Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - A Tale for the Time Being

This was such a good book to read during our trip to Japan! There were so many small elements about modern Japanese culture in this book that came up or I noticed in person during our trip, like the maid cafes, family marts, and vending machines.

The narrator was the author, and she did such an amazing job with these dual narrators in the story, especially considering one was a child/teenager.

The book was also great enough to me that I know need a physical copy so I can reread it in the future and make better notes of the parts that really hit me hard--and there's a lot of them. Nao and Ruth's characters are great, especially together even though they never technically meet (I love the ending by the way). Ozeki flawlessly weaved these stories together even though they never officially crossed paths. I also loved Nao's father and their relationship and his struggles. I know mental health isn't something that community talks about much at all, so I think it's amazing that this book does talk about it, even if it is painful to read. I love the way this book talks about time and life and what we choose to do with the two. Now I really want to read Nao's book about her grandmother!

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soleilnigro's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I thought the idea for this story was really interesting and i really liked all of the characters, but it just dragged out a lot for me. I think if you really like slow paced philosophy books then this was really great and well written, but as someone that usually can't get into slow books this was difficult to finish and I did have to skip a lot of pages. objectively I think this book was really good, but not for me personally.

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kamikakushi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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seethinglloron's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

My partner read this for a class and recommended it to me, and she has very smart things to say about this novel like

how Ozeki uses quantum theory to challenge how we, as readers, understand novels as an art form of many worlds, how Ozeki recontextualizes folks who have Alzheimer's' and their experiences by putting us in Ruth's (the character's) shoes, how Ozeki connects Japanese generational ennui and Buddhist philosophy to WW2 patriotism and that suicide is a through-line in Japanese sociopolitical history,

but what I have to say about this novel is thus:
Oh boy! I cried my eyes out in the last third, and the epilogue just about killed me. It's good. Nao's story hurts to read, and what stops me from making this a 5 is that Ruth and Oliver's story never grabbed me like Nao's. I found myself wanting to get through their story ASAP to get back to Nao. I didn't get attached to them, and their relationship and their stories... just didn't land for me.
Great book! You should read it.

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