Reviews

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

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j_tracksbooks's review

The only reason I abandoned the book was the writing. I couldn't deal with the random insertion of Japanese words that have a perfectly fine, easy English equivalent. I know that the author was probably trying to create the sense of language interference, but this barely ever works in books. If the translations/explanations were at least placed as a footnote on the same page it would probably be readable, but at least in my edition the footnotes were all at the back of the book. In general, I think it's better to save the language interference part for terms that can actually be hard to remember/translate between languages.
Also, I really didn't enjoy the teenage MCs narrative voice. I think it could work for someone else, since she isn't supposed to be immediately likeable.

sherrybomb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

Not as gripping as My Year of Meats. The story ambles and the ending is a bit to clean. Good but a bit forgettable.

eggjen's review against another edition

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5.0

This was one of those books that makes you think and then makes you think harder and then makes you think that maybe you don't know very much after all. It's a sort of story within a story within a story that seems to be constantly changing the rules and making you question what you thought you understood. Basically, it's brilliant.

storeytale's review

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5.0

Beautiful commentary on time and purpose.

saltwitch's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t summon enough praise for this novel. Beautiful, amazing, incredible. Ruth Ozeki is a master storyteller. The scope of this project is vast and interdisciplinary and yet carries the reader so carefully and attentively along the two main characters’ parallel timelines. I feel like I could return to this novel again and again at different times in my life and get something new out of it. Content warning: SAD. I had a good, cathartic full on cry in public on two separate occasions