Room

I've picked up a bad habit - starting a new book without finishing the one I'm currently reading. But it's so hard to resist taking a peek at the first few pages after having read a compelling review of the book. And once I've started reading, it's quite hard to stop. The book I'm talking about is Room by Emma Donoghue (pronounced don-a-who).



Tell me this synopsis doesn't intrigue you:

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 beneath 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's been held since she was nineteen-for seven long 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 indefinitely....

Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience-and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.

- Official Website for Room

If you think this is fictional and will only happen in books or an episode of Criminal Minds, think again. Only a couple of years ago there was the case of Josef Fritzl from Austria - a man who imprisoned his own daughter in his basement and fathered seven children with her. It's scary isn't it, knowing that there are monsters who appear normal and live happily among us...

Anyway, back to the book. Failing to resist temptation, I've started reading and am currently in the middle of Ma's escape plan from Room. Since the book is written from Jack's point of view, the sentences are mostly short, but sometimes can be confusing. It's easy to get frustrated with Jack for not cooperating with Ma on her escape plan, but who could blame him? He's only five, and his whole world is Room. He thinks everything else is just TV.

Reading this has caused me mixed feelings - frustration at Jack, anger at Old Nick (the villain), and respect for Ma who is trying so hard to raise a son in her condition. Definitely would recommend this book to people who would like to read something different.

Do visit the website, if only to get an idea what Room looks like. There's a trailer for the book (and here I thought trailers are only for movies haha). Oh, there's even a special font for Jack's handwriting. It's definitely not something that anyone would use in minutes of meetings haha.