21 September 2012

Room - Emma Donoghue

Room
Emma Donoghue
2010

My darling mother read this book a few summers ago (in 2010) and then proceeded to tell me almost everything that happened in the book. I was still interested in reading it, however she leant it to someone and so I never had a chance. I then kind of forgot about this book until May of 2011 when Emma Donoghue did a talk at my school. My mom and I went to it and this made me want to read this book again. I still never had a chance, so when I saw it on a very good sale at Costco, I had to buy it. I started reading it, but then moved to school and then kind of just put it off for a while. Anyways, the moral of the story is that I probably shouldn't have waited this long to read this book because it's fantastic.
Room is the story of 5-year old Jack and Ma. Ma was kidnapped by Old Nick when she was nineteen and forced to live in an eleven-by-eleven room (which is really a garden shed). He had kidnapped Ma for the purpose of having sex with her, which is what led to Jack. Ma is the only person Jack has really ever known, and he has only ever known this little living space. Despite the small living quarters, Ma teaches Jack everything he needs to know. When he turns 5, Ma decides that they need to escape. She devises a very clever plan that heavily relies on Jack's ability to remember instructions. I am not going to give away any more of the story.
This book was extremely well written. The book is told from Jack's perspective, and Donoghue writes this very well. Jack speaks and acts like a five year old, and has the same understanding of the world as a five year old (well, as much of the world as he knows). When he is referring to the bed, he simply calls it Bed. There's Wardrobe and Duvet and Shelf. Everything has its own little name. When I heard Donoghue speak, she said she spent a lot of time listening to how her children spoke and modelled Jack's speech after that. She also talked about the part involving the carpet and how it was tested out on her children to see if it was even possible.
The character development in this book is incredible. Jack goes from knowing nothing about Outside to being forced to go there to try and help he and his mother escape. The plot is also gripping. I stayed up until 4 in the morning two nights in a row to finish this book. I kept telling myself I'd read just one more chapter. The only problem with that was the fact the book doesn't really have chapters. It is divided into four sections, but each section is continuous with small breaks during major scene or time changes.
One thing that I liked/didn't like about this book is how it ended. It ended perfectly in the right place which was excellent, but I really really want to know what happens after. However, ending it any later would ruin the effect of the last scene. So I think I'm just going to have to use my imagination. 

I would very highly recommend reading this book. 
It is available for purchase from Amazon here: Room, or you can get it from your local library or any other bookseller.

I give this book 4.9 stars out of 5. It was a very very excellent book, and would be great for book club discussions or anything.

Have you read Room? What did you think of it? 

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