A review by islaybooks
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
4.0
This book definitely took me a while to get into to, over 500 pages long and the style of writing did make it quite dense and difficult to read.
It follows the difficulties of the Oh family, who suffer a tragedy as the father is hit by a chicken truck while high and it killed. Benny Oh, the son, starts hearing voices from inanimate objects and is subsequently put into a psychiatric unit as he derails due to constantly hearing these voices. In parallel, we follow the story of his mother Annabelle. She struggles in the aftermath of her husbands death and faces difficulties regarding unemployment, eviction, her own health, as well as trying to support her son while he faces his own struggles.
Benny finds some sort of peace at the public Library, with an unlikely group of friends (a girl from the hospital and her mentor, a homeless amputee poet) while Annabelle finds some kind of support from a Japanese Monk who she relates to her own husband. The story is difficult, yet heartwarming and we see Ozeki discuss a range of relevant topics including race, mental illness, religion and substance abuse.
If I'm honest, it took me a while to really get into this. At about 50% of the book though, I was hooked. The wellbeing of the family really got under my skin, and I found myself hoping that they would be okay in the end. I got annoyed at mother and son for their treatment of themselves and others, and wanted to cry while learning about their suffering. The narrative of this book was unlike anything I have read before. The majority of the narrative being done by "the book", but Benny openly converses with this narrator every couple of chapters. This intriguing way of breaking the fourth wall allowed us to learn more information about Benny, which we may not have learned without this dialogue.
Overall, a unique book which tackles a lot of different issues through a seemingly 'normal' family with a lot more going on than first meets the eye. Four stars.
It follows the difficulties of the Oh family, who suffer a tragedy as the father is hit by a chicken truck while high and it killed. Benny Oh, the son, starts hearing voices from inanimate objects and is subsequently put into a psychiatric unit as he derails due to constantly hearing these voices. In parallel, we follow the story of his mother Annabelle. She struggles in the aftermath of her husbands death and faces difficulties regarding unemployment, eviction, her own health, as well as trying to support her son while he faces his own struggles.
Benny finds some sort of peace at the public Library, with an unlikely group of friends (a girl from the hospital and her mentor, a homeless amputee poet) while Annabelle finds some kind of support from a Japanese Monk who she relates to her own husband. The story is difficult, yet heartwarming and we see Ozeki discuss a range of relevant topics including race, mental illness, religion and substance abuse.
If I'm honest, it took me a while to really get into this. At about 50% of the book though, I was hooked. The wellbeing of the family really got under my skin, and I found myself hoping that they would be okay in the end. I got annoyed at mother and son for their treatment of themselves and others, and wanted to cry while learning about their suffering. The narrative of this book was unlike anything I have read before. The majority of the narrative being done by "the book", but Benny openly converses with this narrator every couple of chapters. This intriguing way of breaking the fourth wall allowed us to learn more information about Benny, which we may not have learned without this dialogue.
Overall, a unique book which tackles a lot of different issues through a seemingly 'normal' family with a lot more going on than first meets the eye. Four stars.