Minutes February book: Room

Room


by Emma Donoghue


(chosen by CH)






CH  chose this book in an attempt to redeem herself after the reception of her last choice (Imperial Bedrooms). She asked three women whose opinions she admires to suggest titles and this was one of them.


About the author:


Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1969, Donoghue is the youngest of eight children. She attended Catholic convent schools in Dublin, apart from one eye-opening year in New York at the age of ten. She has a  first-class honours BA in English and French from University College Dublin. She moved to England, and received a PhD (on the concept of friendship between men and women in eighteenth-century English fiction) from the University of Cambridge. She has  earned a living as a writer, since she was 23. After years of commuting between England, Ireland, and Canada, she settled in London, Ontario, in 1998, where she lives with her partner and two children.


(General biographical details from the author's website)


What the publisher says about the book:

The story of a mother, her son, a locked room and the outside world Jack is five and, like any little boy, excited at the prospect of presents and cake. He's looking forward to telling his friends it's his birthday, too. But although Jack is a normal child in many ways – loving, funny, bright, full of energy and questions – his upbringing is far from ordinary: Jack's entire life has been spent in a single room that measures just 12 feet by 12 feet; as far as he's concerned, Room is the entire world.


He shares this world with his mother, with Plant, and tiny Mouse (though Ma isn't a fan and throws a book at Mouse when she sees him). There's TV too, of course – and the cartoon characters he thinks of as his friends – but Jack knows that nothing else he sees on the screen is real. Old Nick, on the other hand, is all too real, but only visits at night – like a bat – when Jack is meant to be asleep and hidden safely in Wardrobe. And only Old Nick has the code to Door, which is otherwise locked...Told in Jack's voice, Room is the story of a mother's love for her son, and of a young boy's innocence.

What we discussed about the book:

• In what ways is the concept of 'motherhood' the inspiration for this book?
• How did Ma interpret the role of mother - storytelling, health, exercise, education, manners? 
• What Ma a good mother? If the author was aiming to create the 'best mother' did she succeed?
• Was there any hint of Ma seeing a reflection of Old Nick in Jack?
• Who's story was this? Ma's? Jack's? 
• How did the author ensure it was NOT Old Nick's story?
• How did the captivity affect Jack's development? Did he have any notion of himself as a separate entity to Ma? 
• How did we feel reading the escape scene? What devices did the author use to heighten that tension?
• How was our experience of the sense of claustrophobia in Room created?
• Ma's mental state post-escape. What triggered her depression and suicide attempt?
• In what ways was Ma brave?
• What role did routine play as a coping mechanism for Ma? What happened post-escape?
• Were all the items in Room named (Door, Wardrobe etc) to create a sense of community for Jack?
• Did Ma maintain a sense of hope? How?
• How did we experience Jack's 5 year-old voice? Was it authentic? How is oral language development influenced?
• Was it plausible that Old Nick would not have checked that Jack was dead?
• How old did we think Old Nick was?
• The ripples caused in the outside world by Ma's abduction - e.g. parents' separation
• Was this a positive book? Was there a sense of hope at the end?

And then we were sidetracked into:

• In what ways did this book remind us of the film 'Life is Beautiful'? How were they similar?
• Why do victims in these types of crime often not hate the perpetrators? Is it a form of Stockholm Syndrome?
• The benefits of child-raising in an environment which is not over-stimulated, and in which you can devote large amounts of one-on-one time to the child.
• What motivates people to carry out crimes such as this one?

In other news, we discussed:

• Cold case homicides. What developments of technology allow 30 year old cases to be solved?
• Updates on various medical issues affecting those close to various No.1 Ladies. Our love, best wishes and support to everyone involved.

Ratings:
Range: 7 to 9.5
Average: 8.25


Next book: Letter to D by Andre Gorz (chosen by T-Rex)