Fonts

In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close it is quite common to stumble upon words in italics or even words that are crossed out. But that's not all, we also frequently find different font sizes and varied spacing in between letters. Elements of punctuation are also omitted in dialogues. Because of the absence of hyphens, the dialogue is usually difficult to follow and the reader must be very attentive so as to know who says what. On one occasion, Oskar's grandfather calls from the airport, and because he is unable to speak, he attempts to use the dial pad to spell out the words he wants to say. In this way letters are replaced by numbers, which makes the discourse totally unintelligible.

On another occasion, Oskar overhears a conversation between his mother and his psychologist. Because he hears it from behind a closed door, Oskar only manages to make out certain words and phrases. The way this is represented in the novel is powerful and gives the reader insight into the greater dialogue that takes place. That is to say even though we only have access to perhaps a quarter of the conversation, we know it is a part of the whole. We are well aware of the time that goes on in between, for it is represented by the spaces between words and sentences.

The third picture presented below is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful and enlightening passages of them all. It corresponds to the last letter Oskar's grandfather writes to his son, who has passed away. In the letter he tells him his life story and describes the circumstances under which he met his grandson. He keeps repeating the line "I'm running out of room". At first he writes in the middle of the page, like he usually does on the pages of his notebooks (see extremelynincredibly.webnode.cat/news/grandpas-notebook/) but then he begins to write each letter closer and closer to one another until, in the end, they overlap and bleed together, at which point it becomes impossible to read what is written.

EFFECT: The change in fonts and the varying space in between characters are both great ways of conveying meaning. In the case of the overheard conversation, Safran illustrates perfectly the passage of time. The very particular use of font in the last letter of Oskar's grandfather has an especially dazzling effect: the pages transpire with the man's effort to say all he wants to say before he runs out of space.