Sunday, January 17, 2016

Book Review: Room

We were supposed to go watch Camel Wrestling today.  Yup, don't reread that sentence again.  You read it correctly the first time.  Camel Wresting.  Apparently it's some ancient mating tradition for camels in Turkey.  I don't really know. I was more along for the ride and for the selfies I was going to take.  Unfortunately, due to the torrential rain we're having here, it was cancelled.  After that disappointment, we went out to lunch where it took them a half hour to give us our check because the rain was messing with their computer systems.  

On a rainy day, one of my favorite things to do is curl up with a book and read.  As long as I can remember, I've been a reader. I had the highest points in my first grade class in Accelerated Reader (until Andy Johnson moved across the street and gave me a run for my money, but even then, I think I still beat him) and read every single Baby-Sitter's Club book ever published. I love finding that book that you are completely engrossed in, that requires all of your will-power to put down, and that has you talking about it for days and weeks afterwards.

Room by Emma Donoghue was one of those books.  Room had been on my to-read list for a while, but I had put it off because it sounded creepy.  I mean, it's about a woman who is held captive and has a baby with a her captor.  Creepy, right?

Except that it's not.  It's told from the perspective of the little boy who loves Room.  It's all he knows and affectionately refers to everything by name (ex. Lamp, Rug, TV).  The only thing he doesn't like is Old Nick, who is named that because he heard that sometimes an old man named Nick comes to children's houses in the middle of the night.  How innocent, right?

Throughout the book, I found myself not only rooting and praying for their escape, but also fascinated with what life would be like if I only knew one room.  Shoes would feel really heavy, walking up and down stairs would be scary and my body wouldn't be equipped to deal with things like every day germs. Fascinating, right?

They've made a movie based on the book and I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival in Turkey (probably via Amazon).  I always have low expectations for movies based off books because there are some things you just can't portray as well, but this movie is nominated for awards.  Big awards, like Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director.  So, my expectations have been raised a little bit.

I still don't think it will be as good as the book, purely because the book was just that good. It was a requires-all-of-my-willpower-to-put-down, can't-stop-talking-about-it book. It was a great way to start off the year reading-wise.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm reading Year of Yes by the great Shonda Rhimes and it's another requires-all-of-my-willpower-to-put-down, can't-stop-talking-about-it book.


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