Title: Room: A Novel
Author: Emma Donoghue
Released: September 13, 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown, & Co.
Pages/format: 336 (Hardcover)
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Source: Publisher
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the world. It’s where he was born, it’s where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack’s imagination–the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells, the imaginary world projected through the TV, the coziness of Wardrobe below Ma’s clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night in case Old Nick comes.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it’s the prison where she has been held ever since she was nineteen–for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside her own desperation–and she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer.
One Sentence Review: Room is an unique story that explores a lot of interesting psychological themes, but I didn’t really like the two main characters and had a hard time empathizing with them.
In-Depth Review
Note: Room is the type of book best approached without foreknowledge of the storyline. There are spoilers in my review, so I recommend waiting to read it until after you have finished the book.
I’m always drawn to stories that offer a unique perspective on unusual circumstances. That’s why I liked The Boy in the Striped Pajamas so much. I’m pretty sure it’s the only novel that examines the atrocities of Hitler’s extermination camps from the perspective of the nine-year-old son of a Nazi Commandant. In that vein, Room explores the themes of prolonged confinement and isolation through the eyes of five-year-old Jack, the son of a twenty-six-year old abductee by her captor. By writing in the first person, Donoghue submerges readers into the world of their 11-by-11 foot living space and allows us a glimpse of what life might be like for a child who has never breathed fresh air, run on grass, pet a dog, or met people besides his Ma and “Old Nick,” her abductor.
Jack’s voice is much more grown-up than the average five-year-old’s, which makes Room easier to read for the adult who might not have the patience to wade through 300+ pages of child-speak. Jack has an expansive vocabulary because Ma regularly teaches him words they hear on TV, like “poignant” (page 34). He also refers to the objects in Room by proper names. “The bed” is simply “Bed;” “the wardrobe” is “Wardrobe,” as though they are friends.
We have thousands of things to do every morning, like give Plant a cup of water in Sink for no spilling, then put her back on her saucer on Dresser. Plant used to live on Table but God’s face burned a leaf of her off. She has nine left, they’re the wide of my hand with furriness all over, like Ma says dogs are. But dogs are only TV. I don’t like nine. I find a tiny leaf coming, that counts as ten. {Room, page 8}
Room had a lot going for it, but I had trouble liking Jack and Ma, and was unable to empathize with them. I didn’t find Jack to be endearing at all, and even though I realize that a child who grows up in confinement would need time to adjust to the outside world, I found myself becoming impatient with him to let go of Room and move on with life. Likewise, the only time I really cheered for Ma was when she took action by planning and carrying out their daring escape.
Towards the end of the book, Donoghue makes her feelings about abortion known when Ma is being interviewed for a news show.
“So. You found yourself pregnant for the second time, in the hellhole where you’d now eked out two years of your precious youth. Were there days when you felt you were being, ah, forced to bear this man’s–”
Ma butts in. “Actually I felt saved.”
“Saved. That’s beautiful.”
Ma twists her mouth. “I can’t speak for anyone else. Like, I had an abortion when I was eighteen, and I’ve never regretted that.”
- Room, page 233
I was disappointed that the author felt it necessary to include that line. It is not relevant to the plot in any way and only serves to arbitrarily espouse Donoghue’s version of morality. Aside from this, Room is a morally upstanding story. Even in the midst of horrendous circumstances, Ma creates a sanctuary for Jack. She gives structure to his life. They play together. She teaches him to read, and is fiercely devoted to his happiness and safety. Room is also what I would consider a clean novel. It deals with very adult themes, but these are presented in a non-graphic way.
Room is an interesting story, but not what I would consider a page turner. It took me a full two weeks to get through it and once Jack and Ma’s escape was over (the most exciting part of the book), I had to force myself to read to the end.
Other Reviews: Girl Who Reads | The Introverted Reader | New York Times | Washington Post
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About Emma Donoghue:
Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is a writer of contemporary and historical fiction whose novels include the bestseller Slammerkin. She has written story collections, literary history, and plays for stage and radio. She lives in London, Ontario, with her partner and their two young children.
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I reviewed Room on my blog today if you want to check it out.
Girl Who Reads
Thanks for linking to me; I will add your review to the list!
I read this book and was an emotional wreck the entire time…not always in a negative way. My emotions were sometimes tearful, sometimes joyful and happy, and sometimes angry. (I get tearful when reading on extremely rare occasions, and there was one scene in this book where I actually was overcome with emotion enough to shed tears, but it was because of the intensity of the scene rather than the sadness/happiness I felt…)
I began reading ROOM early one afternoon and actually stayed up well into the night to finish it…I could not put it down! This is quite opposite from what you say in your review. I don’t think it is really that I ‘connected’ with the characters; I just do not enjoy being placed in highly emotional circumstances and left there. When I am feeling as intensely about a story line as I was in this case, I had to stay up to see it to completion.
In terms of connecting with the characters…I want to clarify. I actually have a five-year-old son, Jack. So for me, I think I kept picturing MY Jack in the scenes of the book, which was completely unnecessary but unavoidable for me. To this end, I did not connect with Ma because I felt that even though she did the best she could for him while in Room, she did not do her best for him out of Room. That may sound judgmental, but that is coming from ‘mother’ Asheley, not ‘reader’ Asheley. And the rest of the supporting character cast had a tendency to make Jack uncomfortable, and so therefore I think I was disconnected to them because that in turn made me uncomfortable.
A good book, and one that I am glad that I read. But I am not sure that I will feel the need to read it again. I wish that I could read it without seeing my child’s face in the scenes, but in this case (weird as it may be) I just cannot separate my Jack from the book Jack. Also interestingly, my perspective on this book tends to change the further out I get from when I read it…meaning that while I respect the story still, I grow a little less and less fond of it over time.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Asheley! I can see how having a son with the same name and age as Jack would make reading this book a much more emotional experience.
|I’ve been debating whether to read this book. I think I will pass after reading your review.