THE MARS ROOM, by Rachel Kushner
Simon & Schuster Audio - 2018
Audiobook - 9 Hrs: 41 min
My Rating (out of 5)
⭐⭐⭐⭐
A novel of a life gone off the rails - or of a life that is the rails and follows its own path?
I really enjoyed this book. The story follows several characters, but primarily focuses on Romy Hall, who we meet at the beginning of her incarceration. She has been sentenced to two life terms plus six years. From there we learn of her life and history, as well as other characters through the focus alternating among the different characters.
Despite how much I did enjoy this story, it was a pretty significant issue to me to have no warning that the focus and POV was constantly changing characters. With multiple characters being represented, it was especially hard at first to sort out what was going on. I eventually sort of caught on, but It would have been a more enjoyable story if I was more aware of which character story was being focused on at any given time.
Aside from that issue, the story really was very good. You get the feeling that Romy never really stood a chance. No money to continue schooling after high school, becoming a single Mom at a young age, and working as a stripper to support herself and her son. While Kushner reminds us through her characters that we all make our own choices in life, and we need to accept the consequences of those choices, she also tells us through her characters, that some of us simply have better options available to us when we make those choices. Some people commit evil acts, and some people are just evil.
No, I am not what you would call a bleeding heart. I have been heard to utter "they should throw away the key" for certain crimes. I believe people who break the law should be held accountable. I just think that in some cases there is a bigger story to be heard, and there is maybe some room for compassion.
THE MARS ROOM has been been granted numerous critical accolades including being named a New York Times Bestseller and notable book of 2018, Time Magazine's #1 book in fiction for 2018, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and Long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal.
Kushner narrated this book herself, and she does a good job of it. Her voice and cadence are clear and pleasant.
I would recommend this story to readers with the caveat that the story can be a little hard to follow due to the constantly shifting character focus.
I really enjoyed this book. The story follows several characters, but primarily focuses on Romy Hall, who we meet at the beginning of her incarceration. She has been sentenced to two life terms plus six years. From there we learn of her life and history, as well as other characters through the focus alternating among the different characters.
Despite how much I did enjoy this story, it was a pretty significant issue to me to have no warning that the focus and POV was constantly changing characters. With multiple characters being represented, it was especially hard at first to sort out what was going on. I eventually sort of caught on, but It would have been a more enjoyable story if I was more aware of which character story was being focused on at any given time.
Aside from that issue, the story really was very good. You get the feeling that Romy never really stood a chance. No money to continue schooling after high school, becoming a single Mom at a young age, and working as a stripper to support herself and her son. While Kushner reminds us through her characters that we all make our own choices in life, and we need to accept the consequences of those choices, she also tells us through her characters, that some of us simply have better options available to us when we make those choices. Some people commit evil acts, and some people are just evil.
No, I am not what you would call a bleeding heart. I have been heard to utter "they should throw away the key" for certain crimes. I believe people who break the law should be held accountable. I just think that in some cases there is a bigger story to be heard, and there is maybe some room for compassion.
THE MARS ROOM has been been granted numerous critical accolades including being named a New York Times Bestseller and notable book of 2018, Time Magazine's #1 book in fiction for 2018, short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and Long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal.
Kushner narrated this book herself, and she does a good job of it. Her voice and cadence are clear and pleasant.
I would recommend this story to readers with the caveat that the story can be a little hard to follow due to the constantly shifting character focus.
Happy Reading,
Christine
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