Review (4.5/5 Stars):
ROOM is told in the point of view of Jack, who was born and raised inside a 11x11 shed. Everything about their life inside of ROOM was fascinating, all the activities Ma thought up for them to do, the way things were explained and Jack's sheltered view of the world. My godson is 5 years old and every time I compare him to Jack, I have this heavy feeling just imagining how hard it is for a 5 year old to understand what's going on in our world. To someone who's never seen the world, never interacted with anyone besides their mother before... it must be completely terrifying. With Jack as the narrator, the reader is able to see ROOM and the world from the eyes of this isolated but highly intelligent child. Donoghue does a fabulous job highlighting Jack's way of thinking and the grammatical errors heighten the sense that it's Jack telling his story. All in all, an emotional, fascinating read that leaves the reader grateful for all the things in life that we take for granted... especially our freedom.
Synopsis (SPOILERS):
ROOM is where Jack was born and where he spends every day of his 5 year old life. Jack's Ma was kidnapped when she was 19 and brought into this ROOM where the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom fit into a 11 by 11 shed. Old Nick, the kidnapper, had designed the room so that it's fully functional as a place to live with central air, electricity, plumbing and a skylight for natural light. The catch, one could only leave this room if they know the numeric code that is punched into the password sensor by the door. As such, Jack's Ma spent 7 years cooped up in this ROOM. Throughout the first parts of the novel, the reader will see all the creative ideas Ma comes up with to keep Jack entertained and learning for example word sandwich and rhyme games. In order to explain to Jack why they're in the ROOM, Ma makes up a story about how everything outside the room is outer space and all the things he sees on TV aren't real. Eventually, the two of them make Old Nick angry and he cuts off their electricity for 3 days. This triggers the climax of the book... the Great Escape.
After their scare, Ma decides that she can't rely on Old Nick for their survival and decides that she has to help Jack escape even if she gets caught and won't be able to run away herself. She comes up with Plan A, where she tells Old Nick that Jack is really sick and is running a fever (by stinking up the room with vomit and poo smells and heating his face with a really hot water bag). Old Nick insists on buying Jack medication instead of letting him out to see a doctor so Ma resorts to Plan B. She convinces Jack that he has to pretend to be dead, in order to not let Old Nick see Jack, Ma rolls Jack up in a rug that Old Nick is to drive off somewhere to bury. During the drive, Jack has to unwrap himself from the rug, jump off the truck, run away and tell the nearest stranger to help him and his ma. This whole bit takes half a chapter but I spent the whole time on my seat with my heart pounding as I felt sorry that poor little Jack who has never been outside that 11 by 11 room in his entire life had to complete this impossible task. A task that would be difficult for me to do myself. Eventually, it all works out and the stranger that Jack sees calls the police because he was suspicious of Old Nick's behaviour. Thank goodness for patient Officer Oh who spends an exorbitant amount of time trying to decipher what Jack was saying since he was so shy and not used to communicating with anyone but his Ma. Eventually Jack gave them enough details on ROOM that they were able to isolate Old Nick's house and saved Ma.
This lead to a whole different chapter in Jack's life... as Donoghue brilliantly described, it was like he was reborn. Ma and Jack were brought into a clinic and thus beginning their introduction (re introduction in Ma's case) to society and the 21st century world. The reader watches Jack grow from not wanting to interact with anyone besides Ma, being afraid to go outside of the clinic and being confused about everything to a bright little boy eager to see the world. The best and worst thing that helped his along was when Ma tried to commit suicide (after an news interview gone wrong). Jack is then moved to his maternal grandmother's house and there, he learns to, in a sense, live without Ma. My favorite part of the book was Jack's one day adventure out with Grandma. His endearing description of crocs - "soft squish shoes with holes in it", his first trip to the library and his new friend Walker that he announces he "loves" after 3 minutes is so adorable. It's heartwarming to see Jack interact with others and integrate into society. Eventually, Ma recovers and gets an apartment of their own and the novel ends when convinces her to go back to ROOM to say good bye to everything... closure for all.
