Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

239 reviews

luxsona's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a slow burn of a book. It's a wonderful read though. Very introspective and philosophical. There were moments where I felt angry, sad, and hopeful, all within the same reading-session. I highly recommend this one if you are in a good headspace.

What I enjoyed

• Characterization: Ozeki characterizes everyone in such realistic ways. These characters are flawed people with wants, desires, strengths and weaknesses. There were many moments where I strongly disagreed with some of the characters and I feel like that's always a good thing in a book.
• Word Choice: I loved the word choice throughout this whole novel. There were moments where I could practically feel myself transported to the woods of the Pacific Northwest or the streets of Tokyo.  
• Authorial Voice: I don't know how to describe this one, but really the whole story felt... confident, for lack of a better word. The voice throughout the whole novel felt completely cohesive. The footnotes add to the sense of authority, and the
  connection to quantum mechanics
  really inspired a lot of philosophical thought.

Overall, this book was a fantastic read. I enjoyed all the little things that made this novel unique. The footnotes, the dual-perspective, the playing around with the concept of time and time-beings. All lent themselves to this book's identity. A fantastic read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying

Moderate: War

nkmustdie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cancer, Death of parent, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Torture, Vomit, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Dementia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Chronic illness, Cancer, Body shaming, Rape, Violence, Death, Animal death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Cancer, Classism, Sexual assault, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Child death, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Excrement, and Terminal illness

saltysnails's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

rey_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective relaxing 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

4.75

i loved so much of this book. Nao was such a great character with a really distinctive narrative voice.  i am both impressed by & appreciative of Ozeki’s ability to cover so many difficult themes so thoughtfully and sensitively whilst maintaining an engaging narrative and realistic characters.   and it was funny! which is difficult for a book so heavily centred on suicide and war. the incorporation of a zen buddhist perspective and the running theme of time were personal highlights.
it began to loose me toward the end of the book and honestly i was neither expecting nor entirely satisfied with the final Ruth chapters

especially the quantum stuff & the breakdown of reader/ writer - i think i would’ve enjoyed the book more had the final chapters never gone there, just because before that all discussion of time & emotion felt so realistic that this kind of left me feeling let down.

still, i’ll be thinking about Nao and Jiko for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Bullying

Minor: Dementia

inkylabyrinth's review against another edition

3.0

I learned so much about Japanese history and zen Buddhism, and enjoyed the Western versus Eastern philosophy dynamic, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was Reading A Book. Almost like the book was formed around the research and not vice versa.

I would have liked it a lot more if I read it 10 years ago, but now was the best time for me to read it. Up, down, same thing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

signeskov's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide attempt, and Bullying

Moderate: War

w0rmonastring's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Dementia and Death of parent

Minor: Trafficking, Rape, and Adult/minor relationship

bookscatcoffee's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I acknowledge this was likely the wrong time for me to read this book.  It is nuanced and connected with footnotes; it bends and twists with beautiful language that takes time to decipher.  There should be a warning on the cover - for time beings with time to think this through:).  That being said, I did enjoy the journey.  The characters feel real and complicated.  Worth reading with the above caveat.  4 stars

Speculative fiction with Japanese and Japanese-American characters

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Vomit, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Animal death

Moderate: War

sglance9's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, War, Death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide, Dementia, and Vomit

Minor: Rape

kmae314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

this book is about everything!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts