You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
I don’t think it would be possible for Ozeki to write a book I won’t enjoy, but this book in particular was soul nourishing. The representation and depth of compassion for people living with mental illness that Ozeki has created with this book was exactly what I needed at the time of reading it. In 2022, I needed the reminder of self-compassion and gentleness, as much as the commentary it makes on the stigmatization of mental illness. Ozeki’s classic light touch of magical realism combined with grounded, relatable characters makes this a delightful read and a profound book of teachings. I can’t recommend her writing enough if you are a fellow Buddhist practitioner or philosopher. Ozeki continues to be one of the best authors I’ve ever encountered, each book a work of art and genius I aspire to emulate with my own writing.
emotional
inspiring
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:
Complicated
I had this book on my DRC TBR (Digital Review Copy To Be Read) shelf for far too long before metaphorically cracking the spine. Shamefully, it was after author Ruth Ozeki won the Women’s Prize for Fiction with this novel that I finally dived in.
Benny Oh is a teenage boy who’s had some real challenges in his short life. His father, Kenji, dies in an accident not far from home, one of those horrible, tragi-comic circumstances which hovers through the book like the crows that become characters in their own right.
Benny’s mother, Annabel, is finding life hard without her husband. She retreats into their duplex and away from the outside world as much as possible. Benny, meanwhile, is spending more time trying to ignore the voices in his head, or maybe from the inanimate objects around him. He can’t share this with anyone as he knows they’ll think he’s crazy. After an unfortunate incident with scissors at school, he finds himself on a hospital ward for children with mental health issues. Here he meets a couple of friends, or at least, what you can call friends in a mental health illness ward.
As Benny and his mother move farther apart from each other, disconnecting in their grief, Benny wrestles with his new found superpower/infringement and meets other people in the city, reuniting with his friends from hospital who live on the fringes of society.
I should say that there are a number of difficult issues tackled in this book - not just death but drug taking, overdose, physical and sexual abuse and suicidal thoughts and actions. If a book can sound like something, it had a definite and clear tone - it was noisy and I could hear the cacophony that Benny hears as he walks through life, desperately trying to ignore the grass and the windows and his shoes who are so happy he can hear them they can’t stop talking.
Of course, it’s almost up to you as a reader to know if he can hear things ‘in real life’ or if it’s a symptom of his own grief and puberty. There are multiple narrators in the book, and one of those is actually Benny’s Book, so maybe he can hear the voices of inanimate objects.
It reminded me of The Fisher King or Brazil, cinematically - this kind of dystopian not too distant future where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Where the most fantastical characters can be found under cardboard boxes and in library bathrooms. The amazing in the mundane. It’s also deeply sad, with a larger theme around climate change, the impact 24/7 news can have on people and how we live in such close proximity to each other while rarely getting actually close.
There’s also an interesting child/adult perspective as you’re reading Benny’s view. His Dad’s death was due largely to being stoned and asleep in the road, something that his Mum had argued with him about numerous times and he didn’t do anything about it. She’s now depressed and retreated but for Benny, his dad is a hero and his mum is an embarrassment, a waste of space. This really showcases well how the perspective changes from child to adult, and draws the line more sharply between the two living Ohs.
I recommend this for fans of words, libraries, human connection and crows. I am also pleased to know that I have another of Ozeki’s books in my tangible TBR, a novel called “A Tale for The Time Being”.
Thanks as always to Netgalley and to Canongate for my DRC, this book is available to buy in all good bookshops.
Benny Oh is a teenage boy who’s had some real challenges in his short life. His father, Kenji, dies in an accident not far from home, one of those horrible, tragi-comic circumstances which hovers through the book like the crows that become characters in their own right.
Benny’s mother, Annabel, is finding life hard without her husband. She retreats into their duplex and away from the outside world as much as possible. Benny, meanwhile, is spending more time trying to ignore the voices in his head, or maybe from the inanimate objects around him. He can’t share this with anyone as he knows they’ll think he’s crazy. After an unfortunate incident with scissors at school, he finds himself on a hospital ward for children with mental health issues. Here he meets a couple of friends, or at least, what you can call friends in a mental health illness ward.
As Benny and his mother move farther apart from each other, disconnecting in their grief, Benny wrestles with his new found superpower/infringement and meets other people in the city, reuniting with his friends from hospital who live on the fringes of society.
I should say that there are a number of difficult issues tackled in this book - not just death but drug taking, overdose, physical and sexual abuse and suicidal thoughts and actions. If a book can sound like something, it had a definite and clear tone - it was noisy and I could hear the cacophony that Benny hears as he walks through life, desperately trying to ignore the grass and the windows and his shoes who are so happy he can hear them they can’t stop talking.
Of course, it’s almost up to you as a reader to know if he can hear things ‘in real life’ or if it’s a symptom of his own grief and puberty. There are multiple narrators in the book, and one of those is actually Benny’s Book, so maybe he can hear the voices of inanimate objects.
It reminded me of The Fisher King or Brazil, cinematically - this kind of dystopian not too distant future where one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Where the most fantastical characters can be found under cardboard boxes and in library bathrooms. The amazing in the mundane. It’s also deeply sad, with a larger theme around climate change, the impact 24/7 news can have on people and how we live in such close proximity to each other while rarely getting actually close.
There’s also an interesting child/adult perspective as you’re reading Benny’s view. His Dad’s death was due largely to being stoned and asleep in the road, something that his Mum had argued with him about numerous times and he didn’t do anything about it. She’s now depressed and retreated but for Benny, his dad is a hero and his mum is an embarrassment, a waste of space. This really showcases well how the perspective changes from child to adult, and draws the line more sharply between the two living Ohs.
I recommend this for fans of words, libraries, human connection and crows. I am also pleased to know that I have another of Ozeki’s books in my tangible TBR, a novel called “A Tale for The Time Being”.
Thanks as always to Netgalley and to Canongate for my DRC, this book is available to buy in all good bookshops.
What a long, strange book. There's so much being commented on (mental illness, grief, hoarding, social alienation, homelessness, drug use, politics, media overload, consumerism, climate change, relationships and coming of age). The unique style offers a compassionate and emotional examination of dealing with trauma and emptiness.
It also highlights the importance of public libraries.
It also highlights the importance of public libraries.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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
This book was great. Every character sympathetic, understandable. But also sad. Ozeki hits the hilarious, pathetic whimsy of living perfectly.
All of the tongue in cheek stuff somehow works:
Naming a homeless philosopher poet after Slavoj Zizek (I assume). Writing in Konmari as a zen Buddhist? Writing Ozeki herself into the book (again)?
I guess I’m still a sucker for books about books. I’m fine with it.
All of the tongue in cheek stuff somehow works:
Spoiler
Naming a homeless philosopher poet after Slavoj Zizek (I assume). Writing in Konmari as a zen Buddhist? Writing Ozeki herself into the book (again)?
I guess I’m still a sucker for books about books. I’m fine with it.
At page 487 I read "books are under no obligation to make people happy. That some books bring sorry or confusion, and that is ok, too." Well, this book brought sorrow and confusion. And did not make me happy. Ruth Ozeki is a masterful writer. In The Book of Form and Emptiness, she tells the story of Benny Oh and his mother, Annabelle, as they recover from the death of Benny's father, Kenji. Benny hears voices. Annabelle is a hoarder. You see inside their minds and it is heartbreaking. The book is beautifully written, but it was so, so sad. I don't know if I enjoyed it, although I appreciated it.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
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
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes