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A review by sarahetc
Room by Emma Donoghue
5.0
There have been several books in my life that have actually, physically affected me in their reading. I wept my way through the last third of An American Tragedy. I pushed through waves of nausea at the beginning of Lolita and was rewarded. Room made me feel like I was a roller coaster, but instead of enjoying the sensations of adrenaline and risk, I was hypervigilant, practically fight-or-flight, because I had to hold my babies down as we were whipped around.
Written from the point of view of just turned 5 years old Jack, who knows nothing but Room and Ma, it's the story of a captive woman and her child and their terrible, beautiful relationship. Donoghue never, ever pulls punches, but threaded through the visceral terror of the book is the constant tedium of the mother-child relationship. The result is deeply dramatic tension and agonizing love.
I won't actively recommend it because it's powerful and viscerally challenging. I wouldn't want to have inflicted that on you. I have read all about it and I finally actually read it because I felt like I was ready-- ready to read about some of my worst fears; ready to be challenged; ready to deal with discussions of extremely extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding in general being something that makes me emotional to the point of upset). So when you're ready, go for it. It's like nothing else and it's worth it, even if it's difficult.
Written from the point of view of just turned 5 years old Jack, who knows nothing but Room and Ma, it's the story of a captive woman and her child and their terrible, beautiful relationship. Donoghue never, ever pulls punches, but threaded through the visceral terror of the book is the constant tedium of the mother-child relationship. The result is deeply dramatic tension and agonizing love.
I won't actively recommend it because it's powerful and viscerally challenging. I wouldn't want to have inflicted that on you. I have read all about it and I finally actually read it because I felt like I was ready-- ready to read about some of my worst fears; ready to be challenged; ready to deal with discussions of extremely extended breastfeeding (breastfeeding in general being something that makes me emotional to the point of upset). So when you're ready, go for it. It's like nothing else and it's worth it, even if it's difficult.