Room

Book Club #12.
Lesson: If a man asks you to help him with a dog and you can't see the dog, don't follow him into his truck

About the Book:

Room

 

 Summary: 

Ma was kidnapped when she was 19 where she had a young boy named Jack. She raises him in Room, isolated from the real world spending each day following a schedule and hiding from Old Nick. When Jack turns 5, his mother decides he is old enough to learn the truth about her capture and Old Nick's identity as her captor and try to escape. Tv world is suddenly an actual real world outside of room. While Ma's memories of the real world gave her hope through the years and her stories of a much bigger world Jack has never experienced sound wonderful, Jack and Ma must adapt to their new reality. Jack is like an alien unable to comprehend social norms and his mother must realize how the world has changed during her time away and confront how the world view them.

 

Characters:

• Ma
• Jack
• Old Nick
• Ma's family members
• Doctors, Nurses, and Staff
• Police
• Media

Questions:

1. What did you think of the authors choice to use the boys point of view- how would it be different if it was from another character (mother, object, etc)?

2. Who did you relate the most to?

3. What would you have done similar or different if you were in the same circumstance as the mother?

4. If you saw the movie how was it similar or different from the book?

5. How do you think the experience may affect Jack in the future?

6. Was there anything from your childhood that you may remember different than a family member or realize later was different than what you originally thought?

7. What did you think about how the boy used English? He would say things like "double more chocolatier" or say "big" instead of "size." 

8. What do you think of Jack getting a dog named Lucky? How do you think it would impact his life?

9. Jack begins to discover the nuances of things in the real world, e.g., fire departments are not TV but real. But even in the real world, they are sometimes for play. Do you remember doing this, or have you talked to kids who have taken things literally?

10. Do you think Ma regrets or feels guilty about not putting him up for adoption?

11. What did you like most about the book?

 

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• What we would have done in Ma's predicament
• Book realistic in terms of portraying young boy in captivity/media
• Author's inspiration
• Movie versus book
• Most related to frustrated people characters
• Childhood memories
• Plato's cave analogy/differing versions of reality
• Gender identity development
• Adapting to social norms/unwritten norms
• Travel and experiencing different ways of living

2/3 bears finished book and 1/3 saw movie

References:

1. Room: the movie

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3170832/