GRANDPA'S NOTEBOOK

In one of the first chapters of the novel, we read how Oskar's grandfather starts to lose his ability to speak. The loss of Anna has caused him such trauma that he has become physically unable to pronounce her name. Gradually, this handicap grows to the point where he cannot utter a sound. Thus, he starts using notebooks to communicate, writing what he wishes to say on the pages. Throughout the narrative, we come accross some of these pages in order to reproduce a dialogue. For instance, when he meets Anna's sister in the United States, we see the pages of the notebook on which he wrote in order to communicate with her.

EFFECT: this unique method provides the novel with flexibility and freshness, making the pages flow and giving them deeper meaning. It is touching when we consider how the only way he can communicate with the world is by scribbling short sentences on the blank pages of a notebook. By visually representing this, it is as though it is us, the readers, with whom he is communicating. His reality becomes real to us: a reality which is impossible to look away from.