What I Read Wednesday: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

After seeing all of the movie previews for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, I borrowed the ebook from a friend of mine. I didn't have any expectations when I started the book, so I can't say that I was disappointed, but I didn't love it. 


Brief Synopsis:
A young boy, Oskar Schell, loses his father in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, after which he finds a key in his father's belongings. He sets out to find the lock that the key goes to by visiting every person in the phone book with the last name black, in alphabetical order. Through a series of letters, a separate story unfolds about Oskar's Grandparents, which finally converges with the main story.

Overall Review: 
The overall story line is good, but the book was choppy and disjointed. I had a hard time keeping track of which character was narrating and found myself re-reading a lot. It was the telling of the two stories, and that fact that they were seemingly unrelated that made it confusing.

I didn't feel like the plot line built up to a good climax, and didn't love the ending. Overall, I would not recommend this book. I only finished it because I was hoping it would get better. Now that the movie is out on video, I might watch it, but it's not high on my list. I have to give this one a thumb's down.

Did you read this book? What did you think? Did you see the movie? I'm curious to know if others feel the same as I do about the book and if watching the movie might be better.  Please share!