2022 WP winner - The Book of Form and Emptiness

[Hugh, Active moderator]

The Book Of Form And Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

[Robert]

Honestly, I can see this one winning - a meta narrative which also doubles as a guide for life.

[David]

It’s very NSFP

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I thought at first that was a new Myers Briggs type

[Robert]

David wrote: "It’s very NSFP"

Saying that the chapters are a page long - is that acceptable?

[David]

I actually don't mind long books. The reviews are interesting. Most of the people I follow on GR give this 4 or 5 stars. But the people who don't like it really don't like it. Someone called it "maudlin" which doesn't bode well.

[But_i_thought_]

This was a disappointing read for me unfortunately - a far cry from A Tale for the Time Being. It felt like it was written for a very young audience. Benny Oh was unconvincing as a 14-year-old narrator. His perspective comes across as very dumbed down (he doesn't know the double meaning of "toast", for example, which is meant to be humorous?). I don't enjoy it when authors write children as effectively dumber versions of adults.

I did appreciate the book's underlying message of interconnectedness, and there were some beautiful passages which I took note of.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I really liked A Tale for Time Being - any book with quantum mechanics underlying it is a good thing and it was also memorable for me as the first question I asked live in one of the Southbank shortlist readings (and had a couple of nice chats with the author afterwards as a result)

I must admit I picked up this one a couple of times in bookshops to buy but the reviews (and the sentiment you mention in particular) had put me off and I decided to only get if it was prize listed

[Paul]

I don't remember A Tale for Time Being but seem to have given it 3 stars so must have read it. My daughter bought this one after Christmas but has been reading it in 5-10 page bursts.

[Suzanne]

The first 2/3rds of the book meandered a bit and while I could see a good book in there, it wasn’t til the last third that the book really took off for me. I adored that last third!

[Alwynne]

This was added to Netgalley UK again, earlier today, if anyone's looking for an ARC. It's the Canongate edition complete with a sticker pronouncing its inclusion on the longlist!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Hah this will be interesting - Canongate are the one that decline me ever since I gave one of their books a positive review but pointed out it was YA

[WndyJW]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Hah this will be interesting - Canongate are the one that decline me ever since I gave one of their books a positive review but pointed out it was YA"

You lout! How dare you point out that a YA book is a YA book!

I’ll wait and see if this makes the Shortlist.

[Cindy]

I loved A Tale for the Time Being and was quite eager to read this one, but it just didn't really hang together well-enough for me (although I agree with Suzanne that the last 1/3rd was much better than the first 2/3rds). I did think it was too long and some parts worked much better than others. I also thought that it read a bit too much like a YA novel.

[WndyJW]

I really liked A Tale for the Time Being, too. If you didn’t like this it makes me think I won’t either.

[Lark]

What does this novel have to do with the National Food Safety Board?

It wasn't my cup of tea. For me it was trying too hard to be entertaining to the point where I felt caught up in unnecessary trivia about the characters.

[David]

NSFP = Not Safe for Paul. As in it’s a long book.

[Tracy]

I finished this last night. I had many issues with this book- normally I love an unreliable narrator, but this was way out there for me.

It felt like the author was trying too hard. She’s an experienced author. Why try to cram so much into a book? And the ending felt forced.

That being said, I did feel committed to the characters. And I like the way she created an atmosphere that reflects the times it was describing.

[Ruben]

I just bought the audiobook for 3 pounds in an Audible sale. I remember enjoying a Tale for the Time Being....but reading your reactions now I wonder if I wasted my money...

[WndyJW]

I’m curious about this book because I just learned that Ozeki is a Zen priest and Form is emptiness, emptiness is form is the distillation of the Buddha’s teaching. That sentence is in the Heart Sutra which every school of Buddhism reveres. I want to see how she uses this foundational idea in a novel.

[Laura]

I love Ozeki - both My Year of Meats and A Tale for the Time Being were 5 star reads for me - but I thought this was horribly twee :(

[Jo]

Our A level Lit Society students have voted to read this together ahead of the shortlist announcement and discuss it over the next few weeks. Really proud to see them showing an interest in book awards and contemporary literature. Will be interesting to see what they think. They have already read Powers' 'Bewilderment'.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Wonderful. How did they find the Powers.

[Jo]

This is probably not the place for this discussion so I will say briefly, they really liked reading something they wouldn't have otherwise read. We had some really interesting discussions on the themes. They overall, didn't like the bits with the planet descriptions. We agreed, the ending, although terribly upsetting, was really suitable. They loved the comments on the Trump administration and really liked the Greta Thunberg vibes :) It must have convinced them that book award lists is a good place to go for expanding your reading repertoire as they didnt want to choose a bestseller to read next but something from a different list. I still believe, literature and travel = best way to teach empathy.

[But_i_thought_]

Tracy wrote: "It felt like the author was trying too hard. She’s an experienced author. Why try to cram so much into a book? And the ending felt forced."

Agreed. There were so many unnecessary scenes that could have been cut! Where was the editor?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Having finally persuaded Canongate to start giving me ARCs after the incident when I pointed out a previous novel billed as literary was - much as I enjoyed it - really a YA novel …. 200 pages into this and thinking I may be about to get barred again.

[Paul]

Did Canongate acknowledge you were on a banned list or did they just start granting your requests?

My Netgalley average must be 2.5 stars but I haven't been barred yet - not even for copyright breaches :-)

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I wrote to them before I requested this book and it seemed to work.

[Joy D]

I just finished this book the other day. While I liked the combination of themes and topics, perhaps it was overly ambitious? I agree that it would have been more impactful if it had been more focused and shorter.

[Paul]

What exactly did you say to Canongate????

Was it “wrong twin to ban” by any chance!

As I have just been refused by them for the first time for a book, which given it is a from-Korean novel is particularly galling.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

Yes. Soz.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

One of ze characters is driving me mad. Where was ze editor for ze book?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

It’s a theoretical question as I think it misses eligibility by a week but I think this might have been a strong Booker contender in 2022.

Automatic entry of course (although it would not have I think been available in time for 2021 automatic entry cut off)

The chair of the judges is famous for writing a book telling the history of the world through inanimate objects

Another judge wrote a book on the secret lives of clothes

And MJH seemed to really like it

https://amp.theguardian.com/books/202...

[David]

Could it be called in?

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

No it’s ineligible.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer]

I ended around 3.5* rounded up for this - some of my convoluted thoughts here

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ruben]

I am about halfway through, but - even though it reads easily enough - I am increasingly wondering what the point of this book is.

It is twee indeed and thus far nowhere near 'Time Being'. I have some sympathy for the mother and son, but nothing much is happening...I feel by now I should have been drawn in, but it hasn't happened. I am also allergic to self-help books.

All of this to ask: is it time for me to give up on this or will things improve? Thanks for any advice!

[LindaJ^]

I'm liking this a bit better than A Tale for the Time Being.

[David]

That’s encouraging, Linda. There haven’t been a lot of cheerleaders for this book so far.

[Joy D]

Ruben wrote: "I am about halfway through, but - even though it reads easily enough - I am increasingly wondering what the point of this book is. ..."

Personally, I think it is "about" a number of topics:
- the impermanence of things and the inability to obtain happiness by accumulating them
- how books and readers interact and how they are interpreted so differently
- Mental health, particularly how it is impacted by grief and loss, and the importance of social support networks.
- It contains philosophical elements of Zen Buddhism
- The stigma of homelessness
- Addiction

Even though I found all those themes, I did not think it was executed all that well. At times it seems to meander around, and I agree that it was difficult to get invested in the characters.

To answer your question, I do think it gets moderately better toward the end, bringing the themes together. Whether it is enough, I am not sure. I "liked" it but not enough to recommend it to others. I am a fan of A Tale for the Time Being and did not like this one as much.

[Paul]

I actually quite enjoyed this and it held my attention if not for all 550 pages, for more than 400 of them - I didn't really need the 'happily-ever-after' type neat wrapping up but it comes with the genre I guess.

But genre wise - this seems pitched at the YA market. An odd inclusion on the Women's Prize which is normally adult fiction. Feels one for kids who have graduated Tilly and the Bookwanderers and want to start on the more challenging YA journey (early stirrings of sexuality, self-harm and mental illness).

[Paul]

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "Hah this will be interesting - Canongate are the one that decline me ever since I gave one of their books a positive review but pointed out it was YA"

I am seeing a pattern here with Canongate - labelling YA books as adult novels and even trying to sneak them into adult prize lists.