Reviews tagging 'War'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

182 reviews

spec_tacles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I know that I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. The themes explored here are ones that I’m personally invested in, and it feels like the quintessential story about time. I do feel there could have been very slight improvements to Ruth’s sections and to the end to enhance my investment in her character, but they would be minor changes. Overall, I think this book is really something special. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ghilimei's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and War

kaydot's review

challenging dark funny inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and War

tofudoom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War

bronteide's review against another edition

inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.75

Albeit I'm not really keen on Eastern philosophy/religion, I found this book really interesting. I loved both Nao's and Ruth's chapters, and Haruki's diary is a cherry on the top. I also really liked how the author explains the philosophical topics from the point of view of a teenage girl. This book also made me learn a lot more about the Japanese culture and about immigrants's struggles in Japanese society. Interestingly, reading about life in the rural Canada was just as captivating as reading about Japan, So, even though this book isn't completely my cup of tea, I still really appreciated it.

Jiko's lifestory is just so amazing! Being a feminist, burying a son, becoming a monk and managing to let go of all this grieve somehow, seeing the world as a good place! Such a role model.

Favourite quotes:

It made me sad when I caught myself pretending  that everybody out there in the cyberspace cared about what I thought, when really nobody 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.

Patience was part of his nature, and he accepted his lot as a short-lived mammal, scurrying in and out amid the roots of the giants.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: War

jessiedoodah's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Alcoholism and Pedophilia

szuum's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, and Dementia

bookz4lif3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This novel blew me away. Ruth Ozeki does a beautiful job with imagery, and I often felt as if I could see myself in the midst of the story. It’s so tragic and heart wrenching but also so sweet and fulfilling at the same time. I thought the ending was perfect, and I’m usually so picky about endings. This was such a worthwhile read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: War

vitasf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and War

_ge_gardner's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so striking. It was intimate, devastating, and hopeful, I was often crying while reading this and I wondered why do we read things that move us so much, I thought maybe it was a mistake to keep reading, especially I thought it might be a mistake to keep reading while feeling low and maybe I should have at times. Nonetheless, I kept reading.

I am so intrigued by the Zen Buddhist insight aswell as the quantum physics, both of which weave through. Questions of morality, and doing good, being anarchist when unseen were familiar and emotional.

i found the bathroom scene as well as some of the ‘dates’/underage sexwork too much for me. I am putting this down to my own unwillingness to expose myself to that rather than a flaw of the book

take content warnings (sexual violence, hazing, suicidality of this book seriously as the narrator is graphic. 

It is often about suicide, but it is also about the tenderness of loving family members, conscience and responsibility, the vulnerability of acceptance, and the ultimate unknowability of the flip-side of the coin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and War