So I’ve read just four of the T.O.B. books so far (Read my previous post for some background). I enjoyed Jhumpa Lahari’s The Lowlands but thought The Namesake was better (I may be alone in that). Kiese Laymon’s Long Division was challenging and hilarious. I want to re-read it and think about it some more. Phillip Meyer’s The Son was so good, so EPIC, I’m going to have to write about it next. But first, I want to consider A Tale for the Time Being, Ruth Ozeki’s brilliant novel of two interwoven tales of women searching for peace and purpose.
The story begins with Nao, a sixteen-year-old Japanese girl introducing herself to an unknown reader, an unknown “you.” Is she writing to me? Is it a general “you?” The answer comes in the next chapter when we meet Ruth, a writer who has moved with her recently-convalesced (and peculiar and interesting) husband. One day, while walking on the beach near her house, Ruth finds a package which contains, among other items, Nao’s diary. Ruth decides to read the diary at the same rate Nao wrote it (which is maybe a bit of authorial chicanery. At a couple of points Nao’s story becomes very compelling and very suspenseful; the idea that Ruth would NOT read ahead at those points seems strange).
While it may be odd for Ruth to not blitz through the diary, the arrangement does help create a lot of suspense for the reader. You see, Ruth believes that the diary has washed up on her beach as a result of the tsunami that hit Japan in March of 2011. Were Nao and her family victims of the disaster? As we read (and Ruth reads) Nao’s account of her family, her trouble at school, and her relationship with her great-grandmother (a Buddhist nun named Riko) we become caught up in Nao’s future, which is, of course Ruth’s present and our present. Where is Nao now? Why can’t Ruth find any record of her or her family online? Why is there a kamikaze pilot’s watch tucked in the flotsam along with the book?The suspense is tremendous and at points I wanted to yell at Ruth: Just read the ending already! Is Nao OK? Just finish it!
This book is suspenseful, a bit magical, and very spiritual. In my favorite part, Nao goes to stay with her very Zen, very cool 104 year old great grandma Riko for a summer. Her grandma lives in and takes care of a secluded mountain-top temple which is, of course, the perfect place for Nao to learn how to deal with her overwhelming school and family problems. The temple is described so beautifully, and Riko is portrayed so lovingly, that once you are done reading this part of the book you will want to convert to Buddhism and travel to Japan. At least for the summer. At least I did.
I’m only half joking, by the way. One of the reasons we read at all is to find our place in the world. What is our purpose? What is our meaning? The characters in the book are all seeking as well. Nao is searching, her parents are struggling, Ruth is trying to find her own way and her own place …. Only Jiko has her own place and her own peace, it seems. Could this be because she has taken the vows of a bosatsu, a Buddhist saint, someone who is committed to helping all others become enlightened before she herself does? Is her peacefulness a result of her discovery of her purpose? And is this something we can all accomplish?
I loved this book. I hope it advances at least a few rounds in the Tournament of Books so that even more people will hear about it, pick it up and enjoy it!
