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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
The book was weird. If Marie Kondo and Greta Thunberg got high then collaborated on a novel. The book was set in the PNW amid the background of climate change, mass shootings and the Trump elections. So they might need an American bestie to help write from the American perspective.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The Book of Form and Emptiness is by one of my favorite authors, Ruth Ozeki. This book follows a mom and her son following the death of the father figure in the family. In his absence, his wife Anabelle becomes a hoarder and his son Benny develops schizophrenia. This is a long and touching story about community and about materialism. Ruth is a buddhist and uses this book to highlight how material items in our world have form but are very empty. Anabelle is consumed by collecting things because of their meaning to her. Benny hears items talk to him and consumes their emotions. This book is aimed at adults but I think would also be more than okay for a young adult audience. Content warnings for self harm, animal cruelty, and suicidal ideation. Ruth herself suffered a loss at a young age which led her to hear voices and be hospitalized. Ruth also worked with the Icarus Project when writing this book to have legit representation for the hearing voices community. As someone with a similar diagnosis, and who was raised by someone with a hoarding addiction, I found this book highly relatable. Like most Ozeki books it also led me to cry and think deeply about life.
One of those great stories that can’t be boiled down to a one-line elevator pitch. The best I can do is Mosquitoland + Marie Kondo + German philosophy + magical realism + PTSD + Jazz + capitalist critique. There’s a lot going on here, but somehow the author makes it work. More a 4.5
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I have mixed feelings about this book. 3* feels too low, but 4* too great for my personal experience of reading it. It’s hovering around 3.5*
I devoured the first half but after a while slackened, and overall it failed to keep me engaged to the very end. The pacing became quite laboured, even while I appreciated Ozeki’s beautiful writing style. I also found some of the side characters irksome, and almost flanderised in their “quirkiness”. The ending, ironically, felt a bit hurried, as if the troubles the characters were still in the middle of needed to end at some point.
With this being said, Benny and Annabelle’s relationship, and the way Ozeki navigates the fallout of their respective griefs was really compelling. I just wish this was the main focus of the book without so much of the additional sub plots. Narrowing it down could have helped with length, conciseness and my overall desire to move through the book and be compelled by their relationships.
The conceptual conceit of the book was a nice hook for the character driven plot to hold onto, and I liked the switch to second person in its narration at the peak of Benny’s supposed psychological breakdown (I say supposed, because Ozeki never truly answers how much of what he experiences are psychological or real).
Overall, I can see why people enjoyed it and why it won the Women’s Prize, but it neither blew me away nor fell completely flat. I’ll definitely seek out Ozeki’s books again.
I devoured the first half but after a while slackened, and overall it failed to keep me engaged to the very end. The pacing became quite laboured, even while I appreciated Ozeki’s beautiful writing style. I also found some of the side characters irksome, and almost flanderised in their “quirkiness”. The ending, ironically, felt a bit hurried, as if the troubles the characters were still in the middle of needed to end at some point.
With this being said, Benny and Annabelle’s relationship, and the way Ozeki navigates the fallout of their respective griefs was really compelling. I just wish this was the main focus of the book without so much of the additional sub plots. Narrowing it down could have helped with length, conciseness and my overall desire to move through the book and be compelled by their relationships.
The conceptual conceit of the book was a nice hook for the character driven plot to hold onto, and I liked the switch to second person in its narration at the peak of Benny’s supposed psychological breakdown (I say supposed, because Ozeki never truly answers how much of what he experiences are psychological or real).
Overall, I can see why people enjoyed it and why it won the Women’s Prize, but it neither blew me away nor fell completely flat. I’ll definitely seek out Ozeki’s books again.
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Drug abuse
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A really raw portrayal of mental health, specifically depression, OCD and schizophrenia. Really sad and brings me gratitude that I’ve not had to deal with that which the characters have. The strength and kindness of strangers, particularly those who don’t have anything at all was also poignant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis