Emma Donaghue - Room

Did anyone else notice this bit?

When they are in the clinic, Ma says something along the lines of she'd done a lot of research into abduction etc on the internet. Now a computer is mentioned at one point - the patients have to share one. Given she's never away from her son, it seemed unlikely she'd spent hours online.

Also, later she mentions 'Googling' - was that term around seven years ago? I thought it was more recent. In any case, would she have heard of it?

Oh and off she trotted to email her friends but then she realised she'd forgotten her password. Wouldn't it be more likely she'd phone them? After no human contact, apart from her son and the old guy, I would have thought she'd want to speak to them, not write a note.

I was picturing:

Hv bn lkd up 4 7 yrs! Old Nick made me pg! WWYHD?

Ah fabulous - was looking for a thread to let out what I thought of this!

I'm in the camp that enjoyed the read but it irritated in so many ways. I did find the escape - especially that Old Nick didn't check the body, ridiculous. But for me, the most irritating part of the story was the preparation for Jack for Outside, and then for him to need to comprehend the escape, and practising for it etc.. it just didn't feel believable at all. There were many parts of Jack's narration that didn't feel 'right' for a 5 year old either - with you Megapixels on the Vomit - I don't believe that is a word that many children would naturally use either. I can't believe that he just sort of accepted the Outside so easily when he was escaping; I really thought that the author would have him stop and stare for a period at this 'new world' that up until this moment he thought was in TV.

I think what lost it for me is that Jack's wonder of this new Outside was never really explored. Children are so naturally full of imagination and curiosity, that can also be tempered with fear of the unknown and these themes weren't satisfactorily explored. I did like that Jack was desperate to return to Room - and I think the idea of the goodbye to Room felt very natural for Jack.

The breastfeeding references of 'Some' irritated as well. He refers to her breasts, he knows that they are breasts and as children grow they have names for them/ feeding rather than a general 'some'. The idea of Ma suddenly saying no to Jack near the end as her milk has finished as well and he just accepted it was rather odd as well... I'm not sure many children would try once more and then think 'oh well' to a comfort thing.

Overall it was a fast paced, enjoyable read but it didn't rest comfortably enough for me to re-read or recommend very highly!

I agree that it was a very fast read, I had loads to do but kept going back to the book because I wanted to keep reading. I enjoyed it but some things didn't sit well with me.

I loved the relationship between Ma and Jack and I had so much admiration for the time and effort she put into making their horrible existence as fun and as normal as possible for Jack. I thought that it was lovely that she breastfed him to the age of 5, but got a bit exasperated with the constant, almost relentless, references to it. The voice of Jack wasn't really consistent throughout the book - did anyone notice the part where he was referring to Ma throwing up as a thick sort of something falling out of her mouth (or something) and in the next breath using the word vomit.

I thought the escape was completely unrealistic too. Seemed too much to expect that Old Nick wouldn't take the simple precaution of checking that the boy was actually dead, and I really can't see him taking the risk of driving the body somewhere to bury it. Judging from the very few glimpses into his character ("Other girls would kill for this sort of set-up" was quite genius I thought, just the sort of thing a sicko like that would believe) I would have thought he'd just bury it in the backyard like before and pretend it was
elsewhere.

The ending wasn't really an ending I thought, it sort of petered out rather than having a definitive end. I haven't stopped thinking about this book though since I read it so it was good in that sense.

P.S. There was something else about this book that I didn't like but I can't for the life of me put my finger on it.

I finished the book last weekend - and overall enjoyed it as I said before. However, another thing that puzzled me - If the room was 11ft by 11ft ( have I got that right?)
How on earth did it fit: A bed. A sink. A stove. A wardrobe. two chairs( one a rocker?) A table. A bath. A toilet ???

I loved ROOM, was frightened of reading it then frightened to stop. Blogged about it on www.amandacraig.com

I hope it wins the Orange prize, as it's the most original novel for years.It didn't make me feel grubby - I was expecting it to be far more closely modelled on the Fritzl case, but it's not.

atswimtwolengths

I have now finished it and I must agree with all you have said.
Overall I suppose I did enjoy the book/glad I read it but I would have preferred it had those points you raised not been that way.

For one horrible moment when Jack was safe with the police I thought Old Nick had gone back to the shed to kill Ma, and she had made that sacrifice so he could be free.

Also a bit miffed with Grandma for not being more understanding, she seemed to expect him to behave more normally.

But overall a very good book, very gripping and I don't read many books to the end, often get bored!

Far more tension would have been given if two voices had been heard - his and his mum's. The search for the mum could have been really powerful if we'd heard her point of view - imagine her waiting, not knowing whether her son had actually been buried. Imagine if Old Nick had come to see her and said nothing about Jack's escape - how scary would that have been for the mother?

By the way, where was Old Nick when the mother was found?

I'm three-quarters of the way through it - Jack's mum has just taken an overdose.

If this had been written before the Fritzl case (also the other case in Germany (Natascha Kampusch) then I would have thought this was a better book.

But the story has just been given to the author - there's nothing she's done that any other author couldn't have done. It's not her story, it's a news story.

