Book #49: Room
“The world is always changing brightness and hotness and soundness, I never know how it’s going to be the next minute.”
I began reading this book not realising what it was about. The first few pages confused me, as I was unaware that it was written from the point-of-view, and in the language of an five year-old child. It wasn’t that hard to get used to the writing. Donoghue somehow manages to realistically capture the voice of a child without making it obnoxious and painful to read.
Jack is a five year-old child who has spent his entire life locked in a room with his Ma who was kidnapped seven years prior. Since it is the only life he has ever known, he sees it as completely normal, but Ma remembers Outside and wishes more than anything to give Jack the life he deserves. Something interesting that we learn early, is that Ma still breastfeeds Jack. This provides the reader with some discomfort and begs the questions: Where are the boundaries between mother and son? How close is too close?
Early on, the setting expands beyond the original Room and more characters enter the story. We are still nagged by the discomfort of the breastfeeding. It becomes a main focus of many of the people Ma speaks to Outside. Instead of being concerned with the life her and Jack had led for seven years, they are more interested in the fact that she is still breastfeeding her five year-old son. Eventually, through actions that Ma takes, the kibosh is put on the breastfeeding once and for all.
Room is an enthralling read. It begs many questions from the reader and forces them to think about their own place in the world. To consider things from the perspective of a child. To look upon the world with renewed vision.
