What We’re Reading: ROOM for Books & Bars

I surprised myself, and actually finished a book that was originally NOT meant to be the subject of a WWR post. Whoa.

How did this rare occurrence come about? Ah, well, see, my overworked brain needed a break from digesting dense poetry and cerebral prose. Room, by Emma Donoghue, is a refreshingly easy read, in terms of writing and voice. Not so easy in terms of subject matter, however. It’s told from the point of view of a five-year-old boy named Jack who was born and confined to live the formative years of his life in an eleven-by-eleven foot room with his kidnapped mother. Donoghue does an amazing job sticking to the voice of a five-year-old, and really picks up on the glaring gaps in Jack’s education and understanding of the world outside of “the room.”

My beef with the book is that the situation the main characters find themselves in is over-done. Yes, it’s a harrowing escape founded on the rock-hard bond between mother and child, and the sheer will of survival. But Donoghue tinkers with melodramatic antics at times, and takes the easy way out with plot development at others.

The other driving force in my determination to finish the book was to go to Books & Bars this Tuesday, Aug 9. For those of you from Minneapolis, this is a great event for literary folk. I’ve fallen in love with the monthly book club, with the charming Aster Café where it’s located, and quite possibly with the host, the always hilarious Jeff Kamin. Oh, and did I mention the beer specials? Combine all of these elements with people who like to gab about books and you’ve got yourself an irresistible weeknight out.