Book Club 2010

[TonyandTricia]

I've never done one online! In person the person who picked the book leads the discussion, but not sure what you do on a forum??

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed it!

[Birdie07]

I was going to post this morning but had an emergency meeting at work and didn't get out till an hour ago!!! Yes, it is discussion time. (I really hope everyone has finished) Usually the person who submitted the book leads the discussion, but since this is alot of people's first time, I'd thought I'd let us wing it and then next month let the submitter lead.

 

 

IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED DO NOT READ FURTHER ****POSSIBLE SPOILERS****

 

I was very surprised by this book. When I head it was in the child's POV, I thought "Oh great borrring". But I really did enjoy it. I do agree with some who were disappointed in the second half. They built Ma as loving and sensitive and after the escape she almost abandons Jack. I can see why she moved to suicide but I feel it was almost rushed. There was no closure with Old Nick. I do love the went and saw Room one more time. I guess in a way that was their closure. This room hit real close to me in a way. I was a CASA (Court appointed advocate) for an abused boy a few years ago and his name was Jack. So for me when I thought of Jack in the book I thought of the boy I spoke for. Just made it a little more real. So for discussion, I thought I'd throw some questions out there and see what other people thought.

 

*Why do you think the entire book is told in Jack's voice? Do you think it was effective?

 

*How do you think that Jack's development were stunted in growing up in the Room? How has he benefited?

 

*What would you miss most about the outside world?

 

*What would you have done differently if you were Ma? Would you have told Jack from the beginning about the outside world?

 

*If Ma had never given birth to Jack, what would her situation in Room be like?

 

*What would you ask for Sundaytreat if you were Ma?

 

*Why do you think the author chose not to tell any of Old Nick's story?

 

*In a similar situation, how would you teach a child the difference between the real world and television?

 

*What are you most affected by in the novel? What moved you the most?

 

 

Last note, we will now have a month for Sarah's Key if you haven't already started. We will open it for discussion on November 12th.

 

[TonyandTricia]

I really enjoyed the book. I agree that certain moments seemed to move very fast ie, "the great escape", the suicide attempt. I loved that they returned at the end so that Jack could see how he really was restricted and it wasn't as big as he had remembered. He barely recognized the place.

 

I would miss my husband/family most about the outside world and the sun and wind. What did you guys think when the talk show host said some people criticized Ma for not giving Jack up in the beginning? Do you think she was selfish to keep him? I can see why people would criticize her, but I have to admit if I was in that situation I would have probably have kept him. It has to drive someone mad to be in solitary confinement indefinitely. Jack was her only hope and joy in life.

 

I think Ma did a good job of not telling him from the beginning. Yes, it did seem like she kind of abandoned him, but at the same time she also was having to deal with joining the real world again herself.

[BachataBride]

I really enjoyed the book as well. I sometimes found it hard to follow the author's (ie, Jack's) grammar & descriptions of things...but I worked through it. And I think it helped you to form a closer bond to Jack since you were actually reading it as he would have spoken it.

 

I was definitely one who turned on Ma when she turned her back on Jack. I was so mad at her for not understanding his needs through the whole "enter into normalcy"...I mean, he was seeing and learning it all for the first time. But I had to keep reminding myself that Ma was just a kid when she was abducted, only 19 or 20 right? She was forced to grow up in certain ways, like taking care of Jack...but she also missed out on a lot of "growing up" as well. I still think she could have taken more responsibility for helping Jack adjust, but I also understand that she went through a very traumatizing time too...being abducted, raped, having a still born child, having & raising a child in that type of environment.

 

All in all, it was definitely an enjoyable book & I would recommend it to others! Thanks for the great suggestion! I'm excited to pick up & read Sarah's key next!

[CSandCK2]

Agree with Tricia on why Ma kept Jack and did not give him up.  Having another person to connect with probably helped to make each day worth getting out of bed for, when otherwise she had every reason not to try.  I think I would definitely miss the connections with people the most if I was locked in room.  Not having the opportunity to have a conversation, share a smile, a touch, a kiss, etc. would eat a person up inside...and just being left with your own thoughts could easily be enough to drive you "crazy".
 

In the end I really enjoyed the book, although I will admit that I was glad to know that they did "escape" the room prior to reading the book thanks to the book jacket (otherwise it may have been a little hard to read given the depressing subject matter). 

