A Tale for the Time Being in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Oct 20, 2015 Rincey rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars. I was totally in on this novel but the last 50ish pages or so made me knock it down half a star. But overall really good read

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Apr 11, 2013 Jeff Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, japanese-fiction

Ruth Ozeki has an East meets West tale comparing Japan and Canada, ancient philosophy and modern science, and the travails of a young girl with that of an older woman.

A Ziploc bag washes up on the shores of a remote Canadian island. In it contains the diary of a young girl from Japan intent on committing suicide. Ruth and Oliver, recent transplants to the island, read the diary to determine the girl's fate. They soon discover the consequences of a Japanese family that migrates from Japan to the Ruth Ozeki has an East meets West tale comparing Japan and Canada, ancient philosophy and modern science, and the travails of a young girl with that of an older woman.

A Ziploc bag washes up on the shores of a remote Canadian island. In it contains the diary of a young girl from Japan intent on committing suicide. Ruth and Oliver, recent transplants to the island, read the diary to determine the girl's fate. They soon discover the consequences of a Japanese family that migrates from Japan to the United States and back again. A darker side to modern Japanese culture is also revealed through bullying, suicide, and some kinky desires. Nao, the young girl, with the help of Proust and Buddhist philosophy finds her own superpower to combat these forces. She discovers the power of choice to either do good or evil.

The story is told from two perspectives; Nao, a Japanese middle school student and the author of the diary, and Ruth, the one who discovers the diary. While there is some good perspective from Ruth, Nao is by far the stronger aspect of the story. She is funny, charming, and wise beyond her years. Jiko, her 104 year Buddhist Nun great-grandmother gives Nao strength and the wisdom to persevere. There are insightful sections connecting old Buddhist philosophy with Proust. The playing of time with Proust's In Search of Lost Time, Time Regained, and the concept of a Time-Being (that you are both here and not here) fits perfectly in the dually told story. This is the best aspect of the book.

Ruth's story is much weaker and a little hollow. Her husband Oliver is very annoying and clueless at times. His character introduces the science aspect to the philosophical musings, but it feels a little ham-fisted. It's like the author has to point out how clever she is in making the connection. I think the reader could have figured out the problem with Nao's story without the histrionics from both characters.

Overall, this is a beautiful insightful story that has hints of Murakami. It shows a path on how to deal with modern life. There are times where we need to look towards ancient ways that still permeate our everyday existence.

Favorite Parts:
"It made me sad when I caught myself pretending that everybody out there in cyberspace cared about what I thought, when nobody really gives a shit. And when I multiplied that sad feeling by all the millions of people in their lonely little rooms, furiously writing and posting to their lonely little pages that nobody has time to read because they're all so busy writing and posting it kind of broke my heart." P. 26
"Does the half-life of information correlate with the decay of our attention? Is the Internet a kind of temporal gyre, sucking up stories, like geodrift into its orbit? How do we measure the half-life of its drift." P. 114
When you beat a drum, you create NOW, when silence becomes a sound so enormous and alive it feels like you're breathing in the clouds and the sky, and your heart is the rain and the thunder. P. 238
At one point in my life, I learned how to think. I used to know how to feel. In war, these lessons are best forgotten. P. 319
Forget the clock. It has no power over time, but words do... P. 323
"Both life and death manifest in every moment of existence. Our human body appears and disappears moment by moment, without cease, and this ceaseless arising and passing away is what we experience as time and being. They are not separate. They are one thing, and even in the fraction of a second, we have the opportunity to choose, and to turn the course of our action either toward the attainment of truth or away from it. Each instant is utterly critical to the whole world. P. 324
...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Donna rated it really liked it

Shelves: twisted-sisters, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 14, 2015 Emily added it

Shelves: couldntfinish

this left me completely cold, i found none of the "voices" believable. tried more than once ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tob-2014

Really, really good. Loved the dual storylines and the idea of time as both a physical construct and an unstoppable force.

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Oct 23, 2018 Jenny rated it it was amazing

This book is so hard to explain, but so enlightening and generous. I loved it.

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Nov 12, 2016 Rossie rated it really liked it

4.5 stars. This book was a bit of a slog at times...it took me almost a year to read as I kept putting it down in favor of more lively books. But it is very smart in the end & rather uplifting in spite of all the depression/suicide/assault/bullying.

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