Hello, welcome to my blog

Mostly you will find, here, transcribed entries from the secret diary that I used to keep as a teenager between 1970 and 1975. I try to be honest with my transcriptions, but, just occasionally I do edit, to protect myself or others from embarrassment or some other emotion.
Also, though, I like to do a brief review of the books I have been reading, so these are interspersed throughout. I reserve the right to write blog entries, also, about other random things.
Why do I keep this blog? I don't know. I am an academic and one of my research interests is around how people construct their own identities. The diary transcriptions, and what I write about my books, are very much about revealing something of my identity.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Emma Donoghue - Just finished reading . . .

Room by Emma Donoghue

10 out of 10


I can't fault this book. I read it over 4 days, I couldn't put it down, and it occupied my thoughts when I wasn't reading it. It occupied my thoughts because it is remarkable for what it doesn't tell you about Ma's life, and my imagination kept leaping, unwillingly, to fill in the gaps.
I'm not going to say anything about the story, because I don't want to spoil it for potential readers. I have to say, though, that the author kept me in suspense right to the end. I couldn't predict how the book would develop and end. I was rooting for you all the way, Jack and Ma!
It was good to be inside Jack's head - how did the author do this? It was a very convincing perspective. It beat 'The Slap' hands down as a novel, because of its simplicity and wondrousness.

That's all. Read it if you haven't done.

2 comments:

  1. Glad you enjoyed it - I liked all the "unknowns" too - the way you had to absorb each new piece of information to build up the whole picture...Ashley

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  2. and trying to imagine Ma's life before Jack came along . . . .

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