A review by _ge_gardner
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings