Room in Q & A with Emma Donoghue

Oct 22, 2010 Patrick Brown rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I didn't love this book as much as I wanted to. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to recommend it. The storytelling is inventive, and the world it creates is (mostly) convincing. The scene of the "great escape" was terrifying and thrilling and the absolute high-point of the book for me. Donoghue does a good job of drawing the character of Jack into a realistic, fully-rounded person. He can be petty, he can be a brat. I'm sure there was an impulse to make him something else, so I have to commend ...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Diane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own-already

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So much to say about a book that I put off reading for quite awhile.
Ok, I'll admit it, I have no children, I'm quite ok with that, and there aren't any children in my life that I spend any time with; (most of my spare time is spent with dogs and cats.) So how can someone like me have gotten so enthralled with a book that is narrated by a 5 year old boy named Jack?

For the first 50-60 pages, I had to get used to this book, being in Jack's voice, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get thro So much to say about a book that I put off reading for quite awhile.
Ok, I'll admit it, I have no children, I'm quite ok with that, and there aren't any children in my life that I spend any time with; (most of my spare time is spent with dogs and cats.) So how can someone like me have gotten so enthralled with a book that is narrated by a 5 year old boy named Jack?

For the first 50-60 pages, I had to get used to this book, being in Jack's voice, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get through it. Then all of a sudden it took off. There are some parts that might be a bit far-fetched **SPOILER FOLLOWS** in particular, the fact that Jack was able to escape in Rug without Old Nick knowing Jack was really alive, but honestly, I was so stressed out for that entire scene! All the way up until Ma was safe because I thought Old Nick was certainly going to go back to Room and kill her.

Often during the book I had to wonder what I would have done in situations. And once Ma and Jack were safe, I had to keep reminding myself that Ma had not been out of doors in the world for 7 years and that Jack's entire LIFE was Room. I was very touched by so many parts of the story, it's hard to say which touched me the most. I think that what I most enjoyed reading was Jack's time with Grandma and Steppa and all the funny analogies and references that the author wrote. Example: Jack's idea of coffee is it's what adults drink to keep them going. Or when Jack reads the inscription on a New Hampshire coin that says "Live Free or Die" and Jack asks "Does that mean not costing anything"? These things we so innocent, yet so poignant, and there were tons of these saying in the book -- brilliant work by the author to be able to weave humor into such a serious story.

With the exception of Old Nick, there was not one character I did not like.

I LOVED the ending. It gave closure to me as a reader because it gave closure to Jack and to Ma going back to Room. And I was so touched how Jack said "Good-bye" to everything in Room. I've read that some peoplel that read this were critical of Jack's voice because it was too mature for a 5 year old. That may be true, but it did not bother me. There was definitely a difference in his voice in the last section, but to me it represented his own growth as he learned about the world outside Room.

Most touching scene to me, it reminded me of my own "Ma" because she has this to me for my entire life and I hope I remember it when I need to:

Jack: "Will you be dead before I do?"
Ma: "That's the plan"
Jack: "Why that's the plan?"
Ma: "Well, by the time you're one hundred, I'll be one hundred and twenty-one and I think my body will be pretty worn out....I'll be in heaven getting your room ready."
Jack: "Our room"
Ma: "Ok, our room"

...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Edan rated it it was amazing

Here's my review from The Millions:
http://www.themillions.com/2010/09/st...

I thought about giving this only 4 stars, but I keep thinking about it, and it was so absorbing, and it pulls off a voice so well. Fuck it, I said, I'm going for 5 stars!!!! ...more

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Oct 26, 2010 Heather rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult, book-club, fiction

Wow. I devoured this book in one day, and I was completely enthralled by it. I was particularly struck by the main character's amazing mothering (and/or - the author's creation of this amazing mothering), and by the all of the nuances of the situation that were explored - and through the view of a 5 year old, no less! In short, I thought it was creative and enthralling (I know I already said that one - it just was). I feel like this is what a Jodi Picoult book would be like if it were actually g Wow. I devoured this book in one day, and I was completely enthralled by it. I was particularly struck by the main character's amazing mothering (and/or - the author's creation of this amazing mothering), and by the all of the nuances of the situation that were explored - and through the view of a 5 year old, no less! In short, I thought it was creative and enthralling (I know I already said that one - it just was). I feel like this is what a Jodi Picoult book would be like if it were actually good literature.

Some specifics...

(view spoiler)

I've been thinking about the book all day...Can't wait to discuss at book club!! ...more

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Oct 31, 2010 Deborah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle-stella-reads

“Room,” was all I expected it to be and more. Such a great read from an author whose work (“Slammerkin”) I’d enjoyed before. Ms Donoghue has a slightly skewed vision which makes her works artistic as well as engrossing. This book has that nearly, dare I say it, Edgar Allan Poeish twist to it. Or, at least her writing is reminiscent of something more subtlely gothic. It’s a sense I get more than an actual thing written out-and-out. Almost as if this story could have been placed in any timeframe a ...more

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Oct 06, 2010 Nancy rated it it was amazing

(The review on the cover of my copy of ROOM says: "Potent, darkly beautiful, revelatory." I have no idea what that means.)

To Ma, Room is a twelve-by-twelve nightmare prison, the scene of repeated rapes and beatings since she was kidnapped at nineteen. To five-year-old Jack, though, Room is the cozy nest that Ma has created for him, where he cherishes Plant, eats dinner with Table, and often sleeps in Wardrobe - especially when Old Nick comes in at night. Room is a two-person universe - Jack susp (The review on the cover of my copy of ROOM says: "Potent, darkly beautiful, revelatory." I have no idea what that means.)

