I wanted to like this book. I expected to like it. I liked the movie many years ago, and I loved Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as a movie. I put that book on my WANT TO READ list...and I took it off yesterday. 
 I accept that the author's writing style is just not for me. I get the impression it's meant to be clever, deep, reflective, humorous, self-referential, and witty all at once, but I didn't feel it the way I should have. 
 I did get just past halfway into the book (stopped at page 142), which is much farther than I normally give books that I'm not fully enjoying. Finally I figured that small amount of progress over three weeks was an indicator that I should just stop. I remember being amused by Alex in the movie, but in the book I couldn't stop comparing him to Borat. Ugh, the butchered English and specific terms kept calling Borat to mind. 
 It was slow-going for me. The chapters alternate between the past, the present (focusing on Jonathan's journey, guided by Alex, the dog and his grandfather), and Alex writing a letter to Jonathan with his thoughts and reflections. 
 I know plenty of people like this, and it was a best seller, so maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's not. Either way, I'm happy to toss this book in the "I'm so done with you" pile.