“Today I’m five.”

From Emma Donoghue’s Room.

Ma, Room, and a handful of inanimate objects are the total of young Jack’s world. There is nothing else beyond the four walls that make up Room; Jack and Ma have a schedules that help life function from bath time to gym time to cleaning. When Ma was a teenager, she was kidnapped by a man they call “Old Nick” and she was locked in the soundproof, hidden room. Ma has mansged to make a life for Jack that is relatively safe and well-balanced life even though they are prisoners in the small room. A shocking discovery from Old Nick forces Ma to realize that they’ll have to escape now rather than later down the road. A huge part of the plan falls on little Jack’s shoulders, but will he be able to do it? What will happen when he’s in Outside, and if Ma’s big plan works, what will they do outside of Room?

Donoghue’s story is beautifully complex and simple all at the same time. The setting for the majority of the book is a small, enclosed space filled with random objects and pieces of furniture, but Jack’s appreciation and focus on each item helps create a world that effortlessly fills many pages without losing interest for the reader. Jack’s vocabulary is impressive for his age, but his syntax is unique because of the way he’s been raised; the items in the room are not specified as one of that item (for example: the table), but rather given the only name for the item (Table). Both Ma and Jack are brutally honest and open due to the nature of the story; Jack’s thoughts only add to his narration of the story in a way that captivates the reader. The book can be quite intense at times, but the intense is broken up by Jack’s limited understanding of them world and short attention span. Room is definitely not a book (the movie adaptation is good, too) to be ignored; it is a very enjoyable book even though the subject matter is rather dark at times.