**SPOILERS**
He really is just awful. His privileged attitude would not be appreciated here in my office. He would have been asked to leave quite quickly but this is another country so they clearly have different rules. The way he views his co-workers is almost filled with hatred but it isn't hatred because his type of personality doesn't have time for hate.
I started to get suspicious of The Room when he took Hakan in for a chat and the man seemed visibly "shaken" afterwards. I don't think anyone would have just listened to Bjorn's rant. Hakan acted confused, as if he didn't know what happened. But then Bjorn took Margareta in there for the Christmas party and it sounded like a heated (in a good way) exchange. My only niggling thoughts were, why was she so "weird" when they exited The Room. Then the following day when she acted cold towards him and asked if he was on drugs. Something isn't right.
When it is revealed The Room doesn't exist I cringed. I can imagine Hakan standing there while Bjorn is just staring. He must have been terrified, is this man having a seizure? Then Margareta. No wonder she was so weird afterwards. An, I am assuming attractive, man says lets get out of here at the company party must mean "lets go get it on" or something of that nature. So being brought to The Room and having him just trance out must have been terrifying. And to realize the heated exchange only happened in his head (I think), how distrubing.
I really hated the character, he was unpleasant to say the least but I began to feel bad for him. Once the co-workers and boss realized something was wrong they shunned him. While I can understand that someone with delusions can be frightening for some, there are ways to handle it. And one of those ways does not involve department meetings to point out that a person is clearly mental in front of everyone. And why was he still there. He should have been committed, at least for evaluation, not permitted to stay and continue his delusion. Then when his work is shown to be clearly superior, they STILL didn't get him help when he mentions The Room again. I get it is a place in his mind where he escapes and apparently has amazing revelations. But he doesn't realize it is just a place in his mind. It reminded me of Sherlock (BBC's newer Sherlock) saying for everyone to be quiet because he had to go to his mind palace and think. The difference is that Sherlock KNEW he was escaping into his brain to work out a problem, whereas Bjorn is 100% certain he is walking into an actual room, that his co-workers are lying to him about its non-existence, and he is increasingly paranoid.
I am still not certain any of it was real. About half way through this short story, I started to wonder if the whole workplace was a delusion. That when he was asked to leave his old job because he was too good for it, he wasn't actually committed to a psych ward and this office environment was his brain's way of dealing with things. Especially when you get to the end and the building is being infiltrated by men in suits with ear pieces and he escapes into The Room, his co-workers are "beating" on the door yelling his name and he is somehow absorbed into the wall.
Maybe...just maybe....I almost was to relate it to Identity (movie 2003). Like the entire story we are inside his fractured mind, in a mental institution. That everything that happens (everyone we meet) is a personality the psychiatrist is trying to "deal" with. Or they are all other patients/doctors in the hospital. But something goes horribly wrong and he retreats further into the recesses of his mind.
Or I am over-thinking this entire thing and his job was his job and his boss really was that selfish and kept on feeding into his delusion until he what...killed himself...became catatonic...blew up the building...I'm really not sure...?
Thoughts as I read:
Page 12 — June 1, 2015
"She had a framed child's drawing near her computer. It showed a sun sinking into the sea. But the drawing was wrong..."
What a dick
Page 13 — June 1, 2015
"Occasionally I felt like going for a pee after five minutes, but always made sure I saw out the whole period. It was good for the soul, character-building and obviously the relief of finally easing the pressure was that much greater."
Wtf!?!?
Page 19 — June 2, 2015
"It was if I was thinking: I ought to go into the room."
Wow....really...obsessed much
Page 20 — June 2, 2015
"I realized that she was one of the rare breed of alert women, of whom there are fewer and fewer."
I want to stab him in the face!
Page 27 — June 2, 2015
"Don't think of it as a reprimand. More as an observation."
Omg I really want to hurt him
Page 31 — June 2, 2015
"I realized a long time ago that dismissive remarks like that could be sexually motivated."
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh
Page 39 — June 2, 2015
"Margareta greeted almost all of them in an equally warm and friendly way, which put me in a worse mood seeing as she really ought to realize that she was devaluing the impact of her smile if she used it on everyone."
Beating head on desk.....worst character...EVER
Page 41 — June 2, 2015
"I have to ask you something personal....Are you on drugs?"
Pahahahha, ok I like Margareta
Page 42 — June 2, 2015
"Obviously she was a junkie. All that smiling. That optimistic outlook. It was a chemically produced friendliness."
Wow...just wow....I know he's supposed to come off as a twat but sweet baby Jesus
Page 50 — June 2, 2015
"The other day. You made me come with you. And then you just stood there like that."
He's a nutter....the room doesn't exist....its in his head!
Page 53 — June 2, 2015
"...its a wall."
The fact that he isn't starting to second guess himself is disturbing
Page 85 — June 3, 2015
"I think it's very unsettling. How's anyone supposed to know if he's there or not? This way we can never be sure"
Okay he's a nutter but I feel bad for him. He clearly needs help and they are so mean to him.
Page 91 — June 3, 2015
*after having God knows how many meetings with Karl**
Omg what if his job IS a Mental hospital and this is his delusion?!?
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books to review.
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