The book is narrated by Jack, who is a five year old living in Room with his Mom. And though five-year-olds experience the world different than adults, the reader instantly recognizes that Jack's situation is odd. This is because he and his Mom are captured in Room, but Jack doesn't really know. For him, everything happening in Room is his reality, with Old Nick visiting in the evenings, clearing the trash and delivering food. Jack's ignorance of the outside world is a desperate attempt of his mother to protect him, because Old Nick would never let them go. But now that Jack is five, his mother begins to form a plan of escape, in which Jack is going to have a leading role.
To read about the routine Jack and his mother kept in Room was shocking and amazing at the same time. Them playing rhyme games to build Jack's linguistic talents, running track on a C-round next to the bed for physical education or building a snake from egg shells, because there were not many other toys. And again I have to mention that all this was described in rich detail in the voice of a five-year-old.
I also think that Jack's mother is a great character. Her love for Jack and the way she tried to keep him safe from Old Nick but also from the world she could not offer him and how she tried to promote him though her means were restricted is just remarkable.
And though the circumstances of the Room itself must have been confined, I feel like the world has expansed a bit by looking at it with Jack's eyes. A five star read, of course!
This book has a lot of hype, but it looks like it might live up to the hype. I have a copy of this one already, can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read so much about Room before I picked it up, I was already anxious to read it and be not satisfied. But it's awesome.
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