From the Bookshelf of Challenge: 50 Books…

Room

Emma Donoghue

Start date: November 1, 2015

Finish date: December 1, 2015

Discussion: Group Reads

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Sep 30, 2010 Stephanie *Eff your feelings* rated it really liked it

Shelves: modern-lit, 2013, horror

I listen to a lot of audio books…… I don’t have the time to sit down and read all the books I want. I’m a slow reader *sigh*, but along came the Ipod and the Audible and yay for me!

I don’t passively listen to books (unless I’m driving) It is always when I am actively doing something else, usually something quite boring like housework or grocery shopping. Or something that is not boring but is second nature like artwork. So, I’m listening to Room and something odd happens….. I want to sit down a I listen to a lot of audio books…… I don’t have the time to sit down and read all the books I want. I’m a slow reader *sigh*, but along came the Ipod and the Audible and yay for me!

I don’t passively listen to books (unless I’m driving) It is always when I am actively doing something else, usually something quite boring like housework or grocery shopping. Or something that is not boring but is second nature like artwork. So, I’m listening to Room and something odd happens….. I want to sit down and take a break from whatever I was doing at which point I would usually put on the TV, but I really didn’t want to because the darn book was so good, and the voice actors were equally as good. I had a dilemma here; I couldn’t justify sitting and listening. It was too weird. But I really wanted to sit down for a minute. ….and I didn’t want to stop listening.

I know, first world problem.

To Jack Room is all there is. It’s the world. He has no concept of anything beyond it. He knows there is an “outside” but he has no way of conceiving its’ true nature because he has never seen it, not even through a window. Room only has a sky light. Because it is only Jack and his Ma, everything in Room becomes his friend out of loneliness. There is no ‘the’ rug or ‘the’ sink; everything has a proper name like Rug, Sink, or Meltady Spoon.

Room is home for Jack but for his mother it is a prison. In reality, Room is a backyard shed that a psychopath named Nick tricks out with lead lined walls, central heat and air, refrigerator, stove, sink, bed and toilet. Everything a good psychopath needs to keep a sex slave alive in. Nick (old Nick to Jack) kidnapped Jacks’ Ma when she was a 19 year old college student and keeps her locked in the shed for seven years. She tries, early on, to escape but every attempt fails. When Jack is born she turns her focus on raising him and keeping him as safe as she can. But one day Old Nick does something that scares Ma and she comes up with a daring escape plan that relies on five year old Jacks’ bravery, to go out into the world he doesn’t believe is real.

I have had this book sitting in my library since it came out. I never felt I was in the mood for it, it seemed so depressing. But the other night, the book I was listening to finished and I still had to get through some really boring stuff and I had no way of getting to my computer to download anything. Room was there and I started listening. I’m glad I did.

A superbly written gem.
...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Angelic Zaizai rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-terjemahan, pop-drama

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Setelah baca fantasi tanpa henti, saatnya refreshing baca novel yang katanya heboh banget di luar sana *katanyaaa*
awal-awal baca belum ngerti ini tentang apa, karena emang gw sengaja ga baca review atau apalah, biar nebak-nebak sendiri - lebih seru

Buku ini ada dua bagian, di dalam Room dan setelah berhasil keluar dari sana

Bagian pertama menceritakan kehidupan Jack dan Ma di dalam Room
apa yang mereka kerjakan untuk mengisi waktu di dalam ruangan itu permainan-permainannya, apa yang mereka makan, ...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: group-kent-island-book-club, audiobooks

I had a lovely experience with this book, but I must admit that this experience was chiefly due to the fact that I listened to it in audiobook form. The book is told from the point of a 5-year-old boy, and Michal Friedman, the woman who acts his voice, is phenomenal! The voice is, lets face it, so darn cute, and makes the character's the observations interesting and enlightening. The rest of the cast is also very good; my one complaint being that the voice of the mother is a bit too sophisticate ...more

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May 26, 2016 Tracey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, fiction, crime, 2016

There has been a lot written about this book and there is not much I can add.
Donoghue has crafted an interesting story using a five year old as the point of view character.
You see the world through his eyes and that is what makes this story really work. It is clever and works.
It is easy to see why this novel has been so popular. A good read.

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