Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

34 reviews

vegotter's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Trafficking, Torture, Bullying, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

aposthuma's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

This book left me with a LOT of thoughts. I think I'm rating it 3.5 stars. I didn't care much about Ruth's POV and thought it was pretty slow, but Nao's parts were incredibly thought-provoking, bringing up themes like time, mortality, and permanence. Fair warning, this book is DARK. Far darker than i went in expecting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Dementia, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

recorderkfk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Stretch book/ growth edge book for me - but a different mode of storytelling - 2 narratives 1) first person Japanese teenager who grew up in California. 2) third person limited omnipresent narrator of Ruth an author who lives with her husband on an island off of Washington. 

The book grows on you the more you read of it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Violence, War, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, Death of parent, Grief, and Miscarriage

valjeanval's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Theres's not one moment (or fingersnap of 65 moments) that hasn't been carefully thought through to create this beautiful exploration of time, entanglement, and a life (or a death) with meaning. The research that went into this book must have been incredible. Everything from the daily life of a Japanese high school student in Tokyo to neighborly mechanisms that keep a British Columbian island functionings to the realities of life as a WWII kamikaze pilot and the magical realism that is quantum mechanics. I care deeply for the characters. I feel like I've lived in the setting, and I savored the prose. I don't know what else you could ask for in a novel. It's my first Ruth Ozeki book, but definitely not my last.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, War, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Grief, Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Death

hannaemilia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, War, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Minor: Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Dementia

horationelson's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Dementia, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, and Death of parent

hannahmager98's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This was my first novel by Ruth Ozeki and it was so beautifully written. The plot was certainly character-driven, but every character developed in such a meaningful way. I felt everything was wrapped up well, but there was certainly a twist to a (somewhat predictable) beautiful ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Bullying, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent, Body shaming, and Dementia

elmei's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.25

This would be such a good book club book to discuss because honestly I’m too dumb on my own to process the depth of it all. You can tell there was a lot of thought put into the writing with plenty of layers, symbolism, themes—to the point where after listening to the audiobook (which was recorded with the author’s voice — and she did a fantastic job), I need to buy a physical copy to go back and highlight or underline things to fully grasp it. It had an ambitious main theme tying back to the fundamentals of Zen Buddhism, which were sprinkled throughout the novel but not in an over the top obvious way, which is why I felt it so challenging. It is essentially a book divided into three perspectives: Nao, a funny yet suicidal 16 year old American-Japanese girl, Ruth self-inserted as herself, a middle-aged Japanese-American struggling writer feeling stagnant in a small rural Pacific Northwest town after living in NYC in her previous life, and (through his letters) Haruki #1,  Nao’s great uncle who was a former graduate student turned co-opted Kamikaze fighter during WWII. One interesting motif I did notice was the (very Japanese) utilization of double meaning behind words, and the concept of a double life: with Nao’s name, the most obvious being the ironic tie between her name and the English word “now.” Followed with Nao’s explanation of a “time-being” and the phrase “for the time being.” With the Buddhist notion of “non-self” tied in with the acts of selfless compassion that the characters perform juxtaposed with the prominent “selfish” suicidality of Nao and her father, both desiring to be “not have a self” anymore. With Ruth’s and Nao’s desire to go back to their previous lives in different places and times. With Nao’s parents putting on a show or “fake life” that refuses to acknowledge her father’s mental health issues to her. With Nao’s own double life and alienation from her parents, outside of the home that they are unaware of, nor can they even begin to fully understand. With Hiroki’s letters of which he has to keep 2 versions: a fake, politically acceptable version and the true version written to his mother. With Hiroki #1 and Hiroki #2 living with essentially opposite life experiences: one wanting to commit suicide and the other not. With the quantum magical realism explained at the end. Truely a cool and sensible story telling technique to convey Buddhist principles. While ultimately things may appear to be different, they are (as old Jiko says) the same, they are one. Nit picking some things: I didn’t really enjoy the information/magical realism dump at the end

which I think was attempted to be ameliorated by Ruth’s husband mansplaining facts at her throughout the duration of the Ruth plot line so it wouldn’t seem so out of place when it did come, which somewhat worked but I wish there was more of a similar sprinkling of the magic and/or quantum theory earlier on, or at least more than once, so it didn’t feel so overwhelming and we could digest it more.

While maybe not a crowd pleasing book with its exceptionally dark Nao and Hiroki storyline, and sometimes stagnant-feeling Ruth plot line—which I think is intentional and I personally did not mind—I found this book hopeful and thought provoking at least pending a deep dive later on, which makes its goal as a piece of literature more than worth the suffering it caused me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Dementia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Violence, Trafficking, and War

yasmin_raev's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and War

Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, and Rape

erinwolf1997's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, Bullying, Vomit, War, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia and Toxic friendship