A review by rey_reads
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

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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