Name: The Room
ISBN: 9780804139984

Jonas Karlsson

Discovering a secret room at the government office where he works that nobody else will acknowledge, a delusional man compels his coworkers to try to have him fired, only to turn the tables in fantastical ways. A first novel. Original.

A Novel

The Room

Leafling

This book is absolutely hilarious, and a little absurdist. Our narrator, Björn, gets a new job at a strangely bureaucratic office. He seems well suited for it and very focused on his work. But that's because we're in his head and we can hear his explanation of things. The more we see him interact with his coworkers, the more we realize just how socially stunted he is. People will say things to him and he will sit silently, looking at them, then once they walk away he will assert how they don't seem to want to talk to him to himself. He has his own internal logic that he relies on for all of his decision making.

But things get complicated once he discovers the room. It's a room that nobody seems to use, so he takes advantage of it every once in a while to clear his head. It's nothing more than a small, closet sized office. Then he realizes that there is no room in the floor plan for this room to exist. When he enters the room, his coworkers see something completely different from what he sees, and they are frightened. But no way is Björn going to back down and lose access to this room.

This book is like The Office meets Office Space meets Being John Malkovich meets Brazil. But I only say that, because I can't think of words to describe how brilliant and funny it is. The humor and writing is spot on. Being inside Björn's strange and confident head is a delight.

Full review: http://outlandishlit.blogspot.com/201...

The Room A Novel

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