A Tale for the Time Being- Ruth Ozeki
I'm going to admit it: My love of Murakami encouraged me to buy this book. I actually picked it up in WH Smith's and then put it back on the shelf. I couldn't stop thinking about it though, so I bought it a couple of days later. I'm so glad I did!
A Tale for the Time Being tells the story of Ruth, a woman living on a sleepy Canadian island, who discovers the diary of a Japanese girl that has washed up on the island's shore. As Ruth reads Nao's diary, discovering the traumatic life of a teenager dealing with displacement, bullying and a suicidal father, she begins to see parallels in their lives and becomes fully entwined in Nao's life, losing all understanding of time as a linear concept.
At first, I found Ruth's story an unwelcome interruption inbetween extracts of Nao's colloquial writing. Nao is a very likeable narrator- She is smart and personable throughout, and you grow to care for her the way that Ruth does. However, as Ruth begins to delve deeper into Nao's life, I began to will her on. I wanted to know everything about Nao's past and present, and I couldn't read the book fast enough to find out what happens to her.
The book held my attention throughout and, if anything, actually became more engaging as it went on. At over 400 pages, it's not a short book, but there was never any sense of filler or unnecessary narrative. Every page was significant and drew me in entirely.
It's one of the best books I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it.
Buy A Tale for the Time Being here
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I have this on my bookshelf waiting to be read, I might push it further up the list on the basis of this (I'm also a big Murakami fan, Norweigan Wood in its original two book green and red format is possibly one of my top 10 favourite books).
ReplyDeleteI loved Norwegian Wood!
DeleteI want to read this so much! I've asked Santa to bring me it for Christmas so fingers crossed! :) xx
ReplyDeleteCome on, Santa! You know what to do!
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