Room, Entry 2

This book is an incredibly eye-opening book unlike any other book I have ever read before. Similar to the Cancer’s Oddest Effect story we read in class about how the author suddenly appreciated the little beauties in the world, the characters in my book begin to appreciate the little beauties in the world, too. But instead of appreciating them in the cliche way of “Oh, the flowers are more colorful than I remembered” and “The air is fresher and I love waiting in traffic, yay!”, the author provides a unique twist to this common experience. Since, as mentioned in my previous post (which you should read so this next part makes more sense), the book is written by a five-year-old who has never experienced the outside world, the “real” world seems strange to him, and he misses the comforts of his confined, easily controlled environment. He notices things that we, as real world people, would never notice, and he doesn’t like them. For example, he notices the weather, and dislikes the sunshine and nice spring breeze and fresh air. Donoghue writes, “Too much horrible shine and air freshing. ‘My skin’s burning off.’...There aren’t any breaths out here...the wind’s so loud I can’t hear anything” (197). In fact, Jack, the young boy, is so unused to the outside climate that he can’t even breathe with the wind. In this way, Jack reminds me of a newborn baby. He is out of his mother where there was a regulated, isolated, cozy environment that he believed was all that existed in the world (he is out of the room) and now Jack is learning the basic things of the world, like bright sunshine, wind, etc. It made me wonder if that’s how newborn babies feel, too, when they first go outside for the first time, but nobody knows because, obviously, a baby can’t talk and express its dislike for nature (unless, of course, it is a talking baby). That makes this book even more interesting, because we are able to read the point of view of something that has never been written about before. Based on this comparison of Jack to a newborn baby, I believe that Jack will eventually adapt to the world and live just like a “normal” person (not that there is a such thing as “normal people”, I just mean someone who did not spend the first five years of their life in a shed). Because of this book being written by Jack, the book has an interesting plot structure (sorry, I realize I keep saying interesting, but that's what I think when I think of this book. It is interesting. Nothing else. No other word can describe it, not even if I use a thesaurus). It starts in the beginning with Jack just living his average life, and he continues to live his average life for quite a while. In fact, it seems to me that he doesn’t even notice the “problem” that’s to set of the “climax”, yet this is portrayed by his mother. For example, the reader can tell that the mother is trying to escape and that the escape will probably be the climax of the book, but Jack has no idea they are trying to escape, he just thinks it’s his day-to-day life. For example, the mother flashes the lights at night, like Morse code, but Jack has no idea. Donoghue writes, “In the night she’s flashing, it wakes me in Bed. Lamp on, I count five. Lamp off, I count one. Lamp on, I count two. I do a groan...’Please, Ma...It hurts my eyes’” (66). Additionally, he thinks that when they scream as loud as they can during the day that it is just a game, when in reality, it is the mother hoping someone will hear them and rescue them. I think there are actually multiple climaxes in the book. One: When Jack manages to escape/is escaping. Two: When the mother overdoses and Jack experiences the entire experience of the real world with Grandma instead of being in the clinic. So far, I think this book is very interesting, and I can’t wait to keep reading! Following this is a book trailer. It is incredibly sad, it made me feel even sadder than the book. The book is very good, and if you haven't read it, I definitely recommend it. Actually, watch the trailer first, and then you'll want to read it for sure.