From Left To Write Book Club: Room, by Emma Donoghue

Oh Wow. The thing I loved most about the From Left to Write book club this month is that the book totally surprised. I'm not a person who typically picks up a thriller. In fact, although I used to think thriller movies were fun, I lost that feeling shortly after high school when my friend that I often saw these suspenseful movies with and I moved to different cities. Another thing I like about the book club is that we do not do book reviews, we write posts inspired by the books we read. Which is a good thing in the case of this book, because beyond saying "wow", I don't know what I would say about the book. I think it would take a literary critic to dissect this novel and do it justice. But, Wow.

So here's the deal, in the first part of the book, the reader becomes slowly aware that a 5 year old boy and his mom are trapped in a room. Their whole world is this room. And because the 5 year old doesn't know anything different, he doesn't find it particularly bothersome.

I have a love-hate relationship with the zoo. I love it, because my kids enjoy going, it gives me the opportunity to see pandas and other cool animals that I would not normally be exposed to, and in the winter, it's a true lifesaver when looking for uncrowded indoor activities, because most people don't go to the zoo and hang out at the small mammal house like we do. But I hate it because I think about that polar bear that used to live in the Topeka zoo that paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The only day that amazing bear seemed even remotely happy was the annual "ice day" which was the day the zookeepers dropped an enormous chunk of ice in the polar bear's, and the polar bear got about a half day of respite from the heat of summer.

Today, we visited the zoo. While in the Great Ape House, I looked at a mother gorilla, her baby (who was really a baby the last time we saw it - sheltered in a hammock by the mother gorilla) who was now climbing all over the enclosure. The kids were totally impressed, though Helen kept pointing out that it didn't seem safe for a baby to be up so high, and she seemed visibly relieved when the mother carried the baby down to safety. I thought about how these gorillas grow up in a room, visited by humans daily. All their basic needs are met, just as the boy's basic needs were met. But I wonder, as I always do, do they realize that the world is enormous and they're missing out, or do they think the world is small, and they're experiencing everything there is? I suppose no one really knows the answer, but it does make me a little sad when I'm watching them.

Now the small mammals? I have no qualms about visiting them in the zoo. Those meerkats run around burrowing in tunnels and appear to be doing everything they desire. The naked mole rats seems equally thrilled as they industriously move wooden shavings from one part of a tube to another. Even the golden lion tamarinds seem fine, though I suspect they enjoy their days outside more than their days inside.

The other thing I thought a lot about while reading this book is the extent a mother will go to make the most of a terrible situation for her child. It really was inspiring, and it's something I see daily. It's the thing that makes me know that life is beautiful, even if there are some parts (many parts, even) that make me stop and worry. In the end, every mom I know would go to the mattresses for her child, and in Emma Donoghue's "Room", that basic story is retold vividly.

This post was inspired by Emma Donoghue's book "Room". I received a free copy of the book as a member of the "From Left to Write" book club. I was not obligated to write this post. Like all the books I've received thus far, this one will be passed on to another owner in the next few days.