Carla Loise
asked:
Hi I am still confuse how the words are lost and how Ruth intervene to their life through her dreams and changes the ending? Is it some sort of magic? or what? If it happened a long time ago it is probably done by the time Ruth had the diary. Is it because of the "time being concept" that they met in another world and another time? I dont know! Someone please answer :)
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A Tale for the Time Being,
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Npldirector
I really disliked this part of the book, I think it ruined an otherwise excellent story of real human experiences. And you are totally correct, it doesn't really make any sense. I wish the author had just let Ruth discover the end of Nao's story without introducing that nonsense.
Lindsey
Watch the Youtube interview with Ruth Ozeki about this book. Cheat I know but she explains how she wanted the book to be understood.
John Dawson
At one level, the "magic" stuff is all rather confusing; the reference to quantum theories is fanciful, at best. But I think that's all missing the point. My interpretation is that while the text of a book - or diary - is "fixed", each reader's experience is different i.e. each reader interprets the text in their own way, and not necessarily in the same way all the time. That's the power of the written word; that's why novels are so interesting, to read and to talk about.
Joann
In her appendices, Ozeki often refers to quantum physics as a possible insight into answering your question about time/being/space and how these two characters might communicate and reach one another in parallel universes. Interesting.
Steve Pendray
When I read it this bit, I assumed that Ruth was suffering from dementia, just like her Mum. Seems I got hold of the wrong end of the stick!
Sara
I'm not quite sure myself, but I think it was all just Ruth getting too caught up in Nao's life. Oliver told her later on that the word's never disappeared and it was all just her imagination. She had nothing to do with the fate of the characters and it was just her mind's way of dealing with that, by making her feel as though she helped
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