Since Reality TV has been slacking, pick up a book...

I love to read, and I’ve read a lot of books in my time (the latter part of that sentence makes me sound old). I have a love of fiction, but I don’t shy away from a good self-help/spiritual/inspirational  or history book. However, more often than not, I gravitate towards fiction.

One of the best books I’ve read recently is called Room by Emma Donoghue. Without revealing too much of its plot, the story centers on a woman who has been held captive for years and the child that she conceives during her captivity. What makes this story remarkable, in my opinion, is that it is told from the point of view of Jack, the five-year-old little boy who has only known life to be inclusive of that small space. By having Jack be the novel’s sole point of view, the reader is not forced to read scenes of the sexual and physical abuse that we know his mother, Ma, is subjected to at the hands of Old Nick. Donoghue really forces the reader to rely on their common sense and imaginations. Room is an engrossing novel that you will find yourself getting through easily and quickly because of its innocent and accessible language and style. When I finished reading it, I looked at the world a little bit differently. It changed my perception of space, and I realized that every space, no matter what tragedy or happy time is associated with it, is meaningful. I appreciated my experiences more because I realized that Jack and Ma were not just characters, but people who actually existed. After all, Donoghue’s inspiration for writing this novel was the Fritzl case, where a woman in Austria was held captive by her father for 24 years. During this time, she endured physical and sexual abuse at his hands and bore seven of his children.  The case made Donoghue pose the question: What would it be like for a child to grow up without ever having been outside? From this question, Room was born.

Emma Donoghue is an awesome writer. You can tell she really got elbow and knee-deep into her research for this book because she was truly invested in exploring the answer to this question, and many more I'm sure she came across during her research. Everyone that I've recommended this book to have been pleasantly surprised by it. My most macho male friends even admitted to shedding a tear or two at moments. 

Definitely a must read!

http://www.roomthebook.com/