brilliant...
Told from the point of view of an intelligent toddler, Room is by turns charming, funny and horrifying. Initially skeptical about how the book could sustain a plot within the one location, I was pleased when fairly quickly the central paid escaped and then the story became even more interesting as Jack had to adjust to a whole world he didn't even know existed outside of TV. The use of first person narration through a child's eyes put me in mind of The Incredible Adam Spark in the skewed, innocent approach to complex ideas and experiences. I really felt for Jack and the way his whole world was ripped away, causing him to question everything he thought he knew. Unaware of the true horrors that his Ma has experienced in her long years of confinement, raped nightly and giving birth to a still born girl before Jack came into her life, Jack is unable to understand why his mother wants to escape, and then why she cannot cope with his demands in the real world. Her overdose is frightening for Jack and the reader - I feared what would happen to the delicate young protagonist without his one constant by his side. Room is a powerful, meaningful yet pleasurable read, full of funny details and invention, and thankfully the ending feels real and appropriate, and overwhelmingly satisfying.
briefly...
Touching, comic and harrowing, Room feels more like an experience than a story. To see the world through the eyes of a child, and to be able to compare the events with real life dramas of recent years really make the story come alive.
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