I'm getting really bad at keeping up with these at the moment. This week for sure has been one big emotional rollercoaster, it still is infact, never-ending it seems, but I'm learning to keep it inside me, only letting myself have the excuse of crying at the sad parts of Desperate Housewives and things like that! It's during this time that I read about 40% of this book, it was a great escapism into someone else's world and their dramas and troubles and I could leave mine behind for a little bit.
Summary: It's Jack's birthday, and he's excited about turning five. Jack lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight, and measures 11 feet by 11 feet. He loves watching TV, and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he knows that nothing he sees on screen is truly real - only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits that there's a world outside . . . Told in Jack's voice, Room is the story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible. (Goodreads)
Summary: It's Jack's birthday, and he's excited about turning five. Jack lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight, and measures 11 feet by 11 feet. He loves watching TV, and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he knows that nothing he sees on screen is truly real - only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits that there's a world outside . . . Told in Jack's voice, Room is the story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible. (Goodreads)
I think the fundamental beauty of this book is that it is told from the perspective of Jack, so no matter what happens we are seeing it through the eyes and innocent understanding of a five year old. We are opened up to his world through his eyes only, that there is Room and in Room are different objects which he gives personal attributes too. The assumption is made (that I made anyway is that they are confined in a room, a one bedroom flat maybe, maybe hiding out or just very insecure.. but it is only when Jack's eyes are slowly unveiled do we realise the true nature of the situation and how shocking it really is. Even through the perspective of a child who doesn't understand the true intensity of the events it is still so horrific.
Towards the end it irritated me that people were questioning Ma's methods and how Jack turned out, but the more you think about it the more I think she did an amazing job, and given the circumstances I don't think there would be a single person who wouldn't have done the same thing. It's not every day that a mother and child are isolated inside one room for years and years.
It is a truly moving story and very effective in its narrative style. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone else!
