Emma Donoghue
Blurb: To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another. (From Goodreads)
Opening Sentence: "Today I'm five."
Length: Medium - 321 pages
Notes: What a thought provoking book!! I knew this one was going to be deep when I first read what it was about. I have to admit that it was hard to read at times, having a child of my own and wondering what I would have done in this situation. And this book was so much more than I expected. Without giving anything away, before I read it, I thought it was just about their time in the "Room" but it goes beyond that and how hard it would be heal from such an ordeal. The second half of the book was so unexpected for me and was really thought provoking. But it was disturbing at times, too - the subject matter is not light subject matter. It was handled well, since the whole book is through the eyes of a 5-year old. But the story wouldn't be the same or even as believable without the disturbing parts there as well.
Random quote: "In the world I notice persons are nearly always stressed and have no time...I don't know how persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well...I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter all over the world, the roads and houses and playgrounds and stores, so there's only a little smear of time on each place, then everyone has to hurry on to the next bit."
Recommend: yes
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1 comment:
I'm so glad you read this. I LOVED it. It was so incredibly affecting -- I can STILL think about it, months after I finished it, and get a lump in my throat. I was so incredibly moved by the story.
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