 

I was fascinated by how well the author seemed to capture Jack's imagination and viewpoint from a 5 year old's perspective, although I will admit to being a bit confused at a couple points as to what he was talking about (for example the first time he took some from the left).  It was hard for me not to compare Jack to my 5 year old nephew.  Made me wonder if his imagination worked the same as Jack's, for example speaking of the toilet or blanket like they were beings/people. 

 

What did other people think about Ma continuing to breast feed Jack for so long?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyandTricia 

I really enjoyed the book. I agree that certain moments seemed to move very fast ie, "the great escape", the suicide attempt. I loved that they returned at the end so that Jack could see how he really was restricted and it wasn't as big as he had remembered. He barely recognized the place.

 

I would miss my husband/family most about the outside world and the sun and wind. What did you guys think when the talk show host said some people criticized Ma for not giving Jack up in the beginning? Do you think she was selfish to keep him? I can see why people would criticize her, but I have to admit if I was in that situation I would have probably have kept him. It has to drive someone mad to be in solitary confinement indefinitely. Jack was her only hope and joy in life.

 

I think Ma did a good job of not telling him from the beginning. Yes, it did seem like she kind of abandoned him, but at the same time she also was having to deal with joining the real world again herself.

[aliciakeys1]

Is there still time to join?

[Birdie07]

Definately. You will need to submit a book to me in a PM for next month. We just finished Room and are discussing it and reading Sarah's Key which we will discuss on November 12th.

[Crystalballl]

Wow I picked the book and don't have time to discuss it.  We leave for our wedding on Saturday and it's just crazy around here.

I will say that I really enjoyed the book.  Very interesting reading from a child's point of view.  I like the way she did that so well.

 

I'm still on Sarah's Key.  Haven't had much reading time lately.

Will check in when I get home

 

[lyndsay_h]

When I first started Room I thought it would drive me crazy that it was from the kid's point of view and that everything had capitals, but then I really got into it and couldn't put it down.  That's also partly because I hadn't read the cover and it felt clausterphobic to go to sleep thinking they'd be shut in that room... but them getting out did seem really sudden.  Ma did have reasons why it had to be then, like Old Nick losing his job and he wouldn't be able to afford the house but still, she'd been there for so long it seemed strange that she suddenly came up with the idea and it had to be right away.  I thought it was really thoughtful that Ma created the whole world in the room for Jack, she obviously didn't think they'd be getting out and that made it so he actually enjoyed the life they had, as hard as that made it to recover from when they did get out. 

I didn't like that Jack was still breastfeeding... I'm around 5 year olds constantly and the idea of it was just weird.  I think it was about Ma still having closeness and a connection with Jack.  I can understand a little because it was a strange feeling when my daughter quit at 8 months, like losing something, but she's 3 now and just thinking about if she still was...yuck!  It was sad that Ma kind of turned on Jack when they got out but she'd been through so much it made sense.  It was worse that Ma's parents weren't very understanding, they'd been through something too with their daughter being missing for so long but you'd hope that they could be there for her instead of it being about them.

[Oryx]

Sorry for the late reply.. it's been a crazy week! 

 

I really enjoyed the book and already recommended it to 3 people!  I thought she did a great job of capturing this unique little person and the way he saw the world.  Even if some things were a little confusing at first as someone else said, I liked that we were thrown immediately and completely into Jack's world.  I also sympathized with Ma a lot... I couldn't even imagine what she went through, and despite her faults and weaknesses, I thought she was an incredibly strong character.  Who could even stay halfway sane in such a situation?  As for the breastfeeding issue, I (like Ma), found it very strange that people were so shocked by this.  Extreme circumstances call for extreme ways of coping.  I think the act of breastfeeding must have filled some sort of emotional need for both of them, and may have had practical implications as well, such as nutrition, antibodies...

 

Once Jack was in the Outside, I found it so funny to read his impressions of the world and other people.  There was one part where he was talking about how everyone in the world has so little time for anything, and so that time was stretched so very thin across everything... and just how wasteful everyone seemed to be and preoccupied with things that made no sense.  It sort of reminded me of another book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which is a story told from the perspective of an autistic boy.

 

Great read!  Looking forward to the next book