Reading guide for The Room by Jonas Karlsson

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. What were your first impressions of Björn? Do you think the author intends for us to like him? Is it important to like the protagonist of a story?
   


2. The Room has been compared to the film Office Space, NBC's The Office, and Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End. How does The Room portray office life?
   


3. According to Björn, "Inhibited people don't see the world the way it really is. They only see what they themselves want to see." What does Björn perceive that others don't?
   


4. Indoor shoes and shoe covers, caviar for breakfast. How did the foreign setting affect your interpretation of the story and characters?
   


5. Björn makes several references to music and movies during his time alone. What was the effect of these nods to pop culture?
   


6. From Hannah with the ponytail to Håkan and his shabby blue jacket: Who at the Authority did you relate to? Did you recognize any traits of your own coworkers?
   


7. Björn comes to feel incredibly alienated from his colleagues. Did you find yourself sympathizing with him? What did you think of the demands he gives Karl in Chapter 58?
   


8. What do Björn's descriptions of the room (e.g., in Chapters 4, 7, 28, and 36) reveal about his values and needs?
   


9. How did you respond to Björn's rise to success? What does it suggest about the Authority? About corporate culture in general?
   


10. The Room author Jonas Karlsson is also a playwright and one of Sweden's preeminent actors on screen and stage. Are there elements of The Room that remind you of theater or film? How would you stage The Room as a play? As a film?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Hogarth Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.