Book review - Room (Emma Donoghue)

[cybermule]

My aunt lent me this. She's 70 and funky and thought it was really good. I enjoyed it for about a third of the book, mostly because I have a child about the age of the narrator, plus it was an interesting story, then someone told me it was written based on the Fritzl case. I should have realised this, but I don't really analyse things too much as I

Comments

[janey_m]

You might find this interview with Emma Donohue interesting:

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/perspective/articles/1430

Is there a difference between based on and triggering an idea? I think many novels are based on horrific events in the real world. The Cellist of Sarajevo, We Need to Talk About Kevin for example, and a massively long list relating to 9/11. Personally, I'd disagree that art is inethical unless it is charitable. I enjoyed Room, but I probably found it less traumatic because I am not a mother.

[cybermule]

Yeah - that's probably fair. I found the maternal aspect quite unsettling.