Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
By Jonathan Safran Foer

This author is the husband of the woman who wrote The History of Love (previously posted).

This is a beautiful, mysterious, heartbreaking story of a boy looking for his father whom he adores. I don't want to say too much about the story itself, if you read it anything I tell you would ruin it for you!

I will provide an excerpt - a conversation between father and son:

"When Dad was tucking me in that night, the night before the worst day, I asked if the world was a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise. 'Excuse me?' "It's just that why does the earth stay in place instead of falling through the universe?' "Is this Oskar I'm tucking in? Has an alien stolen his brain for experimentation?' I said, ' We don't believe in aliens.' He said, 'The earth does fall through the universe. You know that, buddy. It's constantly falling toward the sun. That's what it means to orbit.' So I said, ' Obviously, but why is there gravity?' He said, "What do you mean why is there gravity?' 'What's the reason?' "Who said there had to be a reason' 'No one did, exactly.' 'My question was rhetorical.' 'What's that mean?' 'It means I wasn't asking it for an answer, but to make a point.' 'What point?' 'That there doesn't have to be a reason.' 'But if there isn't a reason, then why does the universe exist at all?' 'Because of sympatetic conditions.' 'So then why am I your son?' 'Because Mom and I made love, and one of my sperm fertilied one of her eggs.' 'Excuse me while I regurgitate.' 'Don't act your age.' 'Well, what I don't get is why do we exist? I don't mean how, but why?' I watched the fireflies of his thoughts orbit his head. He said, 'We exist because we exist.' 'What the?' 'We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened.'

I undertood what he meant, and I didn't disagree with him, but I didn't agree with him eaither. Just because you're an athiest, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are here." (pg 12 - 13)

http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Incredibly-Close-Jonathan-Safran/dp/0618329706