Room - Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What would it be like to have lived your entire life within the walls of a room? What will your perception of the world be? Could you imagine never to have the sun kissed your skin? Or ever seen the world illuminated by the silvery light of the moon? And after having your world reduced, how will you cope if the doors opened, and the images you thought trapped in a tv box, suddenly came alive?

Five year old Jack has only ever known a life confined to a 11 foot square room, which he shares with his mother. We hear Jack's point of view, as he happily lives an existence with his mother. He has no perception to what lays outside the Wall. To him, the reality is the daily routines of playing, singing and living with his Ma. Aside from his mother, his companions are the Rug, Bed, Chair and Wall. The people on the television are not tangible. They are not real.

Donoghue's vision to use Jack's voice to narrate the story is a triumph. Jack does not have a grasp of their situation and questions his mother's motives who wants to escape it. The mother is a heroic figure held against her will, and yet within her prison walls, she has created a haven of togetherness. A happy and secure place for her son. I found myself championing their cause. A nail-biting turn in the book set my heart racing, worried as to their outcome. Once 'outside' Jack finds the world a large and confusing place, and yearns to return to the Room and the life he knows.

longlisted for the Booker prize, Room is inspired by high profile cases such as Josef Fritzl's incarceration of his daughter Elisabeth, and Natascha Kampusch's eight year imprisonment by her abductor. There is a dislocating appeal to the narrative. At no time it resorts to insipid sentimentality or passes judgement. The characters are wounded and fragile. And their tale is both chilling and inspiring. The Room is definately worth a read.




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