Room

 · 768,704ratings · 48,227reviews

Ever since its Booker nomination (it made the shortlist), Room by Irish writer Emma Donoghue has set the literary world on fire. Most people who review the book seem to love it. They talk about how riveting and suspenseful the book is and how they felt compelled to finish it in a single reading. I guess I’ll have to be one of the few dissenting voices. I really, really, really disliked Room and yes, I do have specific reasons why.

I can’t imagine anyone not knowing the basic plot of Room, but for...more

I was all ready to hate this book. Doesn't it sound obnoxious? An adult novel about harrowing things, but narrated by a 5-year-old? Mere gimmickry, right, a showy writing experiment, likely to win praise from the easily impressed.

But I don't think I am that easily impressed, and damn, this book is kind of a stunner. Because yes, if not handled exactly right, a book narrated by a child probably would be obnoxious. I haven't read Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close yet, and I might or might not like...more

Such a gripping and emotional read! I'm glad I finally took the chance to pick this up and read it....more

Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick, i can't believe i have to read this! argh. my colleague Michael (hopefully not a GR member) loaned this to me; clearly he knows that i am a "reader". but just as clearly he does not get that i like my books to have at least an edge of un-reality to them. you know, fantasy. horror. science fiction. historical fiction. and if not that, then just something, anything that moves them away from mainstream depictions of the modern real world. now Room looks like a snap...more

This book was awful. Emotionless. Annoying.

Look, I get it, it's quite difficult to write from the perspective of a 5-year old as a grown up. I can hardly remember what it was like being five, and I can't even begin to write from the POV of one. I do, however, know an enjoyable story when I see it, and I know when I'm annoyed. And I know that this book annoyed me greatly.

The hallmark of any brilliant novel is the ability to make the reader empathize for the characters in the book. I want to be ab...more

Healthy ambition is a laudable trait and I admire people willing to reach beyond their grasp in the attempt to achieve something special.

I respect the author’s choice to write a dark-themed story narrated entirely from the perspective of a five year old boy. While the unreliable narrator is nothing new in literature, its deployment here felt fresh and so I give points for that.

Unfortunately, that is about all I can give points for because the novel itself was a huge miss for me. Huge!!

What makes up the world to five-year-old Jack, our window into life in Room? His mother for sure, a loving, very engaged 24/7 presence. Old Nick is an occasional visitor, although only glimpsed through the almost-closed doors of a wardrobe. A skylight allows Jack and Ma to see the sun, and sometimes the moon. A television offers a view on Outside, the world beyond Room. Jack and his 26-year-old mother get through their days with a strict schedule, a rich imaginative life and absolute love for ea...more

I've read about a lot of different crimes, in far more detail than I'd care to remember. In all the tragedies that I've read about, manmade or otherwise, no act of violence has ever made my heart wrench more than the prolonged imprisonment of a human being for sexual purposes. It's also the crime I have the most difficulty in comprehending, as I cannot imagine the amount of inhumanity it would take to capture someone and look her in the eye, day after day for years, without mercy and without pit...more

“Nice day for working in the yard, isn’t it?”

“Say, that is a helluva shed you’re building there.”

“Oh, don’t be modest, Nick. It’s a real corker. It’s even got a skylight for some natural light. What are you going to be doing in there? A little artwork?”

“Just, you know, projects…. and stuff.”

“You got a central AC unit for it? Plus, I see you put some furniture and a fridge in there. If you were married, I’d think you were ...more

Based on, or ‘inspired by’ shocking cases like that of Josef Fritzl, Room is the story of a boy, Jack, born and raised with his captive mother in a 12 foot square room. Narrated by the boy himself, it’s a child’s eye view of a small world housing a great deal of imagination, pain and love.

Packed with the emotional punch and occasional humour that comes with having a child narrator, comparisons will inevitably be drawn to John Boyne’s The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas. In my opinion, Room surpass...more

Jack lives with his Ma in Room, a secured single-room outbuilding containing a small kitchen, a basic bathroom, a wardrobe, a bed, and a TV set.

Because it is all he has ever known, Jack believes that only Room and the things it contains (including himself and Ma) are "real."

Ma, unwilling to disappoint Jack with a life she cannot give him, allows Jack to believe that the rest of the world exists only on television.

Ma tries her best to keep Jack healthy and happy via both ph...more

Have you ever see that 1997 film Life Is Beautiful? No? Well, it’s about this Italian Jew who is sent to a concentration camp with his wife and son during World War II, and in order to shield his son from the horrors of war, he tells him that they are really just playing a super fun game and that everyone in the camp is a contestant. Not surprisingly, his son believes the whole thing (kids are pretty dumb, right?) and he is able to maintain this ruse right up until the Allied invasion. So, Room...more

I read this book a couple of years ago and it remains a favorite. Hearing that it's being made into a movie is intriguing. I'm always excited/anxious when this happens as I worry that it will replace some of things I loved most about the book...if that makes sense.

This book had such a hold on me that I finished it in two sittings. After I was done it was all I could think about for days and still think about quite often. Dora the Explorer was on TV as I was flipping channels the other day and I...more

I've come to believe that there is a special category that includes books whose plot is well-known, whose end may be known too or clear enough for everyone to understand. And yet, they manage not only to attract your interest, but to make you really anxious, because you just want to go on reading and real life gets in the way. For some, these books may be predictable, devoid of any interest. For me, they provide meaning to the adage ''It's not about the destination, but about the journey''. Room...more

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY?

This seems to be a real Marmite book (love it or loathe it, with no fence-sitting), so I'm going to mix my metaphors: I bit the bullet, to see which way the wind was blowing and was surprised to find myself sitting on the empty fence. I was very undecided about stars, but there are many much better books I've given 3*, so this gets 2*, even though there was, on reflection, more to it than I first thought. The quality of the writing is not sufficient for 3*.

This book was as interesting and twisted as I hoped it would be! The writing style was slightly jarring and I got one sentence into the audiobook before going NOPE (annoying child voice... argh), but I did end up enjoying it once I got further into it!

This book's main selling point is that it's not just your average trauma story of being locked in isolation-- it's told through the eyes of a child, and that room is all he's known for his entire life. I went into this expecting almost a thriller, ...more

A Book Room to Remember.. Definitely will change how you see the world after leaving it.قصة، بل حجرة ما أن تخرج منها ستتغير نظرتك للعالمAs Jack saying Good-bye, Room., I felt really sad leaving..I became a "Roomer".. As Jack & his Ma.“When I was a little kid I thought like a little kid, but now I'm five I know everything.”Our Amazing Narrator, Jack, when he turned five he learns a shocking truth about his whole 5-years life..“Jack, Yer a wizard captive.”

Yes, he has been born in Room where hi...more