie

There are 4 mayor differences. During his search of the lock Oscar meets his neighbour Mr. Black. In the book he accompanies Oskar on his trips. From the moment they meet, they start to search together. But that's not the case in the movie. Oskar does it all by himself until he meets 'the renter' and it's the renter who helps Oskar. But what Oskar doesn't know at first is the it's his grandfather. This is one of the biggest differences because Oskar only finds out the real identity of the renter at the very end of the book. But in the film he begins to see the resembles between his father and the renter sooner because they meet sooner. We think the moviemakers wanted the grandfather more in the picture because of his importance.

There is also a scene written about in novel which is absolutely not shown in the movie. In the very end Oskar and his grandfather burry all the letters Thomas Shell Senior has written over the years to his son in the empty covin. This scene is completely deleted from the story.

The story of the grandparents of Oskar is very clearly explained in the novel. Their history is also one of the main themes in the novel. It's about trauma's and mourning. But if you haven't read the book there is not much in the movie that tells their story. So you get an different perspective on the way the characters behave. For example why the grandfather doesn't speak and has Yes and No tattooed on his palms.

The end of the novel is completely different in the book. Oskar is very disappointed when he finds out that the key belonged to someone else and it had nothing to do with his father. So it's an open ending. In the movie he goes back to central park and he remembered their last conversation there. And he goes back to swings, which he is really afraid of and he finds a letter his dad wrote. And it gives him a sort of closure we think. And that is something he never gets in the novel. He is still stuck with a million questions who will remain unanswered. Not that the letter gives