Room

A Novel

De: Emma Donoghue

Narrado por: Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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)

Brought Room and the outside world to Life

Would you listen to Room again? Why?

I have listened to it twice - first when it came out, then again when i purchased it on Audible. the voice of jack is very childlike, which has aggravated many reviewers, but also honestly adds to its realism. You can feel his mother and grandmother's frustrations with him... but as an audiobook, it works as a multi-voiced performance.

What did you like best about this story?

The little things that Jack and his Ma had to do to survive in Room. the realism of how small a world Jack grew up in, and his ever-expanding knowledge of the outside world around him. In some ways, it reflects every child's excitement and frustration and growing up; in others, it's entirely unique.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

the only narrator I am familiar with is Suzanne Toren, but I plan on checking out Ellen Archer - although I will probably always think of her as Jack's Ma.

Any additional comments?

if you can manage the child's voice of Michal Friedman as Jack - which gets to be a bit much in large doses - this book is a good book.
Emma Donnaghue did a great job of reflecting the complex yet simple life that Jack and his mother led. Jack is incredibly mature in some ways and incredibly naive and immature in others by necessity. She could have made Room a horrible place, with graphic depictions of Jack envisioning his mother's abuse by his captor, but chose to allow his mother to be a protective mother bear, who would not allow her child to see what she lived through. Many topics were handled with sensitivity, yet with the brutal honesty of a child. Well done!

Love Love Love

I could listen to this book over and over. It is AMAZING. The voices are wonderful and I really enjoyed the unique perspective of Jack. I can't recommend Room enough.

Brilliant story, brilliant performances.

Would you consider the audio edition of Room to be better than the print version?

Absolutely! Although people recommend the print version, I cannot imagine not hearing this book. The narrator for Jack is perfect.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jack.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, I did. I think it is so interesting and well written. It is one of the best books I have ever listened to.

Amazing Narrators, Heartbreaking Story

This book is wonderful. I think it is probably harder to listen to then to read, but if you can handle it, it's well worth the pain. The narration is simply lovely, and I would get lost in the world of Room. I might have powered through it more quickly, but it made me cry a lot so I would only listen to it in the car on the way home.

Stick with the narrator

If you could sum up Room in three words, what would they be?

Stick with it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Room?

Rolled up in the rug in the truck. Spoiler alert, so I won't go on.

Did the narrators do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes. I thought the grandmother was particularly good, as was Norene. On the whole, however, I suspect the book is better read than listened to.

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

Yes, but thank goodness my schedule did not allow, as it was so intense! Often I would have to reset my own stress levels, as well as get back to reality, after listening for a couple of hours.

Any additional comments?

On one level I agree with the other comments about the grating quality of the child's early voice. Either I got used to it, or it got better. If you stick with it, then the book is so good that the voice ceases to matter. I do believe that the voice got less grating as Jack matured - by the end of the book it was no longer grating.

Not knowing how long the book was, I kept thinking it was going to end right after the great event, but it kept going. I'm glad it did, because there was a whole further issue of adjusting to a different life - both of them. Room is brilliant with a lot of likeable characters.

Great read

The narration and the story line were excellent.
Telling the story from the boy's perspective was insightful.
I'm looking forward to other books by Emma.

Great story...Painful to listen to

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

Honestly, not much made listening to Room enjoyable. Rather, I appreciated any moment when a child was not the sole person talking. It was at times painful to listen to, although in terms of getting the point across, it did.

What did you like best about this story?

Ma. Just everything about her.

How could the performance have been better?

I thought that the "confused-sounding-little-kid" thing got old. It was like a caricature/mocking of a child's voice at all times, and it got old. The story is so good, but part of me wishes it would have been told from Ma's perspective for the audio listener.

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

No. The story was compelling, but I would read it in print.

Any additional comments?

I cannot wait for the movie.

Room

I have had to step back and let this review settle inside myself, I have had to give it some thought. Wow. I hesitated to even read a book about such a topic.

Emma Donoghue handled this so well and with such genuine and creative love. I do not know how anybody can write like that.

Ok. This is a very haunting story that will allow anybody, here on earth to realize that we all live and love in a very small place ... it is all we know. I highly recommend this book.

Terrible narration, decent story

The narration is absolutely grating to listen to but the story itself is good. I endured the narration but that is the best thing I can say about it.

ROOM, worth the time?

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

It was an interesting book and had some very good writing, but there are parts that drag on and make it a long read

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I liked having the whole thing told by the child, but that is also a draw back when you want more information about what is going on.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene is where Jack is saying goodbye to the room and says it's not room anymore.

Any additional comments?

This book is a long read, but I thought it was a very interesting story line with a very different point of view. The voices were excellent and her imagery when describing room is done well.