I
recently picked up this book after abandoning it for
quite some time. For some reason, I had placed the book down… However, since
now I’m down with fever and diarrhea which means I’ve plenty of time, I decided
to pick it up and try again. I could’ve picked up any old book but I told
myself there’s something unique about this and heard it was drawing inspiration
from a real- life incident. Sure enough, I’m not regretting it the moment I
flipped through the pages.
After
settling in for a two days of reading (with breaks in between), I must say that
it’s a great read with lots to think about and living a lot to imagination from
its beginning. To cut a long story short, it is a story about the relationship
between a mother and her five year old son, Jack. Both Jack and his mother, ‘Ma’,
are kidnapped by ‘Old Nick’ and locked in a Room. ‘Ma’ tries to protect Jack,
who was born in the Room, from ‘Old Nick’, and conceals from her son the fact
that they are actually locked inside and that there is a whole wide beautiful
world out there to live in. As Jack grows, ‘Ma’ begins to spill out the truth
about the Room and the world outside, which Jack, in his innocent way, calls
‘Outside’. The story climaxes during the Great Escape when Jack successfully executes
his ‘Ma’ escape plan from ‘Old Nick’’s dungeon. This part was the most
thrilling and nail- biting moments.
However,
at some point, the story begins to slow down as ‘Ma’ and Jack’s Great Escape
with not much emotional emphasis on their relationship develop in the “Outside”
world. Perhaps, this is because the story was from the child’s innocence perspective. Overall, the
book is still very engaging plus a down-to-earth approach with its informal
tone/ Jack’s monologue.
I
will definitely on the look-out for more of Emma Donoghue’s books♥
XOXO
sassycat
