Room in Reading with Style

Jul 14, 2013 Thomas Acland rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-s, 21st-century, set-in-the-usa, world-book-night-2012, man-booker-prize-nominee, indies-choice-book-award-winner

This is a book that it's going to be far simpler to write a review of than it is to attach a rating to, at the end of this review I may choose to give this book a five star rating or it may only get a four and both would be completely unjustifiable. The other thing I am not going to be able to do is write this review without giving away several of the major events in the plot, therefore this review will contain spoilers.

As per usual I'm not going to set the scene, if you are reading my review o This is a book that it's going to be far simpler to write a review of than it is to attach a rating to, at the end of this review I may choose to give this book a five star rating or it may only get a four and both would be completely unjustifiable. The other thing I am not going to be able to do is write this review without giving away several of the major events in the plot, therefore this review will contain spoilers.

As per usual I'm not going to set the scene, if you are reading my review of this book then you will have read the blurb bit at the top of the page and know roughly what the book is about. If you haven't read the book and haven't read the goodreads introduction then please don't as it gives away one of the major turning points in my understanding of this novel.

First of all this book is brilliantly written for an adult writer to compose something like this from the viewpoint of a child without making it too childish but never letting the reader forget that the narrator is a five year old really takes some doing. Yes there are points where the narrative goes way beyond the reach of a five year old, but this is required in order to give the plot the necessary depth, and the reader is always quickly brought back to the child's very black and white view of the world around him (which initially isn't much). For a book shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize you would expect nothing less in terms of writing quality but it really is impressive.

Now to why you should not read the blurb at the top of the page before reading this book. Having started to read this book I got through the first 50 or so pages absolutely convinced that it was the mother being really cruel to the child and keeping him imprisoned in the room. I was convinced that the mother was some crazy religious zealot with an OCD for cleanliness and the fact that she still breastfed her five year old child only increased by conviction on this. As it turns out I abruptly realised just after page 50 that this was not the case and both the mother and son were being held captive by a perverted old man in his shed.

I'm not sure it was the authors intention to make the reader think like this then prove themselves wrong or whether I missed something in the opening pages that would have put me on the right track. If it is deliberate then it is brilliantly done however getting the reader to actively dislike the mother in the light of her situation is kind of cruel.

The book then progresses on and eventually the mother and kid escape from their hellish imprisonment. With how grittily realistic the book is I really wasn't convinced by the nature of the escape. No matter what the situation was and man as robotic and careful as 'old nick' would have checked that the kid really was dead the moment he got out of the room. In my opinion the escape plan was just too simplistic but the author had built such an unbreakable prison that it's difficult to think of any other way to do it. The rest of the book was so realistic that this collapse in a persons character just didn't fit and I think that author had run out of other ideas on how to make the escape.

Many books would then have ended with the escape and a happily ever after scenario as the mother is reunited with her long lost family etc etc. What I was really impressed with was that this book didn't finish here, in fact it was only about half way through. Because after the experiences these two had been through it was never going to be a happily ever after and back to normal situation.

The way in which the author describes the 'new world' through the eyes of the child shows fantastic imagination, for the author to be able to place themselves in the eyes of a kid seeing the world for the first time and really getting the reader to see the most everyday things in a new light made for great reading. From the descriptions of the most mundane everyday objects to the kids first experience of wind and rain and his belief that he is going back to the room the reader can really get into the thoughts of the child and see how seriously messed up his perspectives are. I can't do justice quite how well this is done and the only way it can be given the justice it deserves is for you to read it yourself.

On a plot note I really thought the book was sobering enough without the mothers attempted suicide, this is only my view but I had read enough sad moments in this book and if she has died it might just have been too much. If she had gone it would have made all the effort and the whole plot up to that point seem pointless. Fortunately she doesn't die but as the moment she was found to attempt it I was absolutely furious with the author for writing it into the plot.

So now a conclusion of my garbled thoughts above, this book is one of those that you really should read, it will break you and certainly isn't going to make you smile but it is a great piece of literature that you can really get involved in and feel for the characters.
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Apr 05, 2017 Jen Lynn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reviewed, sold

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was intriguing, difficult to put down, suspenseful, and everything else that everyone says that's good about it. I liked the narration by the 5 year old, and being able to see the story through his eyes. And the plot was about something so horrible that it made for a great story. But there were bits of it that I didn't enjoy as much. Some parts seemed too drawn out. The fact that there were no chapters like most other books bugged the crap out of me for ...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Laura Feltner rated it really liked it

Shelves: drama

I enjoyed this book.

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Feb 07, 2013 Arctic rated it really liked it

I didn't even know what I was fully getting into until I was in the middle of the book. It was pretty great. I was always wondering what was next, and how things were going to turn out. The end was somewhat calming, but I think it could have been a little better. All in all, I'm glad I read this book when I did, I hope you enjoy it as well! ...more

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