| About the story: To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. It’s where he was born. It’s where he and Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. There are endless wonders that let loose Jack’s imagination-the snake under Bed that he constructs out of eggshells; the coziness of Wardrobe beneath Ma’s clothes, where she tucks him in safely at night, in case Old Nick comes. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it’s the prison where she’s been held since she was nineteen-for seven long years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in that eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But Jack’s curiosity is building alongside her own desperation, and she knows that Room cannot contain either indefinitely . . . Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience-and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible. Book Details Publication Date: September 13, 2010 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pages: 321 Genre: Contemporary Fiction (Adult) Movie Details Release Date: January 22, 2016 Leading Roles: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay My Book/Movie Rating: 5 stars | 5 stars My Book Review (with some thoughts on the movie): I didn't get to read Room before I saw the movie but since I thought the film was freaking brilliant, I knew I needed to come back to the source material when I had the chance. I'm so happy that chance finally came! The book has a slightly different feel than the movie, which is something I appreciate quite a bit. Being entirely from the POV of a 5-year-old who grew up in a secluded, atypical environment, we (the readers) are provided with an outlook that is intriguing and often surprising, but were are provided with details the movie simply couldn't elaborate on. I really loved having an even deeper look into Jack's mind and the book has increased my love for the story. However, I think I would have loved this book less if I had read it prior to the movie because I probably would have found the book's perspective to be too restrictive. Jack being 5-year-olds restricted the complicated emotions and the reality of the tragedy. The visuals of the film, however, obliterated those restrictions. The movie was so hard hitting because it so accurately portrayed the innocence of this boy, BUT it ALSO portrayed how deeply his mother was impacted by the entire ordeal. The emotional impact was so potent in the film that it spilled over into the book scenes, filled the gaps I think I would have craved as a reader, and that's why I still loved the book. The scenes from the film were in my head as I read and I was able to make the same emotional connection as I did during the film. If you have watched and loved the movie adaptation, I absolutely recommend reading this too! I listened to it on audiobook and the variety of narrators really added to the experience! |
