I found myself in a bookshop after a really long time. Albeit a corporate book shop, still, being in a mall with time on my hands to kill, I strolled into the book shop with nothing specific in mind. I ended up browsing the books on offer and 'Room' seemed to have an interesting teaser at the back leaf. I got it back home and started it a few days later.
The teaser ran thus : "Room is the story of Ma and Jack. They live in a single, locked room. Five-year-old Jack loves watching TV, but he knows that nothing he sees on the screen is truly real - only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits there's a world outside ... " It was with a curious interest that I picked up this book. It had won a few awards and was adorned with accolades from various sources. The book lived up to all the expectations it set, which in itself is a rare feat.
The story is about a child born and brought up in captivity. Jack's world is limited to the Room that he lives in. The beyond is unknown and the captor who kidnapped his mother for sexual motives is an unknown figure. Ma tries to shield Jack as much as she can, but eventually she starts 'unlying' about the Room and TV and the world beyond. They then plan their great escape into the Outside. The narration is through Jack's innocence and puerility and tries to depict the impact of the series of events on a malleable brain of a five year old.
Emma Donoghue has done an impressive job to the topic that she picked up. The amount of research that she might have had to put into exploring a topic that she had no inkling of empathy with can be easily appreciated. And putting it in the words of a five year old with his limited sense of perception and understanding is yet more creditable. However, I will not put her on my list as yet. If I chance across another work of her, however, I might just put it in my shopping cart.
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