A Tale for the Time Being - Award-Winning Novel by Ruth Ozeki | ALA Notable Books for Adults | Literary Fiction for Book Clubs & Thoughtful Readers

Time has come today...and so it was and so it will be. Ruth Ozeki's imaginative and delightful book has easily taken its place as one of my very favorite books of the year.The narrative interweaves two stories: that of teenage Nao, whose family turn-of-fortunes has forced her to return from Silicon Valley to a cramped Tokyo apartment and an unforgiving school setting where she is bullied and tortured by classmates. Gradually sinking into depression, Nao's only respite is a summer stay with her great-grandmother Jiko, a Zen Buddhist who encourages her to develop her own "supapawa" (superpower). Her father's suffering is equally pronounced yet more hidden, as his feeble attempts at suicide rock her world.The other narrative is from Ruth; she and her husband Oliver live in an ecologically beautiful and isolated islet called Desolation Sound and one day, she comes across Nao's Hello Kitty lunchbox with her diary and other mementos...swept onto shore. Ruth and Oliver not so coincidentally happen to possess the same names as the author and her real-life husband.As the teenager's world increasingly impinges on Ruth's, the author delves into the real meaning of time and the thin barrier of separation that peels away as we get to know each other. How much agency do we have over another person's narrative? How do we connect with that shining single moment that we need to establish our human will and attain truth?In the words of Nao's uncle, a World War II kamikaze pilot, "Both life and earth manifest in every moment of existence. Our human body appears and disappears moment by moment, without cease, and this ceaseless arising and passing away is what we experience as time and being. They are not separate."Ultimately, the theme of this book is the life force of imagination and creation: how we weave mythical stories and authentic stories, how we create stories about others, how we eventually - if we concentrate - get to own our own stories, and how we put those stories to paper. If this all sounds too "heavy", it's not. The voice of Nao is that of a genuine irreverent teenager; it's fresh, authentic, and delightful. And Ruth and Oliver - half-created, half-real - are engaging and searching characters/personages who are as large as life itself.I loved this book - how it introduces philosophical ideas in a very accessible way, how it combines insight and some humor with inventiveness, memory and myth and how ultimately it focuses on our shared humanity. It's a 6-star for me.