It is rare to discover a book that has the ability to touch your personal life and make you reflect on the choices you have made. It is even rarer that the book carries with it an impact strong enough to change the way you see the world, your personal decisions and your way of life. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is the only book that has enlightened me in this way. If some other author tried to write the same story, the final product wouldn't be as intense. Foer's use of language, repetition, humor, and desperation come together to create an incredibly powerful novel. One way the author is able to intensify his writing is through the use of repetition. This is a unique use of language that is very effective. The most powerful example of this technique is in the passage written by Oskar's grandmother: Planes entering buildings. Falling bodies. Planes crashing into buildings. People covered in gray dust. Falling bodies. Collapsing buildings. Planes entering buildings. Planes crashing into buildings. Collapsing buildings. People waving T-shirts from high windows. Falling bodies. Planes crashing into buildings. (230)Having to read those few words over and over had a greater impact on me than any descriptive language could have. For me it represents the constant replay in my head of the events of 9/11. The image keeps coming, and it doesn't stop, and it won't stop. The events of 9/11 are used as background information in this novel, however the main focus is the loss of a loved one. In this sense it is all too easy for me to identify with Oskar. Last August a dear friend of mine died in a car accident. It was devastating and is still extremely difficult to deal with. I continually replay the day in my mind. This tragic event makes me understand why Oskar is constantly searching for treasure to find the key lock. I don't think it's simply because he wants to be close to his father, I think it's also because he wants to reclaim his father's legacy and relive the life his father led..