This month’s book club selection, Room tells the story of Jack and Ma who live in an 11×11 room. Not to give too much away, Jack, now five, and the narrator of the story has lived his entire life in the room with only Ma and a series of inanimate objects (e.g., Bed, Rug, Rocker) for companionship and playthings.
*** Spoiler Alert ***
It’s hard going further in the review without giving details away but I will do my best. I found the book totally engaging, though some in our club had trouble adjusting to Jack’s five year-old narration, it didn’t bother me and I found the story quickly engrossing. I read it in less than a 24-hour period; I think that did help. You could probably sit down with this book early in the morning by the pool and have it finished by cocktail hour.
I thought the characters we cared about (i.e., Ma and Jack) to be well developed and completely believable. Some of the supporting characters, Old Nick, for example were painted with broader brush strokes (and for him, that was perfectly fine), but still real.
And while the subject matter is horrific at best I think the author was correct in choosing Jack to narrate it as it makes it bearable for the reader who must delve into that world. In the end, talking about the book and it’s subject proved more difficult, I think, than reading about it maybe because I found Jack to be a pretty cool kid, one who even under these horrible circumstances I’m glad I got to know.