Reading, “Room” was one of the most intense reads I’ve experienced. This is one of the few cases in which I’m glad I saw the movie first so I was prepared for what happens in the book.That being said, seeing the movie doesn’t lessen any of the action in the book. I knew the outcome of their escape attempt, yet I couldn’t help willing Jack to get up in run in my head while reading. Very rarely do the book and the movie both come close to telling the same story with the same intensity.
I read for entertainment and escapism. This is why I don’t tend to read a lot of mystery or horror. Knowing that “Room” was about kidnapping, rape, and captivity, I was reluctant to give it a go. After finishing it, I am glad I read it, although I don’t see myself returning to it again. The writing is well done, particularly the point-of-view, first-person limited.
Making the narrator the five year old, Jack, helps lessen some of the more intense moments of the book because they are filtered through someone who doesn’t know “bad”. Once he and Ma escape, it was fascinating to see the world, “Outside”, through his eyes. Towards the end of the book I thought the pacing became bogged down in the frustrating anecdotes between he and his grandma, but once he and Ma are reunited the pace picked up. The closing scene is particularly moving. All in all this is a good book, just be aware the first half of the book is quite intense.
Save
I have been reluctant to pick this book up for exactly the reasons you outline here. You would recommend seeing the movie first? I tend to prefer to have read the book before I see a film adaptation, but would happily reverse the process if it’s going to end up traumatizing me less. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the film AND book, and I do want to read it, but at the same time…abduction, captivity, rape. Not something I look forward to.
I’d read the book first. The film is a really solid adaptation, but it glosses over some things in the book that I think are important. They’re both good, though.
Typically I read a book before I see a movie, but in this case I would recommend the movie before the book only because the movie moves quicker through some of the tough scenes than the book does. For me, seeing the movie first didn’t ruin the book for me.