I found the escape just ridiculous. The man didn't check the child was dead? The police found the house so easily (oh three stop signs and a left turn - that must be X Road! And lo and behold it IS X Road! And oh there's a shed!)

The mum was found just minutes after the police saw Jack yet Jack had no idea where he lived. It makes a mockery of people in that situation.

Also (revving up now) why didn't his mum write something on his body for him to show the police? Why a letter, which the guy was obviously going to find?

I am halfway through the book and enjoying it. It seemed a bit unrealistic that Jack went from not knowing anything about why they were there to being able to deal with their escape within a few days ? - and at the age of 5 ??
After Ma being there for 7 years - they got away too easily at what was the first attempt since Jack was born.

I hope by the end of the book, I am still enjoying it

I read it v quickly, couldn't put it down, and we're going to discuss it in my reading group soon so am glad to see this thread. I did have trouble believing some of it, the escape plot and how it worked for one thing, but then considering what happened in the Josef Fritzl case I suppose it wasn't so far-fetched.

Ma had protect jack in the room by getting him to go in the wardrobe and in doing so he was protected from old nick when he visited in the night/eve

Thought the idea was good, although it reminded me somehow of "The Lovely Bones" but poorly written and somewhat of a let down at the end.

I loved the step Grandpa character too

I loved it

Made me think differently about how children see the world and what high expectations we have of them

But it does take a bit of getting used to at the start to learn the boys way of describing things

sorry, dunno why that posted twice!

yeah i agree, chocaholica, about ma's feelings towards jack and the room - a kind of post traumatic stress disorder no doubt! obviously while jack had only seen the room as home and was completely safe and protected in there (or felt as if he was), ma was looking to escape the whole time and knew it was never home, and she was always half out the room in her mind.. do completely understand her feelings but felt really so sad for jack. was glad about what ma did right at the end.

agree also that jack probably did move on quickly, although it was kind of explained by the doctor saying about how at his age he was still 'plastic' and it is true that kids are remarkably resilient and accepting at a young age, especially as he had really come to very little psychological harm and no physical harm because of how amazing ma was.

read somewhere that the author was more interested in the idea of a 5 yr old 'arriving' on earth, and the mother-child bond, rather than real traumatic, harrowing stuff, which is why she went into no real distressing detail with the rape/kidnap thing or details about old nick... i guess having jack really traumatised wouldn't have served much purpose really, with that in mind.

it has made me think SO much as well, and made me really proud of that maternal love. I think jack is one of my favourite ever characters, i loved him! ps. was also really glad they still shared a bed, is that strange?? i think ma would've needed to as much as jack!

sorry if we've ruined it for you deaddei!

yeah i agree, chocaholica, about ma's feelings towards jack and the room - a kind of post traumatic stress disorder no doubt! obviously while jack had only seen the room as home and was completely safe and protected in there (or felt as if he was), ma was looking to escape the whole time and knew it was never home, and she was always half out the room in her mind.. do completely understand her feelings but felt really so sad for jack. was glad about what ma did right at the end.

agree also that jack probably did move on quickly, although it was kind of explained by the doctor saying about how at his age he was still 'plastic' and it is true that kids are remarkably resilient and accepting at a young age, especially as he had really come to very little psychological harm and no physical harm because of how amazing ma was.

read somewhere that the author was more interested in the idea of a 5 yr old 'arriving' on earth, and the mother-child bond, rather than real traumatic, harrowing stuff, which is why she went into no real distressing detail with the rape/kidnap thing or details about old nick... i guess having jack really traumatised wouldn't have served much purpose really, with that in mind.

it has made me think SO much as well, and made me really proud of that maternal love. I think jack is one of my favourite ever characters, i loved him! ps. was also really glad they still shared a bed, is that strange?? i think ma would've needed to as much as jack!

sorry if we've ruined it for you deaddei!

I have just bought it today along with a book by Linda Grant, the name escapes me.

Have just read this book and loved it, but in a strange way because i found it so moving in an almost uncomfortable way. Haven't really stopped thinking about it since. Think Jack reminded me of my little boy a lot, which is possibly partly why I was so affected.

Why were you cross at the end chocaholica?

I too thought that ma was having a breakdown and probably totally unaware like when she was "Gone" on occasion. Agree that Jack would've been more distressed most likely, (although think he was distressed, i really felt awful for him) but quite glad he wasn't too much more so, don't know if I could've taken it!!

Did anyone else feel irrationally a bit angry with ma for not being more understanding of jack's feelings towards Room afterwards?! Although completely understanding her desperation to get out/away and impatience to get back to things..

I thought it the best portrayal of mother-child love and bond i've read anyway, and how a mother will do anything really to protect her child and keep him safe and feeling loved, as you said Chocaholica.

Oh I am happy to see this thread, I just finished it a couple if days ago and have been thinking about it a lot since. Quite the most compelling book I've read in a long time. My only criticism really was that jack and ma managed to spend that week apart without either if them getting distressed - were we supposed to think they were glad of a bit of space? Because I don't think they would be. Sure, for an afternoon....loved Steppa though :)