Reviews

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

lizzyqd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

annie_the_psycho's review against another edition

4.0

What really took this book from 5 stars to 4 was the intermittent chapters from Ruth's perspective that was really not at all as interesting as Nao's. I was so enthralled by Nao's story and what's happening to her that it felt like a real slog to read through Ruth's chapters and often found myself losing interest completely, and many times considered just skipping to the end of the chapter. Apart from that, this is an amazing book. Nao's character and story is so painfully real that it's difficult not to imagine that it actually happened and by the end you wish you could read even more about her.

If anything, this book has encouraged me to start my own journal to write about myself as a time being. Whether or not I'll leave it somewhere for a stranger to discover remains to be seen.

moviegoer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

vivandbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Beautiful. Loved it so much. 

segue's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

lilyfleenor's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-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

buttercupita's review against another edition

3.0

This was a very interesting book, alternating between the first person voice of a Japanese teenager's diary and a third person narration of an aging writer's engagement with it when it washes up on a remote Canadian island (the writer's name is Ruth -- we are left to suspect that it is Ruth Ozeki herself) who finds it. I was completely intrigued with the structure and the metaphysical questions the book raised. However, I cannot say I "really liked it" because the middle of the book went to such a terribly dark place that "enjoy" is not a term I could use, and I'm still shaken by some of the things that befall the teenager. Overall, I recommend this book with that warning laid out!

(Funnily enough, this book was given to me by a cousin to whom I had given Emma Donoghue's Room a few years ago -- Revenge?)

valandthegianttbr's review against another edition

emotional 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

god i am obsessed with everything ruth ozeki writes

the way her prose plays with time & space, perspective, & even the format of the text itself is so brilliant. i find myself reading & rereading passages, discovering something new & clever each time

i thought the structure of this book, switching between nao’s diary entries & ruth’s life while she reads them, was super effective in highlighting how time is both everlasting & instantaneous. reading about nao’s life as ruth did had me so hooked, really putting me right in ruth’s shoes as she was desperate to find out what happened next

i also am amazed at how ozeki’s books exist in conversation with one another & i loved reading this as a companion novel to THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS. the two books have echos of each other not only in their themes but also much of the plot, characterization, & tone. i love how impactful yet readable ozeki’s work is & this book definitely was both of those things

overall i am floored yet again by another ozeki novel. her plot & characters are always deeply impactful, but her prose is what keeps me coming back — just absolutely brilliant & unique & inventive & compelling beyond belief

highly rec to anyone who loves reading experimental yet digestible lit fic, considering the temporality of our beings, & exploring the meaning of life/death through zen buddhist beliefs

swaggieob's review against another edition

4.75

thought-provoking, sad, got involved with some physics stuff i’m too dumb to grasp at the end but wow. stunning.

asvihla's review against another edition

• 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

4.75