ROOM is told in the point of view of Jack, who was born and raised inside a 11x11 shed. Everything about their life inside of ROOM was fascinating, all the activities Ma thought up for them to do, the way things were explained and Jack's sheltered view of the world. My godson is 5 years old and every time I compare him to Jack, I have this heavy feeling just imagining how hard it is for a 5 year old to understand what's going on in our world. To someone who's never seen the world, never interacted with anyone besides their mother before... it must be completely terrifying. With Jack as the narrator, the reader is able to see ROOM and the world from the eyes of this isolated but highly intelligent child. Donoghue does a fabulous job highlighting Jack's way of thinking and the grammatical errors heighten the sense that it's Jack telling his story. All in all, an emotional, fascinating read that leaves the reader grateful for all the things in life that we take for granted... especially our freedom.
Synopsis (SPOILERS):
ROOM is where Jack was born and where he spends every day of his 5 year old life. Jack's Ma was kidnapped when she was 19 and brought into this ROOM where the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom fit into a 11 by 11 shed. Old Nick, the kidnapper, had designed the room so that it's fully functional as a place to live with central air, electricity, plumbing and a skylight for natural light. The catch, one could only leave this room if they know the numeric code that is punched into the password sensor by the door. As such, Jack's Ma spent 7 years cooped up in this ROOM. Throughout the first parts of the novel, the reader will see all the creative ideas Ma comes up with to keep Jack entertained and learning for example word sandwich and rhyme games. In order to explain to Jack why they're in the ROOM, Ma makes up a story about how everything outside the room is outer space and all the things he sees on TV aren't real. Eventually, the two of them make Old Nick angry and he cuts off their electricity for 3 days. This triggers the climax of the book... the Great Escape.
After their scare, Ma decides that she can't rely on Old Nick for their survival and decides that she has to help Jack escape even if she gets caught and won't be able to run away herself. She comes up with Plan A, where she tells Old Nick that Jack is really sick and is running a fever (by stinking up the room with vomit and poo smells and heating his face with a really hot water bag). Old Nick insists on buying Jack medication instead of letting him out to see a doctor so Ma resorts to Plan B. She convinces Jack that he has to pretend to be dead, in order to not let Old Nick see Jack, Ma rolls Jack up in a rug that Old Nick is to drive off somewhere to bury. During the drive, Jack has to unwrap himself from the rug, jump off the truck, run away and tell the nearest stranger to help him and his ma. This whole bit takes half a chapter but I spent the whole time on my seat with my heart pounding as I felt sorry that poor little Jack who has never been outside that 11 by 11 room in his entire life had to complete this impossible task. A task that would be difficult for me to do myself. Eventually, it all works out and the stranger that Jack sees calls the police because he was suspicious of Old Nick's behaviour. Thank goodness for patient Officer Oh who spends an exorbitant amount of time trying to decipher what Jack was saying since he was so shy and not used to communicating with anyone but his Ma. Eventually Jack gave them enough details on ROOM that they were able to isolate Old Nick's house and saved Ma.
This lead to a whole different chapter in Jack's life... as Donoghue brilliantly described, it was like he was reborn. Ma and Jack were brought into a clinic and thus beginning their introduction (re introduction in Ma's case) to society and the 21st century world. The reader watches Jack grow from not wanting to interact with anyone besides Ma, being afraid to go outside of the clinic and being confused about everything to a bright little boy eager to see the world. The best and worst thing that helped his along was when Ma tried to commit suicide (after an news interview gone wrong). Jack is then moved to his maternal grandmother's house and there, he learns to, in a sense, live without Ma. My favorite part of the book was Jack's one day adventure out with Grandma. His endearing description of crocs - "soft squish shoes with holes in it", his first trip to the library and his new friend Walker that he announces he "loves" after 3 minutes is so adorable. It's heartwarming to see Jack interact with others and integrate into society. Eventually, Ma recovers and gets an apartment of their own and the novel ends when convinces her to go back to ROOM to say good bye to everything... closure for all.
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