Bjorn is a compulsive, meticulous bureaucrat who discovers a secret room at the government office where he works--a secret room that no one else in his office will acknowledge. When Bjorn is in his room, what his co-workers see is him standing by the wall and staring off into space looking dazed, relaxed, and decidedly creepy. Bjorn's bizarre behavior eventually leads his co-workers to try and have him fired, but Bjorn will turn the tables on them with help from his secret room.
Debut author Jonas Karlsson doesn't leave a word out of place in this brilliant, bizarre, delightful take on how far we will go--in a world ruled by conformity--to live an individual and examined life.
Read an excerpt HERE.
Praise for the book:
“The Room is the most effective chapbook on workplace comportment since Glengarry Glen Ross. Hats off!” ~Nick Offerman, author of Paddle Your Own Canoe
“A gripping, tense, demonic fable in which the unease is precision-tooled and the turns of the screw wholly unexpected.” ~Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others
“The daily grind got you down? Escape into this Swedish dark comedy about a scaldingly contemptuous office drone who discovers a secret room in his workplace.” ~O, the Oprah Magazine
“Karlsson deftly captures individual voices, which he conveys directly (as Björn reveals his obsessions) and indirectly (as Björn describes interactions with coworkers). Using Björn’s voice to draw characters and build dramatic tension, Karlsson exposes the gifts and gaffes, visions and delusions, and the rise and fall of a seemingly ordinary civil servant.” ~Publishers Weekly
“A contemporary tale worthy of comparison to Franz Kafka’s works, Amélie Nothomb’s Fear and Trembling, and Herman Melville’s classic Bartelby, the Scrivener, while the antics of Björn’s fellow workers recall Terry Gilliam’s film 'Brazil'. Enjoyable reading, extremely well executed, this fable should become mandatory reading for cubicle and office workers everywhere.” ~Library Journal
“Provocative…Karlsson’s deft jab at dead-end workplaces keeps you agreeably off-balance and eager for more of his work.” ~Kirkus Reviews
“Part psychological drama documenting a disturbed man’s possible descent into madness and part satirical take on corporate culture and the alienated workers it produces, Karlsson succeeds admirably in creating the perfect combination of funny, surreal, and disturbing.” ~Booklist
1 comment:
Had a blast with this movie. although the accents from the actors were a little hard to understand at times or just really bad, the theme and creepiness of the movie is definitely there. Something original for a change.
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