February 15th, 2011 is a big day in the world of the Madwomen. It's officially time to start the conversation about our second group read, Room, by Emma Donoghue!
Going into the reading with very little knowledge about the content of the book, I was happy with how well it held my interest. These days I judge books by whether on not they are a chore to read after a long day at my internship and an evening of doing readings for school. Room was actually something that I looked forward to reading at the end of each day. At the same time, it wasn't just trash that held my interest but had little substance. I found the book actually quite thought-provoking. Mostly, I debated how realistic Ma and Jack's behaviors were for two people held in captivity for years on end. Being that I am a trauma-snob, (after all, childhood trauma is the specialty I'm working in this year at my internship!), I may have held Emma Donoghue to a higher standard than the average reader in describing the affects of kidnapping, captivity, and repeated sexual abuse on Ma. I concluded that while Ma was believable, I think the psychological impact of her trauma would have been much more intense than it appeared in the book. Yes, she did try to commit suicide, and yes, that is a clear signal of intense psychological distress. But the suicide seemed thrown in and incongruous because she completely lacked the main symptoms of trauma. I felt that psychologically she went from baseline to suicidal to baseline in a very short amount of time, and without any real explanation.
Jack, on the other hand, was a character whom I adored. The sensory overload of entering the world for the first time at the age of five was humorous and creative on the part of Ms. Donoghue, and, in my opinion, completely accurate. I also found his complete lack of social skills incredibly endearing. You can just image how confused this little boy must have been to be thrust into a world where everything is unknown. Again, the validity of his resiliency is questionable, but his lovable personality won me from the start.
- Miss Havisham
I touched on Ma a little in my response to Catherine's post, but I'm going to expand my thoughts a little here. For starters, I thought it was weird that she got out of Room and went straight onto Facebook to look up her old friends. I also did not feel comfortable when Jack went to live with her at the half-way house/apt. I did not trust that she wouldn't attempt suicide again. Last, I truly questioned her judgment in taking Jack back to Room. Yes, I believe that it was an important part of Jack's recovery process to go back to Room and reshape his impressions of it after living in the real world for awhile. However, and this is me knowing nothing about psychology or clinical treatment, I felt like it was WAAAAYYYY to soon for Ma to return...and I questioned whether she should ever return. Any expert opinions from the madwomen???
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Jack's entry into the real world was very well done. Emma Donoghue thought of details that never would've occurred to me...for example the fact that he had never been exposed to direct sunlight before, and had to wear the sunglasses and sunblock. It was a real joy to experience the world through Jack's eyes.
Those passages led me to wonder what kind of research Emma Donoghue conducted for this book...I wonder...did she lock herself up in a room for a week at a time or longer? Maybe I'm just not that imaginative, but I feel like in order to see the world from Jack's perspective she had to have stepped away from it for awhile.
A character that I felt was left dangling and unexplored was the maternal grandfather...the one in Australia. I thought his reaction was totally understandable given the circumstances, but saddening nonetheless...I really wanted him to ameliorate his relationship with his daughter, but feel like that would've required intensive therapy for both of them, and he went back to Australia before any of that could truly be resolved.
All in all, I thought it was a pretty good book...definitely better than I expected. Do not...I repeat, do not read Slammerkin if you're looking for something else by this author. Totally creepy and sort of historical fiction-y (and I love historical fiction, but not this particular one). But I would consider something else by Donoghue. I agree that some parts seemed rushed, but I truly did enjoy seeing the world through Jack's eyes (and before we started, I was worried that she wouldn't be able to sustain the narrative voice of a five year old while still making it interesting)
RDW