Description
Confined to a prison cell, a man's mind spirals into a dark abyss of paranoia and obsession, fueled by perceived injustice and a burning desire for revenge. Hubert Selby Jr.'s second novel is a claustrophobic and unflinching exploration of one individual's descent into increasingly depraved fantasies of violence and retribution against those he believes have wronged him. Written in a distinctive, stream-of-consciousness prose style that eschews conventional grammar, the narrative blurs the line between reality and the narrator's tortured imagination. As his trial approaches, the boundary between fantasy and potential reality becomes increasingly unstable, creating a disturbing psychological portrait of hatred and vengeance. Selby Jr. once again demonstrates his willingness to venture into the darkest corners of human consciousness, delivering a provocative and deeply unsettling work.
Available Editions
paperback
Marion Boyars Publishers
Published Apr 1, 2001
288 pages
ISBN: 9780714530383
Reviews
1 rating
Community Reviews(1)
I rate this book highly not because I <i>enjoyed</i> reading it but because Hubert Selby Jr.'s writing is phenomenal and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Room-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141195673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403624344&sr=8-1&keywords=the+room+by+hubert" target="new">The Room</a></i> achieves the reaction it was written to achieve - a violent, graphic tale that forces the reader to face the nature of what it is to be a vengeful human. An unnamed convict seethes in his secluded cell, convinced he was unjustly convicted he plots revenge against the arresting officers in intensely graphic detail that only grows as the book progresses. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Room-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141195673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403624344&sr=8-1&keywords=the+room+by+hubert" target="new">The Room</a></i> is bleak, sickening, and relentlessly intense; the angry resignation of a man confined to a 6 x 9 cell is frighteningly real and, as a reader, hard to stomach. Not at all a pleasant read and not one I would recommend but nevertheless exceptional in its content.
Details
First Published
1971
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for The Room by Hubert Selby Jr..