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A Tale for the Time Being

by Ruth Ozeki
A Tale for the Time Being

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780143124870
ISBN10: 0143124870



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From Powells.com

25 Books to Read Before You Die: Pacific Northwest Edition

A consummate selection of books written by Pacific Northwest authors.


Reading With APANO

Book Recommendations for Asian Pacific Heritage Month


Staff Pick

A Tale for the Time Being is a hard book to describe. First of all, it’s two stories in one — the story of Ruth Ozeki (the character, who may or may not also be Ruth Ozeki, the author), a writer living on a Pacific Northwest island where a diary from Japan washes up on the beach, and Nao, the teenaged Japanese journal writer whose story Ruth gets caught up in. But it’s so much more than that — it’s also the story of Nao’s family, Ruth’s husband, the flora and fauna of the PNW, and the cultural complications of modern Tokyo. It’s primarily an exploration of time that also touches on topics like Zen Buddhism, quantum physics, teen bullying, war, suicide, what it means to be human, and many other themes. Ozeki manages to pull it all together in a way that reads beautifully, provokes thought, and has a real impact. I loved the characters, the settings, and the philosophical themes — my only quibble is that I wish the book was longer. I didn’t want it to end. Recommended By Leah C., Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

A brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki, shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.”

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there's only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who's lived more than a century. A diary is Nao's only solace and will touch lives in ways she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox — possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

Full of Ozeki's signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time Being is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

Review

“An exquisite novel: funny, tragic, hard-edged and ethereal at once.” David Ulin, Los Angeles Times

Review

“A tantalizing narration that brandishes mysteries to be solved and ideas to be explored....Ozeki's profound affection for her characters makes A Tale for the Time Being as emotionally engaging as it is intellectually provocative.” The Washington Post

Review

“A delightful yet sometimes harrowing novel.” The New York Times Book Review

Review

“Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Nao Yasutani's voice is the heart and soul of this very satisfying book....The contemporary Japanese style and use of magical realism are reminiscent of author Haruki Murakami.” USA Today

Review

“A terrific novel full of breakthroughs both personal and literary....A dazzling and humorous work of literary origami....Nao's voice — funny, profane and deep — is stirring and unforgettable.” The Seattle Times

Review

“As Ozeki explores the ties between reader and writer, she offers a lesson in redemption that reinforces the pricelessness of the here and now.” Elle

Review

“Magnificent....The novel's seamless web of language, metaphor, and meaning can't be disentangled from its powerful emotional impact....A masterpiece, pure and simple.” Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Review

“An intriguing, even beautiful narrative remarkable for its unusual but attentively structured plot....We go from one story line to the other, back and forth across the Pacific, but the reader never loses place or interest.” Booklist (Starred Review)

Review

“Ozeki's absorbing novel is an extended meditation on writing, time, and people in time....This tale from Ozeki, a Zen Buddhist priest, is sure to please anyone who values a good story broadened with intellectual vigor.” Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest. She is the award-winning author of three novels, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Her critically acclaimed independent films, including Halving the Bones, have been screened at Sundance and aired on PBS. She is affiliated with the Brooklyn Zen Center and the Everyday Zen Foundation. She lives in British Columbia and New York City.

Visit www.ruthozeki.com and follow @ozekiland on Twitter.


Powell's Books on PowellsBooks.Blog

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and this year we’re fortunate to be partnering with APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon) to share an APAHM reading list...

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4.7 3

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 4.7 (3 comments)

`
Mindy L , September 17, 2014
A Tale for the Time Being was one of those books that I struggled with both picking up and then putting down. The writing and the imagination displayed by Ozeki were stunning. The subjects of bullying, suicide, war, philosophy, conscience and family ties were illuminated by the sharply drawn characters an ocean away and generations apart. Ozeki's astute sense of humor and keen observances of culture were evident throughout. The characters linger in my mind and heart long after finishing the book.

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`
Joel Karpowitz , March 15, 2014 (view all comments by Joel Karpowitz)
It's hard to say what I loved most in A Tale for the Time Being. Naoko's sense of humor? The spot-on descriptions of Japanese culture? The slow reveals of everyday tragedy? The blending of quantum physics and Zen buddhism? The idea of time as a being and a state and a flexible fabric that enfolds us all? Ozeki's voice is enthralling and invigorating, and her characters stayed with me long after I closed the cover. This is the kind of book I want to lend people--not everyone, just the people who will "get it"--to let them into the secrets of the lives of these two women. It all worked. Perhaps in a few years I will embrace my time-being-ness and travel back to read it again. And I never do that.

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`
Ninja Librarian , January 24, 2014
This is an exciting and strong story about us moving through life... or life moving through us. How we interact with others whom we don't yet know gives us hope for good things to come. The strong sense of Time in timelessness, peppered with humor, physics, philosophical and Buddhist perspectives: held together by a tender and often gentle story makes this an outstanding book. It is certainly a gem to share with others.

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(11 of 19 readers found this comment helpful)
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780143124870
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
12/31/2013
Publisher:
PENGUIN PUTNAM TRADE
Pages:
422
Height:
1.15IN
Width:
6.09IN
Thickness:
1.25
Age Range:
18 and up
Grade Range:
13 and up
Author:
Ruth Ozeki
Media Run Time:
B
Subject:
Literature-A to Z

Ships free on qualified orders.
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$14.40
List Price:$18.00
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