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A review by katykelly
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
4.0
Shortlisted for the Man Booker, this is a moving tale of a discovered diary.
Ruth, a writer, discovers a diary whilst walking on the beach. Hidden between the French covers of Proust is the diary of Nao, a Japanese teenager, writing to an unknown reader, telling her story and her plan to commit suicide. We move back and forth between Ruth and her husband reading the diary and discussing it, trying to delve into the true history of the family it discusses, and Nao herself, telling her story.
I must say, I found the diary sections much more interesting than Ruth's story. I could picture her life, her family (especially her wonderful great-grandmother) and wanted to know still more. The story seemed to slow down for me each time the diary pages were closed. I did enjoy Ruth researching Nao and her father, and the novelty of characters in a book talking about characters in the diary within the book. Clever.
It's quite sad and has a 'grey' feel to it, you won't finish and feel uplifted, but it does take you on a journey around the world and gives some insights into modern life in Japan that I enjoyed.
Ruth, a writer, discovers a diary whilst walking on the beach. Hidden between the French covers of Proust is the diary of Nao, a Japanese teenager, writing to an unknown reader, telling her story and her plan to commit suicide. We move back and forth between Ruth and her husband reading the diary and discussing it, trying to delve into the true history of the family it discusses, and Nao herself, telling her story.
I must say, I found the diary sections much more interesting than Ruth's story. I could picture her life, her family (especially her wonderful great-grandmother) and wanted to know still more. The story seemed to slow down for me each time the diary pages were closed. I did enjoy Ruth researching Nao and her father, and the novelty of characters in a book talking about characters in the diary within the book. Clever.
It's quite sad and has a 'grey' feel to it, you won't finish and feel uplifted, but it does take you on a journey around the world and gives some insights into modern life in Japan that I enjoyed.