Description
Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don't have the key. Jack loves watching TV but he knows that nothing he sees on the screen is truly real - only him, Ma and the things in Room. Until the day Ma admits there is a world outside . . .
Introduction to Room by Emma Donoghue
When the case of Josef Fritzl came to light in 2008, it became an immediate conversation point around the world. What degree of psychopathy, we wondered, what level of misogynistic rage, could lead a man to imprison his daughter in an underground room for a quarter of a century, to abuse and rape her, to impregnate her repeatedly and to use fear and intimidation to ensure that neither she nor the children she bore him made any attempt at escape? It was a grotesque situation, the plot of a Hollywood movie transported to a small Austrian town, and as more details emerged of Fritzl's crimes, the horror was only equalled by a universal hunger for more information. In a sense, we became voyeurs to that terrible story, never stopping to ask why men commit these crimes against women or why they feel the need to imprison them to satisfy their desire for control. For of course, this was not just Elisabeth Fritzl's story. It belonged to others too. Jaycee Lee Dugard, the eleven-year-old Californian girl, kidnapped and kept captive for eighteen years. Alba Alvarez in Colombia, who, like Elisabeth, was kept hostage for twenty-five years by a father who sired fourteen children with her. Natascha Kampusch in Vienna, who spent eight years in captivity until she managed to escape.
One of the strengths of Room is that it does not try to understand the mind of a man in this case Old Nick who would commit such despicable acts, for even in fiction, where the imagination rules all and the improbable can be made possible by a deft plot turn or an unexpected intervention, there are matters which defy reason. We do not need to know why he has done these things, or why any of his real-life counterparts behave in such a way, for in explanations lie logic, in logic lies understanding, and in understanding lies approval and forgiveness, none of which can be afforded to such behaviour.
About the Author
More Details
- Contributor: Emma Donoghue
- Imprint: Picador
- ISBN13: 9781509803156
- Number of Pages: 416
- Packaged Dimensions: 129x197x26mm
- Packaged Weight: 295
- Format: Paperback
- Publisher: Pan Macmillan
- Release Date: 2015-09-24
- Binding: Paperback / softback
- Biography: Born in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an Irish writer who spent eight years in England before moving to Canada. Her fiction includes Slammerkin, Life Mask, Touchy Subjects and the international bestseller Room (shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange Prizes). In addition to being a bestselling novelist, Emma is also an award-winning screenwriter, winning the award for Best Screenplay at the London Evening Standard British Film Awards for her adaptation of her novel Room.
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