Reviews

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

yaych0's review against another edition

5.0

literally changed my life

beaormgyu's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

xtinaji's review against another edition

4.0

I had planned to give this book 3 stars based on what it is on the surface level, which is an interesting story but with jarring tone shifts and increasingly unbelievable/confusing circumstances. However, I ultimately chose to give A Tale for the Time Being 4 stars in that the experience of reading it was undeniably thought provoking and life changing for me. This book came at the right time for where I am in my life, and it made me feel as if I were learning about life as Nao/Ruth was. It was a personally gratifying experience every time I picked the book up. The book was enigmatic in its entirety; Nao's parts were compelling and tragic while Ruth's were a necessary quiet & monotonous break in contrast. I would recommend this book to people who like Murakami's magical realism or to people that simply want to become privy to a different perspective (Nao's exposure to both Western ideologies & that of Japan's makes for some interesting observations on their contrasting perspectives to life & death).

Who knows, maybe further rumination over the book will make me knock the rating down, but for now, I give this book 5 stars because I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tale for the time being ;)

Edit (1/18/24): yeah i knocked it down to 4 stars LOL

bwluvs2read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

tinysaturn's review against another edition

4.0

Mam problem czy dać tej książce 4 czy też 5 gwiazdek, więc zatrzymam się na 4.5
Historia Nao jest naprawdę cudowna, jej problemy, ale w sumie nie tylko jej, bo także jej ojca czy dalszych przodków, są przedstawione w sposób, w jaki sama Nao je rozumie, dzięki czemu trochę łatwiej jest to zrobić też czytelnikowi. Ruth jest ogromnie zainteresowana dziewczynką i bardzo podobały mi się wszelkie momenty, gdzie próbuje doszukać się informacji o Nao i jej rodzinie. Nie będę tu wrzucać spoilerów, ale ogólnie rzecz biorąc, ten rok zapowiada się naprawdę dobrze jeśli chodzi o jakość książek, które jak na razie przeczytałam. Jedyne, co średnio mi się podobało, to późniejsze sny Ruth, bo o ile ich filozoficzne tematy były bardzo ciekawe, to sam motyw "zniknięcia" pewnej rzeczy był już dla mnie trochę zbyt dziwny. Mimo to, książka jest świetna!

tealdavis's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The same questionable magic of other works by Ruth Ozeki. Loved the perspective of our WWII kamikaze pilot. Loved the weird rules of the book. Didn’t feel as connected to the characters as the book of form and emptiness. Solid read

leonrascal's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

_nomadic_'s review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

bug_babe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

wolfinbluevan's review against another edition

4.25

Unlike the other Ozeki book I've read, which I loved the start of but grew a little disenchanted by, this one really grew on me. Found the teenage voice of the diary a little annoying at first but got used to it. loved all the parallels between the lives of Nao, Ruth, Haruki 1 and 2, and even my life so it felt like Ruth was writing straight to me as a time being too. Embarrassingly, as I write this I've only just clocked Ruth the character is named after Ruth the author, even though as I was reading I thought she must be a self-insertion for Ozeki. A few things said in the book are direct quotes of thoughts I've had, almost a little creepy. Read this at possibly the perfect time.