Books n'that

Ahhh...that's better. I just spent the last 20 minutes replacing keys on my computer that River had diligently pulled off. Getting the "N" back was particularly tricky. My computer is a small laptop and fortunately Mark (husband in IT) found me a spare keyboard that I use to repair the (regular) damage. River is obsessed with using "Mummy's compooter", which is password protected. He gets frustrated when he can't figure out the password and after a few attempts to get in he resorts to pulling off the keys...not just the black plastic bit, but the whole spring action key mechanism. Luckily, I am getting good at repairing them. Kid, keep your meat hooks off my computer!

I haven't done a book review in a while. But I recently read "Room" by Emma Donaghue. It was a good, quick read. However, I was surprised that it was shortlisted for the Booker prize. It certainly would not be my pick and I wonder if the Booker is attempting to include more popular titles. This book is popular. I was about #200 on the list when I first put it on hold at the library. It has received many, many positive reviews and many people "just LOVE" this novel. Although I enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed Emma Donoghue's previous books (including Slammerkin), I really didn't think it was worthy of all the hype. I enjoyed reading the review of this blogger whose opinion is along the same lines as mine. The concept is interesting. The story begins 7 years after a young woman has been abducted by a man "Old Nick" and forced to live those 7 years in a small 12 x 12 room (a shed that has been fortified in to a secure cell). There is no way out and only a small skylight for natural light. During her imprisonment she has given birth to a son who is now 5 years old, Jack. The story is narrated by Jack. The book was quite hyped and I listened to Donoghue interviewed on CBC so I knew all this before I began reading.

The first part of the novel deals with the confinement of Jack and Ma; their routines, conversations, games and how they pass their time. I enjoyed the ingenious games and inventions that they made together. And how they utilized their space. Mainly, I enjoyed the telling from Jack's 5 year old perspective, which I thought was extremely credible and resisted being over-cute and sentimental. Jack's only portal to the outside world is the TV. But Ma has made a loving, interesting, and nurturing environment for him and has protected him even from the knowledge that there IS an outside world. We only gradually learn the details of the confinement and that their basic needs are barely met only when "Old Nick" brings provisions. The innocent world of the day is changed when on some nights there is a beep, beep of the coded door at 9pm and Jack has to sleep in the wardrobe counting how many times the bed squeaks while Old Nick is with his mother. Because Jack hasn't known any other life he does not feel the negative impact of his confinement. It is simply the only world he has known, and it is a world filled with the love of his mother, and the routines and games that they have created. However, Donoghue does underlay this with an ever-present sense of evil and danger; the ominous and dark visits from Old Nick, the terrible nature of their confinement and an ever growing sense of helplessness and dread.

The second part of the novel deals with the aftermath of their escape. It seems to begin going downhill at this point. I found the conditions of their escape, while exciting and good reading, to be a little far-fetched. I also found that once they had escaped the narrative went down hill. The story becomes somewhat formulaic and like something I'd already read about in a newspaper; with psychiatrists, doctors, journalists, talk-shows, media speculation. Jack and Ma's characters become relatively predictable and weak and the plot takes over and becomes reminiscent of a storyline for "Law and Order, SVU". Having said that, I still think Jack has a convincing voice and the novel does maintain some depth. The first part is particularly thought-provoking. There was something reminiscent of The Collector by John Fowles in the confinement. But, unlike Fowles, Donoghue steers clear of giving us any real information about Old Nick and (aside from the obvious sex aspect) what it is that compels him to commit such terrible and sustained abuse. All in all it was a fast, interesting read and the first part of the book was excellent. The book didn't even make the long list for the Canadian Giller prize (but, hey, shortlisted for the Booker ain't bad...Giller who??).

In the meantime I continue to trudge my way through Proust's, "In Search of Lost Time"...vol III underway. I can't deny it is tough going in places, like reading philosophy. But at the same time his thoughts and ideas infuse everything so that I find that it is effecting me at quite a deep level. Perhaps more on that when I've read more and am capable of putting my thoughts into writing.