To Ma, Room is a twelve-by-twelve nightmare prison, the scene of repeated rapes and beatings since she was kidnapped at nineteen. To five-year-old Jack, though, Room is the cozy nest that Ma has created for him, where he cherishes Plant, eats dinner with Table, and often sleeps in Wardrobe - especially when Old Nick comes in at night. Room is a two-person universe - Jack suspects that even Old Nick is not properly real, though he is more real than the make-believe world Jack sees on TV. But Ma has secrets to reveal, and when she tells Jack that the world he sees on TV actually exists, events begin spinning out of control.

When I first saw a review of Room, I was a bit skeptical; I wondered how a five-year-old narrator could achieve either believability or emotional resonance. How foolish to wonder. Emma Donoghue brings Jack flawlessly to life; his quirky combination of high intelligence and childish innocence makes him the perfect narrator for a story that is, by turns, unbearably tragic and unbearably poignant. Jack is detail-oriented, a trait that seems quite believable in a bright child whose world is extraordinarily small. His word-for-word reporting of Ma's conversations with Nick, blunted by his five-year-old concreteness, lays bare the horror of their lives in a way that an adult narration could not possibly match. Donoghue just nails the inner life of a child. I loved the way Jack personifies so many of the objects around him:

"There's shoes that do on with scratchy stuff that sticks called Velcro. I like putting them open and shut like rrrrrppp rrrrpppp. It's hard to walk though, they feel heavy like they'll trip me up. I prefer to wear them when I'm on the bed, I wave my feet in the air and the shoes fight each other and make friends again."

Oh, Jack. I used to do that too.

So, beautifully drawn narrator, emotional nuance that will make you twist in your chair, rocket-fueled action, and (I know it's a cliche) unforgettable characters. I read this in (almost) one sitting - it WOULD have been one, except my husband, bleary-eyed, begged me to turn out the light because he had to get up at 5 am. And, you know, if there's one thing ROOM will remind you of, it is that that love demands sacrifice at times. I was glad mine was only to hold the last twenty pages til the morning...and to lie awake for hours thinking about Ma and Jack. ...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Jay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A few weeks ago I was on a mini-tour across PA with some of my favorite musicians. We played house concerts and had a blast driving from place to place between shows. On our leg into (or maybe it was out of) Pittsburgh, one of the guys played a Weird Al Yankovic tune on the car stereo. We were laughing at his creative lyrics and mad genius. Then an idea popped into my head--what if I had a kid and raised him/her on only Weird Al's music. Nothing else. It would be hysterical, cause as she gains h ...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Karen rated it really liked it

I've always liked Emma Donoghue but this is by far her best book to date. She really nails the voice of her five-year-old narrator, Jack. Describing everything from his point of view, a child's vision of a world the reader immediately realizes is deeply screwed up, cannot have been an easy task. Jack lives in Room with Ma. It's all he's ever known, and he can't understand why Ma wants to leave because as far as he's concerned there is nothing other than Room. The things he sees on television exi ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Khim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011, favorites

Interessant boek. Het begint met Jack die 5 jaar wordt. De kleine kamer wordt zeer nauwkeurig beschreven en je voelt de beklemming. Het gevoel dat je echt opgesloten bent van de buitenwereld. Ze hebben niet veel bezittingen, maar wel een oude tv. Stukje bij beetje verteld Mam dat er ook leven buiten de Kamer is. Op een dag neemt Mam het besluit om te ontsnappen uit Kamer. Het begin stuk wordt goed beschreven maar duurde in mijn ogen iets te lang, ik had niet echt meer interesse om door te lezen, ...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Liz rated it really liked it

Told from the voice of a 5 year old, this author trusts and protects the reader as completely as Ma trusts and protects Jack. The horrors of this story are in the background and stir every hair on your body to attention as you read the happy stories of Jack's "home." No spoilers but wow ...I have not cried so much at the end of a book in a long time! really good. ...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Miriam rated it it was amazing

I had started this ages ago. At the time, the voice bothered me. But since then, I felt compelled to go back...thinking, I'm missing something. And, of course, I was. This time, I was completely hooked by Jack, by the madness of his situation, by his complex view of the world and his relationship with Ma. Really extraordinary. ...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Laura rated it really liked it

Wow, this book gets really exciting about halfway through, turning into a bit of thriller, actually. It's a slight story but very memorable, and I hope they never try to turn it into a movie. It belongs in the voice and mind of a 5-year-old boy, and only a wonderful book such as this could bring it to life. ...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Coffeeboss rated it really liked it

Told from the perspective of a 5-year-old (credit to Donoghue for totally making this work), a child named Jack and his mother live in a small, enclosed world known simply to him as Room. This is the only world Jack has ever known: the TV, the locked door, the skylight, and the man who brings them things. One day Ma tells Jack that what is on TV is not all make-believe, but is actually a read world outside Room, and that they have to try to escape. Told in basically two parts, the first half of ...more

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Oct 11, 2010 annelies rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-books

An amazing book. So unique and one that I felt impeccably captured the voice of a five year old in this situation. MUST READ!

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Feb 26, 2011 Jennifer rated it really liked it

haunting

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Sep 27, 2010 Marian rated it really liked it

Oh goodness this book is freaky-deaky!! Can't wait to finish.

Finished -- I don't think this book is for the faint of heart, but I was very impressed that Donaghue managed to use an implausible premise and come up with a totally plausible plot and very interesting characters. Again (seems to be a pattern), the beginning of the book is so strong that it sort of overshadows the end, but still, definitely a good read. ...more

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Oct 08, 2010 Yashoda Sampath rated it it was amazing

Shelves: readandproudofit, favourites

Brilliant, brilliant book, so clever you almost wish you'd written it yourself, except that you know that you could never have written it so well.

Detailed thoughts here:
http://theoncominghope.blogspot.com/2... ...more

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