Room (2010)

by Emma Donoghue

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
14,896	991	399	(4.03)	1 / 1019
Narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful--and attempts a nail-biting escape.… (more)

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335
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (Anonymous user)
122
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Amsa1959)
Amsa1959: The novel about Kevin is a much darker and sad story, but it it is about a special boy and his family, and it is a MUST READ novel. It is also - like Room - a novel that makes you think and reflect of our world and lives.
80
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard (mreader)
51
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens (cafepithecus)
73
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (Niecierpek)
Niecierpek: We go through a serious and heart-breaking topic (9/11 in Foer's case) through a narration by a precocious child narrator in both books.
30
My Abandonment by Peter Rock (gaialover)
52
Misery by Stephen King (albavirtual)
albavirtual: ambos libros tienen un alto componenente psicológico, la mente humana llevada al extremo.
41
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (soffitta1)
soffitta1: What connects the books, for me, is the way the story unfolds, with the reader being more clued in as to what is happening around the child at the centre.
20
Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock (amz310783)
10
Y by Marjorie Celona (Iudita)
Iudita: Another story about a troubled childhood, narrated by the child.
10
Above by Isla Morley (Litrvixen)
Litrvixen: Both are about young women being abducted and kept captive and them having to raise children.
21
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (kaledrina)
00
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld (beyondthefourthwall)
00
Descent by Tim Johnston (KatyBee)
00
House of Stairs by William Sleator (_Zoe_)
11
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung (PatMock)
PatMock: Young boy raised by wild dogs in Moscow.
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Mice by Gordon Reece (wonderlake)
wonderlake: Bad things happening to mothers and their children
11
Monster Love by Carol Topolski (tina1969)
11
Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch (Aquila)
Aquila: In particular the Perley's point of view chapters reminded me of Room.
01
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell (akblanchard)
akblanchard: The terror of being at the mercy of an irrational, evil captor is effectively depicted in both books.

(see all 21 recommendations)

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▾Will you like it?

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	Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
	Orange January/July: Room by Emma Henderson	33 unread / 33	Nickelini, June 2012

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English (963) Dutch (8) Spanish (5) German (5) Swedish (3) Finnish (2) Danish (2) Italian (1) French (1) All languages (990)

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 963 (next | show all)

4.5 stars

I loved this book! A box of tissues is definitely required. (

)

bookjockeymeg | Nov 21, 2024 |

I was wary of reading this since reading Frog Music and not liking it much, but Room is vastly different. What makes it so heartwrenching and hard to put down is the fact that it is told entirely from Jack's perspective. It's not often a book of this kind unfolds through the eyes of a child and I found it absolutely heartbreaking and wonderful. (

)

EllAreBee | Nov 16, 2024 |

The ending was flat. It is also difficult to believe that a child would think and behave that way at five. (

)

tinabuchanan | Nov 13, 2024 |

An amazing insight into life through the eyes of a 5 year old. Full of hope, awe and wonder, despite its harrowing setting. One of my fastest reads ever (

)

dapperdan75 | Nov 2, 2024 |

I had put off reading this book for quite a while as felt I knew the story before I read it, and having completed it am disappointed with it. I did not find Jacks character convining as that of a just turned 5 year old boy as felt his vocabulary was too advanced in places and then other times terms such as "having some" seemed silly. Also found the story forced and hurried in places like the escape happened so fast and not enough backround to the the characters, its an easy enough read and a short book so not too taxing, just not my cup of tea. (

)

DemFen | Oct 31, 2024 |

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Showing 1-5 of 963 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

6 reviews

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thingScore 100

Room is disturbing, thrilling, and emotionally compelling. Emma Donoghue has produced a novel that is sure to stay in the minds of readers for years to come.

added by lkernagh | editQuill & Quire, Dory Cerny (Oct 1, 2010)

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.

added by lkernagh | editThe New York Times, Aimee Bender (Sep 16, 2010)

the book’s second half is less effective than its first. Perhaps this is inevitable given the changed circumstances of the protagonists. The walls that enclosed them also intensified their drama.

