I am reading a book called ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue. I am loving the book so much and the book is giving me so much pleasure that I couldn’t resist sharing some of my favourite passages from the initial part of the book. Hope you enjoy reading them 🙂
To be born
Today I’m five. I was four last night going to sleep in Wardrobe, but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I’m changed to five, abracabadra. Before that I was three, then two, then one, then zero. “Was I minus numbers?”
“Hmm?” Ma does a big stretch.
“Up in heaven. Was I minus one, minus two, minus three–?”
“Nah, the numbers didn’t start till you zoomed down.”
“Through Skylight. You were all sad till I happened in your tummy.”
“You said it.” Ma leans out of Bed to switch on Lamp, he makes everything light up whoosh.
I shut my eyes just in time, then open one a crack, then both.
“I cried till I didn’t have any tears left,” she tells me. “I just lay here counting the seconds.”
“How many seconds?” I ask her.
“Millions and millions of them.”
“No, but how many exactly?”
“I lost count,” says Ma.
“Then you wished and wished on your egg till you got fat.”
She grins. “I could feel you kicking.”
“What was I kicking?”
“Me, of course.”
I always laugh at that bit.
“From the inside, boom boom.” Ma lifts her sleep T-shirt and makes her tummy jump. “I thought, Jack’s on his way. First thing in the morning, you slid out onto the rug with your eyes wide open.”
I looked down at Rug with her red and brown and black all zigging around each other. There’s the stain I spilled by mistake getting born. “You cutted the cord and I was free,” I tell Ma. “Then I turned into a boy.”
“Actually, you were a boy already.” She gets out of Bed and goes to Thermostat to hot the air.
“Tell me, Mr.Five, would you like your present now or after breakfast?”
Wild Animals on the TV and in the real world
I don’t tell Ma about Spider. She brushes webs away, she says they’re dirty but they look like extra-thin silver to me. Ma likes the animals that run around eating each other on the wildlife planet, but not real ones. When I was four I was watching ants walking up Stove and she ran and splatted them all so they wouldn’t eat our food. One minute they were alive and the next minute they were dirt. I cried so my eyes nearly melted off. Also another time there was a thing in the night nnnnng nnnnng nnnnng biting me and Ma banged him against Door Wall below Shelf, he was a mosquito. The mark is still there on the cork even though she scrubbed, it was my blood the mosquito was stealing, like a teeny vampire. That’s the only time my blood ever came out of me.
Mind over Matter
“Is it Bad Tooth?” I ask. He’s on the top near the back of her mouth, he’s the worst.
Ma nods.
“Why you don’t take two killers all the bits of every day?”
She makes a face. “Then I’d be hooked.”
“What’s—?”
“Like stuck on a hook, because I’d need them all the time. Actually I might need more and more.”
“What’s wrong with needing?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
Ma knows everything except the things she doesn’t remember right, or sometimes she says I’m too young for her to explain a thing.
“My teeth feel a bit better if I stop thinking about them,” she tells me.
“How come?”
“It’s called mind over matter. If we don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Being Separate and Being a part
I still don’t tell her about the web. It’s weird to have something that’s mine-not-Ma’s. Everything else is both of ours. I guess my body is mine and the ideas that happen in my head. But my cells are made out of her cells so I’m kind of hers. Also when I tell her what I’m thinking and she tells me what she’s thinking, our each ideas jump into our other’s head, like coloring blue crayon on top of yellow that makes green.
I LOVED this book. 🙂 I got it at BEA and have been peer pressuring EVERYONE to read it. 🙂
Glad to know that you loved this book, Kelly 🙂 I just saw your review, but I didn’t want to read it because I am scared of spoilers (I know you write only spoiler-free reviews – but still :)) I am loving the book till now – the first 15-pages were awesome – I wanted to highlight most of the passages! I will let you know what I think of it, after I finish it. Maybe I will join you in spreading the good word and ‘peer pressuring’ everyone to read it 🙂
Absolutely–force everyone you’ve ever met to read it. 🙂
I loaned it to a coworker last week, and he’s reached a crucial part and we were discussing it (in terms of “this is where I am” and he’s like, “WHAT HAPPENS? Don’t tell me. But WHAT HAPPENS?!”
And if someone’s reading a book or plans to, I never discuss anything, but especially anything huge.
Yeah, I will – I will finish reading it first 🙂
I couldn’t stop smiling after reading your coworker’s reactions to the book 🙂 I have just finished 50 pages in the book, and I am sure that after a while, I will be saying the same 🙂
Yes, I always remember your spoiler-free reviews – you never reveal any plot twists or surprises. I am looking forward to reading your review, after finishing this book 🙂
I love the conversations between Ma and Jack in the beginning of the book. They are such real-sounding conversations with a five-year-old – I was having flashbacks to my babysitting days!
Nice to see you back, Jenny 🙂 Hope you are having a wonderful time in New York!
Glad to know that you also enjoyed the conversations between Jack and Ma. I have finished one-third of the book till now and it is really wonderful!
This book is on my TBR list and am so waiting to read it! Your passages tempt me more to just go and buy it !
On an aside, how is your Latin learning going on? I suddenly remembered it so thought I will ask 🙂
Nice to see you back, Birdy 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Glad to know that you liked the excerpts, Birdy! I finished reading the book yesterday night and it was awesome – it is one of my most favourite books now 🙂 Hope you get to read it and like it. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Thanks for asking me about my Latin lessons 🙂 They are going fine – slow and steady. I hope that I can finish the preliminary lessons by the end of this year. Then I hope to write a simple essay in Latin 🙂
Oh yeah I had a good short vacation! Will post about it soon on the blog… Really, if it’s your favorite book I think I will like it too…
Glad to know your Latin lessons are going fine 🙂 Wow, an essay! That is real fast I must say!
I loved this book. Even after all the hype, I was sucked in.
Glad to know that you liked this book, Michelle 🙂 I finished reading it yesterday, and it was awesome! I am looking forward to reading your review of it 🙂
I think I love the first paragraph of the first quote best! Jack has a wonderful child’s voice. I haven’t read Room yet, but I plan to. This is the first I’ve really gotten to experience much of the writing style, and it only makes me want to read the book more. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by, Erin 🙂 Glad to know that you liked the excerpts! The first quote is also one of my favourites! I also loved the line, where Jack asks Ma ‘What’s wrong with needing?’
Hope you get to read the book and like it. I would love to hear your thoughts on it 🙂
What page is being separate and being apart quote on?