Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Tale for the Time Being

This is a story of Ruth in Canada and Nao in Japan telling the story of their lives, their trials and the personal horrors that they face, and how they find a way through with the people around them. I really don't know how to feel, but I was really engaged by this reading experience. It was an interesting exploration of time and identity, who we are in the grand scheme of things. I really connected with Nao and her relationship with Jiko was so beautiful. I liked the deconstruction of a story. Like it's such a meta experience and what we bring to a story as readers. What we read and what we get out of a book says as much about the reader as it does about the writer as it does about the characters in the story themselves. We all make each other. This isn't coherent lol!

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henrylee1202's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Overall, this book was very good. I really enjoyed reading it! I wish I can explain all I feel for this book in this review, but I can’t. In short words, I will say that it is a book that I will never forget.

It’s interesting how the author decided to use her real name and her husband’s for the characters.

I definitely enjoyed Nao’s parts of the story more than Ruth’s but having both perspectives made the plot whole and complete. Nao,

the poor girl 😭 she really lived a rough live which was really a result from her parents. While I understand the father, I thought the his course of action was ridiculous and it ended up hurting Nao. The great grandmother was so great though. I’m glad she had a part on Nao. I cried so much during the funeral parts.

This might be because I didn’t read carefully but I was surprised by how worried Oliver got about the cat. Maybe Ruth’s uncaring nature toward him(? I think Pest was a guy) got to me. Glad it was alive in the end 👍

Such a good way to explain Japan through the story. Was able to immerse myself into both of their worlds.

A book that reminded me how much I love books 😻 also another book with a great message: love prevails

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alisonannk's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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hflh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

A Tale for the Time Being follows Ruth on Vancouver Island as she is reading the old diary of a young girl in Japan. In the present, Ruth struggles to write her next novel while exploring Nao's world. In the diary, Nao writes about her experiences at home and at school, with a focus on a growing relationship with her amazing grandmother.

Readers switch between Ruth's perspective and Nao's first-person diary, but the diary chapters are full of footnotes with Ruth's comments. It creates a really unique and intimate reading experience where, when reading the diary, you not only feel like you are in the shoes of Nao, but also that you are in the shoes of Ruth as she is reading.

I loved this book. It is immersive and the format, characters, and the element of magical realism mystery are all incredibly compelling. However, this is a hard and painful book with detailed descriptions and reflections on TW

war, natural disasters, bullying, sexual violence and exploitation, poverty, and suicide

. But, without minimizing these topics, Ozeki brings in reflective moments informed by her Buddhism and genuine moments of connection that balance these hard topics with hope.

The book is definitely slow, but I enjoyed the pacing aside from finding it too slow in one or two places.

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