Room – by Emma
Donoghue
I wanted to read this
book for a while now. I am glad I could.The story is innocent
and dark at the same time. A five year old boy Jack stays with his Mom in a
small dark room that has a small tub, kitchen, bed, wardrobe and a TV. This is
their world. They never go out and see the world outside. For Jack, the outside
world doesn’t even exist.
Even for nothing else to do, they have a routine that
they both follow religiously. In that confined room, Jack’s mother teaches him
all that she could to help him blossom. She teaches him discipline, good habits,
how to pray, do math; improve his creativity to mention a few - all this
without letting him know that there is a world outside this room. Their only
connection with the outside world is Old Nick, who comes in every night to see
his Mom, takes the trash out next morning and brings them the basics for a
living as part of Sunday treats. But Jack has never met Old Nick – all he has
done is try seeing him through the slits of the wardrobe he usually hides in
when Old Nick comes.
The book opens with
Jack’s fifth birthday and how his world begins to expand after that. How he
gradually finds out the story of his Mom , the Old Nick , why they are where
they are , that the room that they live in is not a real life , that there’s a
real world where they ideally belong to outside of the room and it’s
for real.
His Mom suspects that
their life is in danger and they need to escape before it’s too late. But it’s
not easy. She has already tried all the things she could think of even before Jack
was born and had failed. But this time since Jack was a big boy already it was
his responsibility to save them both.
I personally liked
that the way the entire story is narrated by Jack – they way he sees things,
perceives them. How for him, Ma and the room are his entire world. The way his
Mom is trying to bring him up. The bond between the two is depicted
beautifully. How Jack truly believes that he is a part of her and knows no
other way of living, the way he carries her broken decayed tooth all the
time. At no point does it get boring, not even when
the boy describes the everyday routine in much detail.
What happens to the
boy and his Mom? Who is Old Nick? I don’t want to give away the story for those
who are keen to read.All I would say is
that it’s a story of courage and survival!
Go ahead and give it a
try.
