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A review by mairispaceship
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
5.0
Great is the Matter of Birth and Death.
Life is transient. Time will not wait.
Wake up! Wake up!
Do not waste a moment!
The Book of Form and Emptiness was a slow burn. I picked it up hot off the press in hardback but tried and failed to read it again and again over the next 2 years.
I kept seeing it in bookshops every time I went in. In hardback first. Then in paperback. Then occasionally discounted. It always caught my eye and I kept thinking "ah yes, I need to read this". Eventually the book looked so conspicuous on my to read shelf I couldnt wait a second longer, so I grabbed it and started reading.
In a way, like the books in the story gently guiding the characters and the reader to their conclusion, I no longer felt bad about leaving it so long or buying the hardback when I should have waited for a paperback. Because like the things that happened in this book, my reading of the book at this exact time and place was perfectly as it was all intended. This specific book was always meant to be mine. It was printed just for me.
If that sounds cryptic... it is! I'm trying not to give away too much of what the book is about. But essentially the book is about books.
What would books say if they had a voice? What is a bound and unbound voice? And what does Marie Kondo have to do with it all? Pick a copy out to find out. Or maybe the copy will pick you out.
Life is transient. Time will not wait.
Wake up! Wake up!
Do not waste a moment!
The Book of Form and Emptiness was a slow burn. I picked it up hot off the press in hardback but tried and failed to read it again and again over the next 2 years.
I kept seeing it in bookshops every time I went in. In hardback first. Then in paperback. Then occasionally discounted. It always caught my eye and I kept thinking "ah yes, I need to read this". Eventually the book looked so conspicuous on my to read shelf I couldnt wait a second longer, so I grabbed it and started reading.
In a way, like the books in the story gently guiding the characters and the reader to their conclusion, I no longer felt bad about leaving it so long or buying the hardback when I should have waited for a paperback. Because like the things that happened in this book, my reading of the book at this exact time and place was perfectly as it was all intended. This specific book was always meant to be mine. It was printed just for me.
If that sounds cryptic... it is! I'm trying not to give away too much of what the book is about. But essentially the book is about books.
What would books say if they had a voice? What is a bound and unbound voice? And what does Marie Kondo have to do with it all? Pick a copy out to find out. Or maybe the copy will pick you out.