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A review by emilyhwilliams
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Spine cracked, pages annotated, coffee stained--key signs of a book well-loved.
In A Tale for the Time Being, follows two women, Ruth and Nao. Ruth is a novelist living with her husband on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest when she finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox wash up on the shore one day containing a purple inked diary and her world collides with Nao, a Japanese teenager who exists not only on the other side of the world been a completely different time. As Ruth slowly unfolds Nao's story, she becomes connected to this girl in ways that she could not fathom. The story not only explores the connections between these two women but also questions our understanding of time and the relationship between a reader and writer.
I’m unable to find words to describe how much I love this book. You know when you read a book and you can recognize that not only did the author create an intriguing story with multidimensional characters, but they also put a lot of work into the historical accuracy, difficult topics, AND there are little pieces of them as a human woven in throughout? And when you finish reading you immediately go look up the author to find out more about their life and how it led to this book? That was A Tale for the Time Being for me, I felt like because it seemed so evident to me that Ozeki poured her heart and soul into this writing I was able to give my whole heart to this book.
Bonus points for this being a total cat girl book.
In A Tale for the Time Being, follows two women, Ruth and Nao. Ruth is a novelist living with her husband on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest when she finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox wash up on the shore one day containing a purple inked diary and her world collides with Nao, a Japanese teenager who exists not only on the other side of the world been a completely different time. As Ruth slowly unfolds Nao's story, she becomes connected to this girl in ways that she could not fathom. The story not only explores the connections between these two women but also questions our understanding of time and the relationship between a reader and writer.
I’m unable to find words to describe how much I love this book. You know when you read a book and you can recognize that not only did the author create an intriguing story with multidimensional characters, but they also put a lot of work into the historical accuracy, difficult topics, AND there are little pieces of them as a human woven in throughout? And when you finish reading you immediately go look up the author to find out more about their life and how it led to this book? That was A Tale for the Time Being for me, I felt like because it seemed so evident to me that Ozeki poured her heart and soul into this writing I was able to give my whole heart to this book.
Bonus points for this being a total cat girl book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Vomit and War