Room
Emma Donoghue
Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room.
They don’t have the key.
Jack and Ma are prisoners.
I casually ordered this book off Amazon without very much thought. Little did I know it’d turn out to be the best book I’ve read in years!
As soon as I started reading Room, I was hooked. The story is narrated by Jack, a five-year-old little boy. Actually, it begins on his fifth birthday. You quickly realise Jack doesn’t have an ordinary life, although Jack himself doesn’t know any different. He’s been brought up in a tiny locked room, with no one visiting them except their captor – a man Jack only knows as Old Nick.
The device of using Jack as the narrator is very clever and doesn’t get irritating as it could had it not been written so well. You get to know Jack’s strange world through his eyes, and he talks about things which the reader understands but the narrator doesn’t. It’s descriptions of Jack watching TV – Dora Explorer is one of his only friends – and being led to believe nothing on TV is real. He thinks only him, Ma, the Room and Old Nick are real. He fills his days with activities his Ma has created to keep him entertained, but which are heartbreakingly mundane to an outsider. I found it really gripping to read about Jack and Ma’s life in room – the characters were incredibly yet effortlessly described and I ended up feeling like a third person in their little Room.
Half way through the book, Jack’s world comes crashing down around his ears. I won’t ruin it for people who are yet to read the book, but needless to say it had my heart thumping and I ended up staying up, reading into the wee small hours to see what happened. This has never happened lately with a book I’ve read.
The second half of the story deals with the fall out of this event and how Jack struggles to make sense of his world. Jack managed to invoke empathy from me that I never thought I had! I just wanted the little guy to be OK and for him to feel safe. Now, having finished the book I am almost mourning the loss of the characters. I wish I could go to visit them.
I definitely would recommend this book to everyone (and have been!) Don’t be put off by the fact it sounds almost like a mismem (misery memoir) – it isn’t at all. It’s a beautiful story, richly told, about the strength of love between mother and son.
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16 Comments
I did exactly the same thing and put it on my Christmas list on a whim – when I received it I didn’t even really know what it was about – but I’m so glad I did, and glad to hear you enjoyed it too. I did exactly the same thing and stayed up late reading the exciting bits that happen around the middle – it was so gripping I was even quite tearful rushing through the pages to find out what would happen! Totally brilliant book – and would highly support your recommendation!
R
Thanks for this review Zoe- am definitely going to be ordering it! x
Do it Dais! I’ve been unable to commit to a book since finishing Room. It’s just too hard to replace! Haha. Enjoy xx
Yay – I really loved this book!!
This book is one of my top reads this year, I loved it! The way Donoghue captured Jack’s speech throughout the book was very moving.
I’ve considered buying this a few times but always changed my mind because the thought of reading a five-year-old’s narrative worried me… I thought it might come across as annoying. I may get it now, though!
I couldn’t recommend it enough. I know what you mean about the narrative getting annoying but I would say it only improves the book and doesn’t get in the way of the story at all.
You were right about the narrative! I finished reading this about a week ago and it wasn’t annoying at all; just kind of cute. I did feel like the book was really distressing though, and there were a few points where I just wanted it all to be over so that Jack was OK. Still an amazing read.
You’ve made me want to read this too. I saw it a while ago in Waterstones and just looked over it. Silly me! Sounds so entertaining.
I’m jealous you all have this book ahead of you. I wish I could rewind and read it all over again!
I’ve seen a few of you raving about this on Twitter, so I think I might have to make this my next book!
I have this sitting on my shelf, unread, because I just don’t have the time to pick it up! It’s definitely on my ‘to do’ list for once uni is over.
I bought this yesterday (as well as One Day), and am very much looking forward to reading it!
I have to one hundred percent agree with you! This was one of the best books I’ve read in a really long time. I purchased this one as soon as it was released because I had a strong feeling that I was not going to be disappointed, and I wasn’t.
I finally got round to reading this – I loved it. It was intense, moving, heartbreaking – just incredible. I literally didn’t want to put it down, it travelled around the house in Spain with me, haha!
Oh I loved this book so much, it is definitely on the best books I have ever read! I got it from the library, after seeing it on the Man Booker Prize shortlist. It is one of the those books that kept me captivated while on my train to work…I could not wait to wait to finish it and find out what happened to Jack and his mum! I then told my sister and sister-in-law to read this, who are also bookworms….and they also loved it!