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A review by sourcucumbers
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is the most unique concept for a book I have ever read. I never expected the book itself to be a character and to have such profound thoughts. I really liked how Ozeki was able to incorporate some of her buddhism in this work, and it was a really sad but eventually heartwarming read.
At the bare bones, this book is a conversation between Benny (our protagonist) and the Book (who is a character). Benny is dealing with a lot for a kid, from his dead dad to hearing the thoughts of inanimate objects. He's really just trying to live life, but there are so many obstacles that stop him from doing so. The book switches perspectives from Benny and the Book, and it was never hard to follow which is which and who is who.
I really liked how this book handles the conversation around PTSD and triggers etc. I can tell that Ruth Ozeki did a lot of research prior. Although I think this book is great, there were aspects of it that really broke me out of the immersion.
Firstly, I did not like the conversation about Annabelle and her weight gain. From my understanding, she's always had weight issues, and because of Kenji's death, she really "put on weight" but overall, it seemed like this would be the least of her worry with Benny's issues and work stuff. I don't know, it seemed like the book had too much emphasis on this when it could've just been, not as prevalent. I'm just tired of seeing books that use weight gain as a negative outcome or consequence, and how it was written, Annabelle being a "slob" and a hoarder really plays into fat stereotypes.
Secondly, Aleph (Alice) is Benny's manic pixie dream girl, and her only characterization was to drive his plot forward. I can't believe that Cory (the librarian) had much better characterization and she was hardly in the book at all. I wish to know more about Aleph and I get that this is Benny's story, but there were other ways to handle her that didn't base her entire character solely on being the object of Benny's affection.
Lastly, the "protest" (if you can even call it that) scene with Benny was a hot mess altogether. It was so unrealistic and was badly written, as if it was recounted by someone who never attended a protest and have only written an idealized version of it. This really broke the immersion for me and is the reason why this book is not 5 stars.
At the bare bones, this book is a conversation between Benny (our protagonist) and the Book (who is a character). Benny is dealing with a lot for a kid, from his dead dad to hearing the thoughts of inanimate objects. He's really just trying to live life, but there are so many obstacles that stop him from doing so. The book switches perspectives from Benny and the Book, and it was never hard to follow which is which and who is who.
Firstly, I did not like the conversation about Annabelle and her weight gain. From my understanding, she's always had weight issues, and because of Kenji's death, she really "put on weight" but overall, it seemed like this would be the least of her worry with Benny's issues and work stuff. I don't know, it seemed like the book had too much emphasis on this when it could've just been, not as prevalent. I'm just tired of seeing books that use weight gain as a negative outcome or consequence, and how it was written, Annabelle being a "slob" and a hoarder really plays into fat stereotypes.
Secondly, Aleph (Alice) is Benny's manic pixie dream girl, and her only characterization was to drive his plot forward. I can't believe that Cory (the librarian) had much better characterization and she was hardly in the book at all. I wish to know more about Aleph and I get that this is Benny's story, but there were other ways to handle her that didn't base her entire character solely on being the object of Benny's affection.
Lastly, the "protest" (if you can even call it that) scene with Benny was a hot mess altogether. It was so unrealistic and was badly written, as if it was recounted by someone who never attended a protest and have only written an idealized version of it. This really broke the immersion for me and is the reason why this book is not 5 stars.