Literary’s Comments (group member since Jan 19, 2017)

Literary’s comments from the A Word To The Wise Book Club group.

You are only required to read I Am Legend. Darrin will have a meeting based on the entire book, but you do not have to read the entire book. Just I Am Legend.

Was the choice to have Ma and Jack return to Room a surprising one? Was this an effective closing scene? Did you want or expect something different?

Donoghue deliberately keeps the kidnapper—or the villain—out of the spotlight. How would this story be different if he’d been more present in these pages, if we’d been privy to his thoughts, his motivations, or even his name? Why do you think she chooses not to focus on Old Nick? Did you want to know more about him?

Ma is shown only through the eyes of young Jack. Is she mysterious as a character? Are there things you wish you knew about her?

Donoghue creates a unique world for Jack—and by extension, for us, the readers. What details of her setting most impressed you? Was she successful in her creation of this unique world? Could you really see Room in your mind as the story progressed, or would including diagrams in the book have helped?

What do you think of the author’s choice to use five-year-old Jack as the narrator of this story? What qualities does he lend to the story that an older narrator might not have?