The Room by Jonas Karlsson is weird. It's a weird book. I'm not upset that it's weird. I'm weird and like weird things. But it was totally weird and not at all what I was expecting. Granted I'm starting to think that "not what I expected" and "not something I would normally read" but "totally loved" are all starting to be a part of my vernacular when referring to books I am reading because of BloggingforBooks. The back of the book is sort of misleading. I started reading thinking that I was going to read a book about a guy that basically finds adult Narnia in an office supply closet. Instead, I got a story about a guy that is woefully socially awkward who may or may not spend the entire book hallucinating. I'm still not sure what happened at the end of this bad boy. Was the room a real place? Was there a government conspiracy cover up? Did he ever make out with that receptionist? It's all very confusing. The end of this book left me with a lot of unanswered questions. I keep going over it in my head and cannot for the life of me decide if he was a crazy person or if there was something else happening. Karlsson wrote The Room in really short little chapters, so I kept misjudging how much I had read and accidentally finished the book in about four days. Super quick read. Good, but quick. If you're in the market for a strange, thought provoking book that you could read on an airplane or waiting in the doctors office - this is the book for you! If you want a more cut and dry story that makes sense and has a main character that is likable, then not so much. Bjorn (our anti-hero) is a total weirdo, but a really interesting weirdo. Karlsson does an excellent job of portraying office life as a microcosm of human experiences, and touches on many different day to day interactions but makes them slightly off kilter. Totally weird, but totally interesting.
Happy DEAR Day! I hope the like four people who read this are enjoying their Sunday with a good book and a cup of tea. (I'm getting down on some short stories by BJ Novak in between homework assignments and sips of iced tea). May your books be long and your mugs never empty.
As always - courtesy of Blogging for Books via Random House (Thanks guys)
