A Haunted Room

I wasn't sure if I really wanted to write about today's book. It's not that it's a bad book - in fact, it is probably one of the best books I've read all year. It's just that I think it might be even more effective when read if you go into it totally blind, knowing nothing about the plot, and slowly put all the pieces together. I knew generally what the book was about when I started, but I think it might have been even more of a gut-punch feeling if I'd read it blind. So, for those of you who want to go in to the book completely blind, here's the title and author: Room by Emma Donoghue. You can stop reading the blog now.


For those of you who want to stay and learn more about the book before deciding to pick it up or not, I will tell you my usual limited amount of facts. I will try to be even more circumspect about this book than usual, because I think the suspense factor is high with this one.

Room is about a little boy, Jack, and his Ma. Jack and his Ma live in a very special place which Jack calls Room. The denizens of Room are Bed, Blanket, Lamp, Rug, and some other friends. Jack is 5, and you see the world of Room through his eyes. I could probably give away the central "secret" here - the bookflap does so - but I'm feeling reluctant. I started the book with an innate sense of horror - but I wonder if the reader would have the horror slowly grow on them as they figure out just exactly why Jack and his Ma live in Room in the first place.

And, yes, horror is the right word. This book deals with some serious subject matter that is haunting to the reader. Yet, by having a young boy as the narrator, the horror is made more accessible and, to some extent, managed. The reader is given breathing space to discover the world through the wonderful viewpoint of Jack.

Jack is an amazing boy. He is intelligent and bright. I think the author gets the voice of the 5-year-old just right. You never forget that Jack is a child, and while part of your self is recoiling in horror at the circumstances that Jack and his Ma are in, the other part is marveling at the amazing voice of Jack. Jack doesn't know any better - the horrors we see are simply not present to him, and his voice and viewpoint help the reader inside the world.

Room is very suspenseful. At one extremely tense point, I wanted to turn to the end of the book and read the last page to ensure that everything would come out okay and that everyone would be okay. I'm glad that I didn't and managed to stick through the suspense. I enjoyed that the book did not end where it could have ended - if this were a stereotypically happy-ending movie. Room is a little more complex than that - the author takes you to the edge with Jack and Ma and then through into different kinds of adventures.

Room is a terrific book. The subject-matter may be horrific, and the narrative will haunt you, but the book is extremely well written. You attach yourself to the characters of Jack and his Ma and become totally lost and insensible of time or bus stops. This was one of the top 10 books of 2010, and I see why. Do read it - it is not a horror book; there are no bloody/gory scenes in it. It's not scary in that way - it's more of a haunting-type of scary, but good. Very, very good. Read it - blind or with the limited info I gave here (although astute readers may have figured it out already) and let me know if this book haunted you too.