Book Review: "A Tale For the Time Being"-Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is a masterclass in storytelling. Perfectly encapsulating the struggles of life and weaving so many plotlines together in the cleanest way possible.

Spoilers Ahead, Read at Y0ur Own Risk:

The tale is told through 2 main characters. Nao, a young, depressed Japanese Schoolgirl who is writing a diary documenting her life before she ends it, allowing the Diary to catch up with her in the end. The Diary is not only meant for us, however, as it lands in the hands of the second main character, Ruth. A retired author who lives on a remote island near Canada.

Much like this post you're reading right now, Nao's diary is an informal conversation addressed to whomever may find it and decide to read the contents. Documenting recent events and the affect her Great-Grandmother, Jiko, and her buddhist practices had on herself.

After leaving Sunnyvale, California, due to her dad losing his job at a tech firm, Nao and her parents fall into a state of depression, moving back to Japan. Her dad, so depressed due to the loss of his job, attempts suicide, and Nao, seeing the state at which her family has fallen to, decides that she will end her life too.

However, this never actually happens, as her dad takes her to spend the summer at Jiko's Buddhist temple in a remote forest. While there, Nao discovers her Supapowa thanks to Jiko's teachings and uses it to find strength in school, in which she is treated like an outcast, at one point even having her underwear stolen and put for sale on the internet, while also almost being raped.

Ruth, reading all of this documented in great detail by Nao, is determined to track down this family and make sure they're okay. In an interesting twist however, the diary in which Nao's life story is documented has 20 pages spare at the end, and an unfinished story waiting to be told. This leads Ruth to believe Nao died on her way back to Jiko, who is now dying at age 104 (A long running joke throughout the entire book is that Jiko has always been 104 as long as she could remember, her real age isn't certain). Despite this, Ruth falls asleep one night to find herself on a bench next to Nao's father, who's waiting for his "Suicide buddy" to come and find him so they can end their lives. Ruth tells Nao's dad about the situation and prevents him from commiting suicide, finding that when she woke up, the final 20 pages had been filled in.

Spoilers are over, you can come back now:

Anyway, that's all well and good, but how did it change my perspective on life? Well, I've been thinking about this for a while now and I've concluded it's 2 things:

• The Perspective the Book is told from
• The Story Being Told

The perspective the book takes helped me to understand how horrible, yet beautiful, life can be. Despite the horrible things Nao was put through, she manages to find strength in herself an keep on going, isn't that beautiful? This put me into a deep sense of self-reflection upon my own actions. If she can find the strength to keep going in her situation, why can't I? And honestly, as a 17 year old stepping into the Music Industry during times as volatile as these, it's a great help to know that there are others out there that keep going regardless of their situation, it makes me feel like I'm not alone.

The Story being Told also helped me appreciate life much more, too. Life isn't permanent and the book makes that a core theme throughout. I found a strange comfort in the realisation that nothing, not even the mountains, are permanent. It was a big eye-opener to realise that, even if it seems impossible, I might be the last person ever to sit on a hill and look out at the countryside, because there's always the possibility of something taking it away from us the very next day. The book helped me realise that I shouldn't dwell on the past, but enjoy the present and look forward to the future, though make sure I don't get the 2 mixed up.

Letter from the Author:

Hey, thanks for reading this far, or if you didn't read the spoilers, thank you for reading the perspective shift I experienced. This is my first story, thought I'd do a review of a book I fell in love with from the moment I turned the first page. I'll probably do a series of these, that way you guys can stay up to date with the books I'm reading, and who knows, maybe you'll find some new favourites within the list.

As I mentioned, I'm a 17 year old LoFi Producer based in the South of England. I'm just 8 months away from embarking on my journey through University, in which I'll definitely be reading more books and learning much more about Music Production and their processes, which I'll be sure to write about here too.

With that being said, I hope you enjoyed this read, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next one.

Thanks for Reading, Ryan.