Room
Emma Donoghue's Room isn't the kind of book I normally
gravitate towards. But after hearing Kevin's mom rave about it, and then
finding it for a mere $1 at a used book sale, I decided to take a
chance. And I'm really glad I did. This book is intense and disturbing
and almost impossible to put down. It's a pretty quick read, partly
because the language is very simple and straightforward and partly
because it's such a page-turner.
The story is narrated by five-year-old Jack, who has lived his entire life in an 11 x 11 square foot room. The room is set up like a studio apartment, with a bed, toilet and bathtub, and a small kitchenette. Jack's only exposure to the outside world is through the television. But as far as he's concerned everything outside of Room is a fantasy. Room is his entire world.
Jack's mindset has been aided by his mother, a twenty-six year old woman who was abducted seven years earlier. She does her best to shield Jack from their horrifying situation, and keep him happy and healthy, while also trying to figure out how to escape from her captor.
All of the horror of their situation is filtered through Jack's innocence, which I think makes the book easier to read. He really has no idea what's going on, and you're forced to read between the lines to figure out what's really going on.
It's the language that really pulled me in to this book, though. Jack's extremely limited world-view has had an effect on his speech. He talks about Bed, Table, Toilet, and Stove because he can't conceive of there being more than one of those things. When his mom begins to introduce the concept of a larger world, he has an incredibly difficult time accepting it.
As disturbing as this story is, the book is definitely worth a read. Donoghue put a lot of thought into what a five-year old raised in this environment might sound like, what his mom might have done to keep him safe, and how scary and overwhelming the bigger world might seem.
The story is narrated by five-year-old Jack, who has lived his entire life in an 11 x 11 square foot room. The room is set up like a studio apartment, with a bed, toilet and bathtub, and a small kitchenette. Jack's only exposure to the outside world is through the television. But as far as he's concerned everything outside of Room is a fantasy. Room is his entire world.
Jack's mindset has been aided by his mother, a twenty-six year old woman who was abducted seven years earlier. She does her best to shield Jack from their horrifying situation, and keep him happy and healthy, while also trying to figure out how to escape from her captor.
All of the horror of their situation is filtered through Jack's innocence, which I think makes the book easier to read. He really has no idea what's going on, and you're forced to read between the lines to figure out what's really going on.
It's the language that really pulled me in to this book, though. Jack's extremely limited world-view has had an effect on his speech. He talks about Bed, Table, Toilet, and Stove because he can't conceive of there being more than one of those things. When his mom begins to introduce the concept of a larger world, he has an incredibly difficult time accepting it.
As disturbing as this story is, the book is definitely worth a read. Donoghue put a lot of thought into what a five-year old raised in this environment might sound like, what his mom might have done to keep him safe, and how scary and overwhelming the bigger world might seem.
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