Room

A Novel

By: Emma Donoghue

Narrated by: Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2010 Emma Donoghue (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The award-winning best seller that became one of the most talked about and memorable novels of the decade, Room is "utterly gripping...a heart-stopping novel" (San Francisco Chronicle).

"Emma Donoghue's writing is superb alchemy, changing innocence into horror and horror into tenderness. Room is a book to read in one sitting. When it's over you look up: the world looks the same but you are somehow different and that feeling lingers for days." (Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry)

"This is a truly memorable novel, one that can be read through myriad lenses - psychological, sociological, political. It presents an utterly unique way to talk about love, all the while giving us a fresh, expansive eye on the world in which we live." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Good

I thought this book was well written but i found myself zoning out because the narrators were not great. The little boy's voice was mostly annoying the whole time and the mother sounded very rehearsed..almost like a robot. People compared this to The Help which I think is completely false. The Help was way better.

Still a decent book with a good story...just wasn't spectacular.

Great story, deserves more readers for the roles

I really enjoyed this story...one of those you WANT to get in your car and start the commute so you can listen. Only complaint is they really should have found a few more actor-readers for the various different roles instead of 'recyling' the same 4. Reader of Jack's (the child, main character) role was phenominal.

Great audiobook!

Amazing story and great performances by the voice actors! It was like I was watching a movie, finished it in one day!

ROOM

This was a unique tack to take by writing from the view of a 5 year old for most of the book. I was gratified that Emma included the inevitable tantrums of an emotionally delayed child. Being able to look beyond the ROOM, and see what trials awaited the mother and son, helped bring about a somewhat realisitc conclusion to the book. Of course, we do not really know how much time was between the escape and the ending,it must have been less than a year. These people would probably have been more crippled in those first few months. I doubt they would have been able to come to this conclusion within a year. But then again, who knows. I really enjoyed being pulled along by the narrative, waiting to find out what would happen next. Amazed at the resourcefulness of the mother made it interesting. Thank you. Emma

great book

i would have liked to know more about the woman during her capture before jack it is a good read.

Good reading/ Good story

Any additional comments?

Thought this would be depressing, stuck with it and really liked it. Finished in two days.

Heart-wrenching Story With Amazing Storytelling!

What made the experience of listening to Room the most enjoyable?

Seeing "Room" through the eyes of a child was heat-wrenching but Emma captured the heat and views of a child in an amazing way. There are many people who go through events like this in real life and I felt like this book did a good job of expressing the truth of how a child might see things.

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed seeing things through Jack's eyes and I'm glad it had the ending it did. It could have been much worse for Jack and his Ma. The things that Jack and his Ma went through were horrendous but they could have been much worse. The best part was the love of a mother and seeing the characters start their healing process.

What aspect of the narrators’s performance would you have changed?

I wouldn't change the narration because I felt that it was necessary because of the story. However, I didn't realize when I started this book that the whole thing was narrated by the five year old character and at times it was hard to listen to. The narrator did an amazing job but if you don't like listening to exaggerated children voices than this is probably not the book for you. Each of the additional narrators did amazing jobs too however. If you are interested in this book but can't handle the child narration then, I would recommend reading the book yourself instead. It is an amazing story.

If you could rename Room, what would you call it?

I think "Room" really encompasses the whole story in a way that nothing else could. I wouldn't change the name at all.

Any additional comments?

Again this is amazing story -- the author does a good job of getting inside the mind of a five year old who's development is stunted because of his isolation but advanced because his only real companion is an adult. It is a story of human survival and it brings to light an issue that very few people talk about. Human trafficking is a crime that happens much more frequently than most realize. While fictional this is still a good example and it can help bring awareness to something you may have never even considered as a possibility. It's not a story for the faint of heart.

Edge of your seat different kind of thriller

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you like suspense, you will love this book. It's not the usual thriller but gradually pulls you into the story by slowly revealing the truth until you're on the edge of your seat to see how it ends..

Who was your favorite character and why?

The mother, who does everything she possibly can to protect her young son and make their horrific and abnormal life in one room seem normal, until the day comes when she has to begin revealing the truth to Jack to save both of their lives. Her plan for securing their freedom is ingenious especially considering that it depended almost entirely on a 5 year old boy who had never once been "outside" his whole life. You are wishing she would hurry the process but realize that with Jack who has never seen anything except on a crummy TV, she has to take it step by step to bring him into their "game" of reality for getting free. You find yourself holding your breath through many scenes.

Which scene was your favorite?

Jack's escape from the truck and his first encounter with "real" people.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Probably, but as I was listening to it when I was hiking or walking, that was impossible.

Any additional comments?

This book would make a great movie! Hope somebody buys the rights to it soon. With the right actors, it would surpass the one Jodie Foster stared in of a similar genre.

wow could be so true, love the realistic feeling

from the eyes of a child the world is a huge place, but a room? wow!!!

good I like room. room good. room make me happy.

I like room. room good room make me happy. room make me sad. room good