Hello Readers! it has been awhile since I last written a blog post here! Last two weeks I was the class blogger so I didn’t get a chance to write my own opinion and perspective on the amazing book that we had the chance to read that week which is “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” written by Jonathan Foer.
After reading the book and got so amazed by it, I decided to googled it for more information and suddenly came across to the movie version of it and decided to watch it. The book and movie was quite similar but the movie missed some aspects of the story that the book covered like the story of the grandparents and many other aspects. But anyway, the movie made me so emotional till I shed tears. I can imagine how Oskar feels losing his father, a man who is very fond to him. I am lucky enough to say that I’ve never lost any of my loved ones but I do miss the presence of my loved ones since I’m living far away from home and my family in Indonesia.
Talking about my family, Oskar’s grandpa’s story reminds me of my grandmother who is currently living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Even though Foer’s novel is fictional, my grandma has experienced something similar like what Oskar’s grandpa experienced. Back in the year 1998, there was several huge riots that happened in Jakarta or now known as the 1998 tragedy. The riots were triggered by the economic problems which then led to the fall of Indonesia’s president back then, Mr. Suharto. The main targets of the violence were the Chinese Indonesian. It was estimated that more than a thousand of people died in that incidents and at least hundreds of women was raped.
It was a very traumatic experience for my grandma, she had to move and hide from one place to another place along with her family hoping that no one will caught them. If a traumatic experience has caused Oskar’s grandpa to not be able to speak, this traumatic event had made my grandma so shock till it leads her to have a parkinson disease.
Even though I’m not the one experiencing it, I can feel a certain connection with the book because of my grandma is experiencing something similar like what Oskar’s grandpa experienced. Traumatic events that led to a great shock for individuals and has affected them personally does not only happen in the book but also happens in real life.
– Inneke Soeyanto