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kyraalaya 's review for:
A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth Ozeki
challenging
dark
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
*Slight spoilers ahead!*
“I guess this is it. This is what now feels like.”
I finished reading this at 2:49 am, which means I’m an hour or so early to the exact time when Ruth finished reading Nao’s diary in some far away alternate universe. and honestly? I feel like i’m going to cry. I don’t even know if I have any words right now to grasp the experience of reading this— right now I’m so overwhelmed by confronting that this book is over that I just wanna hug my partner who’s asleep next to me and cry until I fall asleep. Or not. The tears around my eyes has dried up since I begun writing this. Because who am I kidding? I take my reviews so seriously. They are like my own time-beings. A stamp in time detailing the exact reasons why I liked or disliked a book so that I never forget the effects they’ve had on me. Ever since I started writing longer reviews, I haven’t turned back. And so this is serious business to me, you know?
But genuinely, how am I supposed to go to sleep after this?? One thing I hate about open-ended books is that they leave me with a hole I could never fill up. Because what? It’s not like I can go inside the book and find out what happens next. Technically, nothing happens next- the book is “over”. And though I respect the “meta” of it all. (Considering the concept the book explores.) It hurts. Physically, Mentally, this book hurt me. I struggled to read more than 20-30 pages at a time because it hurt. It was an incredibly introspective read, and I learned so much about myself from prying into the lives of these characters. It reminded me of things I forced myself to forget, and maybe that’s a good thing for someone who’s feeling quite lost currently. I feel like not only is the world falling apart around us, but I feel myself crumbling from having to face it. Adulthood feels like a bad omen sometimes. Like I am working against the clock instead of living alongside it. But this book reminded me that challenges in life are just that. Challenges. Not be all, end alls. But challenges we are meant to face, recall, and learn from. Because we human’s aren’t a ‘constant’ — we swivel around and change and evolve and persist. And then we adapt. And hopefully survive to see ourselves move ahead onto the next “thing.”
I probably have a lot more to say, but I don’t know if I am able to properly communicate it now. (I genuinely feel like maybe this whole review is me just me having an existential crisis. Idk.) I would like to dive deeper into the core of the book. Like how each character felt so real it was disorientating, because at times it felt like I was actually a “time-being”, reading the account of a real person deciphering a diary of another person. And we all exist at the same time, making waves on each others lives. Unspoken but real in ways I cannot understand. Either way, there hasn’t been a single day in these past 19 days of reading this book where I wasn’t thinking about it. And honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
“I guess this is it. This is what now feels like.”
I finished reading this at 2:49 am, which means I’m an hour or so early to the exact time when Ruth finished reading Nao’s diary in some far away alternate universe. and honestly? I feel like i’m going to cry. I don’t even know if I have any words right now to grasp the experience of reading this— right now I’m so overwhelmed by confronting that this book is over that I just wanna hug my partner who’s asleep next to me and cry until I fall asleep. Or not. The tears around my eyes has dried up since I begun writing this. Because who am I kidding? I take my reviews so seriously. They are like my own time-beings. A stamp in time detailing the exact reasons why I liked or disliked a book so that I never forget the effects they’ve had on me. Ever since I started writing longer reviews, I haven’t turned back. And so this is serious business to me, you know?
But genuinely, how am I supposed to go to sleep after this?? One thing I hate about open-ended books is that they leave me with a hole I could never fill up. Because what? It’s not like I can go inside the book and find out what happens next. Technically, nothing happens next- the book is “over”. And though I respect the “meta” of it all. (Considering the concept the book explores.) It hurts. Physically, Mentally, this book hurt me. I struggled to read more than 20-30 pages at a time because it hurt. It was an incredibly introspective read, and I learned so much about myself from prying into the lives of these characters. It reminded me of things I forced myself to forget, and maybe that’s a good thing for someone who’s feeling quite lost currently. I feel like not only is the world falling apart around us, but I feel myself crumbling from having to face it. Adulthood feels like a bad omen sometimes. Like I am working against the clock instead of living alongside it. But this book reminded me that challenges in life are just that. Challenges. Not be all, end alls. But challenges we are meant to face, recall, and learn from. Because we human’s aren’t a ‘constant’ — we swivel around and change and evolve and persist. And then we adapt. And hopefully survive to see ourselves move ahead onto the next “thing.”
I probably have a lot more to say, but I don’t know if I am able to properly communicate it now. (I genuinely feel like maybe this whole review is me just me having an existential crisis. Idk.) I would like to dive deeper into the core of the book. Like how each character felt so real it was disorientating, because at times it felt like I was actually a “time-being”, reading the account of a real person deciphering a diary of another person. And we all exist at the same time, making waves on each others lives. Unspoken but real in ways I cannot understand. Either way, there hasn’t been a single day in these past 19 days of reading this book where I wasn’t thinking about it. And honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, War