added by lkernagh | editThe Globe and Mail, Stephen Amidon (Sep 10, 2010)

Wrenching, as befits the grim subject matter, but also tender, touching and at times unexpectedly funny.

added by Shortride | editKirkus Reviews (Aug 1, 2010)

Donoghue's great strength -- apart from her storytelling gift -- is her emotional intelligence. We get just enough information to feel uncomfortable -- and therefore, to question our assumptions about how family life ought to be; and to know that life will always be an unequal struggle.

added by krazy4katz | editIrish Independent, Mary Shine Thompson (Jul 24, 2010)

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▾Other authors

» Add other authors

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Emma Donoghue	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Archer, Ellen	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Borówka, Ewa	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Buhl, Virginie	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Friedman, Michal	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Glasnovik, Negica	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gontermann, Armin	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Güven, Gül Çağalı	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Gundersen, Inge Ulrik	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Javādī, Muḥamad	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Mejak, Tea	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Petkoff, Robert	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Rocca, Chiara Spallino	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Smits, Manon	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
So-yŏng, Yu	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Toren, Suzanne	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Torrescasana, Albert	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Vázquez Nacarino, Eugenia	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Volhejnová, Veronika	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Zhang, Dingqi	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

Piper (30981)

Has the adaptation

Room [2015 film] by Lenny Abrahamson

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Alex Award (2011)

Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize (Winner – 2010)

Audie Award (Finalist – Multi-Voiced Performance – 2011)

Booker Prize (Shortlist – 2010)

British Book Awards (Winner – Paperback – 2011)

Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award (Honour Book – 2011)

Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Winner – Best Book, Caribbean and Canada – 2011)

Europese Literatuurprijs (Longlist – 2011)

Evergreen Award (Winner – 2011)

Goodreads Choice Awards (Winner – Fiction – 2010)

Governor General's Literary Award (Finalist – Fiction (English) – 2010)

Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee – 2013)

Indies Choice Book Awards (Winner – Adult Fiction – 2011)

International Dublin Literary Award (Longlist – 2012)

Irish Book Award (Winner – Novel – 2010)

Distinctions

Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction – 2010)

Indigo Books Heather's Pick (2010)

Library Journal Top Ten Book (2010)

The New York Times Best Books of the Year (2010)

New York Times bestseller (Fiction – 2010)

The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry – 2010)

Richard and Judy Book Club (2013)

World Book Night selection (2012)

Notable Lists

100 novels that make you proud to be a Canadian

ALA Notable Book (2011)

Canada Reads Top 40 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade

Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (Canadian Fiction – 2010)

King County Library System Best Books (Fiction Books – 2010)

Notable Books List (Fiction – 2011)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Room

Original title

Room

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Room (IMDb)

Epigraph

My Child

Such trouble I have.

And you sleep, your heart is placid;

you dream in the joyless wood;

in the night nailed in bronze,

in the blue dark you lie still and shine.

Simonides (C. 556-468 BCE), "Danae" (tr. Richmond Lattimore)

Dedication

Room is for Finn & Una, my best works.

First words

Today I'm five.

Quotations

In Room I was safe and Outside is the scary.

In the world I notice persons are nearly always stressed and have no time. Even Grandma often says that, but she and Steppa don't have jobs, so I don't know how persons with jobs do the jobs and all the living as well. In Room me and Ma had time for everything. I guess the time gets spread very thin like butter all over the world, the roads and houses and playgrounds and stores, so there's only a little smear of time on each place, then everyone has to hurry on to the next bit.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Clain, Judy (Little, Brown)

Humphreys, Sam (Picador)

Tupholme, Iris (HarperCollins Canada)

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Room (novel)

▾Book descriptions

Narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful--and attempts a nail-biting escape.

▾Library descriptions

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▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

The entire story is told from the perspective of a 5 year old little boy. Room is his entire world. Where he was born and grew up. It's where he lives with his Ma as they learn & read & eat & sleep & play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in 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.

Haiku summary