Reviews tagging 'War'

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

129 reviews

doofusphd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

Maybe I should have read this before <i> The Book of Form and Emptiness </i> which comes across as a more tightly woven tale. That being said, Ozeki guides the reader deep into a magical realist novel and allows us to flounder in there just as her characters do. There are some warm moments, but it's mostly on the darker side of being a human, and the peace one can find with a zen outlook. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: War and Sexual content

oxidized_copper's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

honestly it really took 220 pages to get going and it wasn’t until the last 15 pages that it really came together but it was worth the wait and patience. 
*check content warnings for sure

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape

audreytallulah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Death, Animal cruelty, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Minor: Suicide, Sexism, Miscarriage, Fatphobia, Dementia, Body horror, and Animal cruelty

miasreadingcorner's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Suicide, and Rape

horationelson's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Dementia, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, and Death of parent

roseblossom999's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Death, Body shaming, Body horror, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Rape, Mental illness, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Violence

kbhenrickson's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

I found this book very frustrating. I loved some of it - the reflections on life, the parts with Nao’s great-grandmother, the initial pairing of the two stories, Nao’s diary and Ruth’s life in British Columbia when she finds the diary on the beach. I found Nao’s parts particularly compelling - some of Ruth’s parts felt like they were there mostly as a vehicle for inserting historical and scientific information.

On the other hand, there is a lot of

Spoiler

terrible abuse - horrific bullying and violence that is treated as normal, suicide and suicide attempts

that was hard to read. And then, though most of the book is a realistic story with a bit of spirituality, there is

Spoiler

an insertion of sci-fi / fantasy at the end that feels like it’s just there as a way to conclude the story but doesn’t really fit. I wish the author had kept the story realistic with a touch of otherworldly the whole way through.

The audiobook is narrated by the author, who does a great job. At the end, she points out that there are footnotes in the printed text that were not included in the audiobook as well as some illustrations, though I don’t think I’ll seek those out at this point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Physical abuse

Moderate: War, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Sexual assault

kelseyraerussell's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful mysterious 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

This is one of the best books I've read. Every page is excellent. There are so many clever details. The prose is beautiful. The book somehow manages to be scientific, mythological, philosophical, otherworldly, funny, tragic, hopeful, sad, happy. It's just good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, and War

lambclown's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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: Trafficking, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, War, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Animal death and Rape

Minor: Cancer and Chronic illness

elmei's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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? Yes

4.25

This would be such a good book club book to discuss because honestly I’m too dumb on my own to process the depth of it all. You can tell there was a lot of thought put into the writing with plenty of layers, symbolism, themes—to the point where after listening to the audiobook (which was recorded with the author’s voice — and she did a fantastic job), I need to buy a physical copy to go back and highlight or underline things to fully grasp it. It had an ambitious main theme tying back to the fundamentals of Zen Buddhism, which were sprinkled throughout the novel but not in an over the top obvious way, which is why I felt it so challenging. It is essentially a book divided into three perspectives: Nao, a funny yet suicidal 16 year old American-Japanese girl, Ruth self-inserted as herself, a middle-aged Japanese-American struggling writer feeling stagnant in a small rural Pacific Northwest town after living in NYC in her previous life, and (through his letters) Haruki #1,  Nao’s great uncle who was a former graduate student turned co-opted Kamikaze fighter during WWII. One interesting motif I did notice was the (very Japanese) utilization of double meaning behind words, and the concept of a double life: with Nao’s name, the most obvious being the ironic tie between her name and the English word “now.” Followed with Nao’s explanation of a “time-being” and the phrase “for the time being.” With the Buddhist notion of “non-self” tied in with the acts of selfless compassion that the characters perform juxtaposed with the prominent “selfish” suicidality of Nao and her father, both desiring to be “not have a self” anymore. With Ruth’s and Nao’s desire to go back to their previous lives in different places and times. With Nao’s parents putting on a show or “fake life” that refuses to acknowledge her father’s mental health issues to her. With Nao’s own double life and alienation from her parents, outside of the home that they are unaware of, nor can they even begin to fully understand. With Hiroki’s letters of which he has to keep 2 versions: a fake, politically acceptable version and the true version written to his mother. With Hiroki #1 and Hiroki #2 living with essentially opposite life experiences: one wanting to commit suicide and the other not. With the quantum magical realism explained at the end. Truely a cool and sensible story telling technique to convey Buddhist principles. While ultimately things may appear to be different, they are (as old Jiko says) the same, they are one. Nit picking some things: I didn’t really enjoy the information/magical realism dump at the end

Spoiler

which I think was attempted to be ameliorated by Ruth’s husband mansplaining facts at her throughout the duration of the Ruth plot line so it wouldn’t seem so out of place when it did come, which somewhat worked but I wish there was more of a similar sprinkling of the magic and/or quantum theory earlier on, or at least more than once, so it didn’t feel so overwhelming and we could digest it more.

While maybe not a crowd pleasing book with its exceptionally dark Nao and Hiroki storyline, and sometimes stagnant-feeling Ruth plot line—which I think is intentional and I personally did not mind—I found this book hopeful and thought provoking at least pending a deep dive later on, which makes its goal as a piece of literature more than worth the suffering it caused me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Dementia, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Bullying, Violence, Trafficking, and War