Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - El libro de la forma y el vacío

She had me with the intriguing premise, but this book delivers a nuanced look at mental illness, a thoughtful exploration of grief (both individual and the climate change/post-Trump Weltschmerz), and a celebration of love in all its forms. If I could distill this book into a single idea, it would be the forces that divide us and the ways we can connect in spite of them. This book has a lot of pain and disconnection in it, but it gave me hope that we can all somehow make it out of *gestures vaguely* all of this.

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greenwillow77's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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hollyd19's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

On more than one occasion while reading this book, I just wanted to hold it to my chest in a tight hug. The Book of Form and Emptiness is creative & thoughtful, with kindhearted, messy characters and a sensitive look at mental illness. It explores seemingly incongruous themes from climate change to the purpose of art to the power of found family.

The protagonist, Benny Oh, starts hearing voices after the unexpected and upsetting death of his beloved father. He realizes that the voices are the objects of the world trying to get his attention. On the whole, he finds their pleas overwhelming and he retreats into himself in search of solace. Ultimately, he finds comfort at the public library where things are literally quiet and orderly, and he meets a delightful cast of characters from the social margins who help him see his worth and sanity. Benny’s mother, Annabelle, wracked with grief, experiences her own breakdown and begins hoarding. Benny’s new “ability” clashes dramatically with Annabelle’s penchant for collecting, and the two have to figure out how to hold their little family together amidst their individual struggles.

Ruth Ozeki is incredibly inventive and this book definitely played with structure and perspective in an original way. The supporting cast of characters were all treated as full people which added immensely to my enjoyment.

My only critique of the book is that I wished for even more insight into the world Ozeki built around objects. The Book (a character in itself!) explains to Benny that there is a bit of a rift between Made and Unmade items, and occasionally goes on rants about how various objects (specifically books) view humanity. I really enjoyed those parts and they came with less and less frequency as the book progressed which was a bit of a bummer.

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erica_palmisano's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fascinating and inventive. The audiobook was really well produced and acted (there was a good amount of voice work). I recently listened to an interview of the author on the Ezra Klein show that illuminated aspects of the story and the background for writing it, and I appreciated it even more after listening. Despite the heavy themes, the story is hopeful, on the whole, and well told.

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orianaa's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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carabones's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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masalacat's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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rorikae's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

‘The Book of Form and Emptiness' by Ruth Ozeki is an investigation of grief through the life of a mother and son.
Life was going smoothly for Annabelle and Benny before an accident kills Kenji, Annabelle’s husband and Benny’s father. After Kenji’s death, their lives begin to unravel as they find their own unique ways to cope with their grief. Annabelle throws herself into her job and in the process begins to hoard more and more items as an archive. Benny begins to hear the voices of items talking to him. Their experiences and search for meaning within their grief begin to split mother and son apart at a time when they are in desperate need of each other’s support.
Ozeki portrays an affecting if long winded look at grief. We follow along with Annabelle and Benny’s life and though I did come to care for the characters, I found myself ultimately frustrated by the length of this book. At 560 pages, this book is already on the longer side and the mediation on grief and the self-destructive behaviors each character undertakes as they deal with their loss made it feel all the longer.
The character’s do go through arcs but it is relatively slow and feels like regression for 75% of the book. At about halfway through the story, I was quite bored and this continued for a good portion of the second half of the novel before a relatively quick resolution in the last 10% or so.
I do appreciate how Ozeki discuses books and stories, especially as one of the characters in the story is the book being told. The interesting format, which stiches together normal narration with Benny’s perspective, snippets from a book that Annabelle is reading, and additional perspectives from characters as they come into the main characters' lives, did work and made my interest extend further than it would have otherwise.
I think part of my frustration with this book is that I am not a literary fiction person. I enjoyed one of Ozeki’s previous books but that was in a book club setting where I was able to dissect more of the prose and delve into the themes. Read on its own, literary fiction, especially that about people dealing with grief or existential anguish almost always disappoints and frustrates me. If you are someone who enjoys reading these mediations on grief and existential woe, especially in a mostly contemporary setting than you may greatly enjoy ‘The Book of Form and Emptiness.’ I did come to care for the characters and their struggle though it felt like there was more book than we needed to get there.

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