Ruth Ozeki

A novelist on a remote island in the Pacific is linked to a bullied and depressed Tokyo teenager after discovering a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed ashore.

A Tale for the Time Being

On a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, a Hello Kitty lunchbox washes up on the beach. Tucked inside is a collection of curious items, including the diary of a sixteenyear-old Japanese girl named Nao Yasutani. Ruth, who finds the lunchbox, suspects that it is debris from Japan's devastating 2011 tsunami. Once Ruth starts to read the diary, she quickly finds herself drawn into the mystery of the young girl's fate. In a manga cafE in Tokyo's Electric Town, Nao has decided there's only one escape from the loneliness and pain of her life, as she's uprooted from her U.S. home, bullied at school, and watching her parents spiral deeper into disaster. But before she ends it all, she wants to accomplish one thing: to recount the story of her great-grandmother, a 104-year-old Zen Buddhist nun, in the pages of her diary. The diary, Nao's only solace, is her cry for help to a reader she can only imagine. Full of Ozeki's signature humour and insight, "A Tale for the Time Being" is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.

bianca

I never cried. But for some reason, the sight of these stupid bugs tearing each other apart was too much for me. It was horrible, but of course it wasn’t the insects. It was the human beings who thought this would be fun to watch.

I should only make myself ridiculous in the eyes of others if I clung to life and hugged it when I have no more to offer.

Does falling scare you? I’ve never been afraid of heights. When I stand on the edge of a tall place I feel like I’m on the edge of time, peering into forever. The question What if…? rises up in my mind, and it’s exciting because I know that in the next instant, in less time than it takes to snap my fingers, I could fly into eternity.

I was still thinking about what she said about waves, and it made me sad because I knew that her little wave was not going to last and soon she would join the sea again, and even though I know you can’t hold on to water, still I gripped her fingers a little more tightly to keep her from leaking away.

“A wave is born from deep conditions of the ocean. A person is born from deep conditions of the world. A person pokes up from the world and rolls along like a wave, until it is time to sink down again. Up, down. Person, wave.”

I just lay there and let the waves wash over me, and I wondered what would happen if I stopped trying to get back up. Just let my body go. Would I be washed out to sea? The sharks would eat my limbs and organs. Little fish would feed on my fingertips. My beautiful white bones would fall to the bottom of the ocean, where anemones would grow upon them like flowers.

…it was okay just to feel grateful sometimes, even if you don’t say anything. Feeling is the important part. You don’t have to make a big deal about it.

I had a strong thought to turn around and throw myself headfirst down the steep stone steps or just let myself free-fall backward into the pillowy softness of eternity, and it wouldn’t matter if I bumped and bounced like a cabbage all the way down until I hit bottom and then rolled out to sea, because at least I’d be safe and dead.

He was standing a few steps above me, and he looked really tall, and as I watched him, I thought maybe I could understand his faraway expression. Maybe it was happiness. I think my dad was happy.

Maybe this is what it’s like when you die. Your inbox stays empty. At first, you just think nobody’s answering, so you check your SENT box to make sure your outgoing mail is okay, and then you check your ISP to make sure your account is still active, and eventually you have to conclude that you’re dead.

But in the time it takes to say now, now is already over. It’s already then.

Then is the opposite of now. So saying now obliterates its meaning, turning it into exactly what it isn’t. It’s like the word is committing suicide or something. So then I’d start making it shorter… now, ow, oh, o… until it was just a bunch of little grunting sounds and not even a word at all. 

It was hopeless, like trying to hold a snowflake on your tongue or a soap bubble between your fingertips. Catching it destroys it, and I felt like I was disappearing, too.

It made me sad when I caught myself pretending that everybody out there in cyberspace cared about what I thought, when really nobody gives a shit. And when I multiplied that sad feeling by all the millions of people in their lonely little rooms, furiously writing and posting to their lonely little pages that nobody has time to read because they’re all so busy writing and posting, it kind of broke my heart.

 Whenever I think about my stupid empty life, I come to the conclusion that I’m just wasting my time, and I’m not the only one. Everybody I know is the same, except for [her]. Just wasting time, killing time, feeling crappy.

 And what does it mean to waste time anyway? If you waste time is it lost forever?

 And if time is lost forever, what does that mean? It’s not like you get to die any sooner, right?

In the wake of the 2011 tsunami, Ruth discovers a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of her beach home in British Columbia. Within it lies a diary that expresses the hopes, heartbreak and dreams of a young girl desperate for someone to understand her. Each turn of the page pulls Ruth deeper into the mystery of Nao’s life, and forever changes her in a way neither could foresee. Weaving across continents and decades, A Tale for the Time Being is an extraordinary novel about our shared humanity and the search for home.

Manu

I explained this to Jiko, and she agreed it wasn't such a good idea, but that it was okay just to feel grateful sometimes, even if you don't say anything, Feeling is the important part. You don't have to make a big deal about it.

A brilliant, unforgettable novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki—shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award “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.

A Novel

Jamie Neely

In the wake of the 2011 tsunami, Ruth discovers a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of her beach home in British Columbia. Within it lies a diary that expresses the hopes, heartbreak and dreams of a young girl desperate for someone to understand her. Each turn of the page pulls Ruth deeper into the mystery of Nao's life, and forever changes her in a way neither could foresee.Weaving across continents and decades, A Tale for the Time Being is an extraordinary novel about our shared humanity and the search for home.

Ian Mason

A novelist on a remote island in the Pacific is linked to a bullied and depressed Tokyo teenager after discovering a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed ashore in this new novel from the award-wining, best-selling author of My Year of Meats.

Gaby

Kahli Scott

Reihan Maulana

Just Finished reading "A tale for the time being" by Ruth Ozeki. 

This book tells us about two stories but different timelines, where "Ruth" is the observer of Nao's Story. 

Nao's story has been pretty rough, with all the kinds of bullying and stuff, yet she managed to go through with the help of her grandmother, Jiko. As a person who likes historical events, this book gives some information about The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

It makes me feel something like.. maybe a bit of humanity and humbleness?? It was a funny book, but also a bit touching. This book is great for engaging with interesting philosophical ideas without being heavy-handed about them. 

That being said, I would definitely read it again.

Andrew John Kinney

This was an interesting read with a twisty ending. I had no idea that 15,000 people died in the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and the depiction of the vicious nature of Japanese high school life caught me a bit off guard. The cycling of narratives between Nao, Ruth, and Haruki's letters to Jiko helped keep up the pace of the book, which otherwise would have bogged down a bit (for me) with only Nao's story. Nao's spiritual growth through the book from aimless schoolgirl to something approaching maturity was well done. Thanks to Lori for pointing me to this!

Lamia Hajani

I thought about this book for a long time after I read it. Just fascinating stuff. A bit odd towards the end and not a choice I would have made as the author, but still... wow.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013.'Hi! My name is Nao, and I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you.'Ruth discovers a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of her beach home. Within it lies a diary that expresses the hopes and dreams of a young girl. She suspects it might have arrived on a drift of debris from the 2011 tsunami. With every turn of the page, she is sucked deeper into an enchanting mystery. In a small cafe in Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao Yasutani is navigating the challenges thrown up by modern life. In the face of cyberbullying, the mysteries of a 104-year-old Buddhist nun and great-grandmother, and the joy and heartbreak of family, Nao is trying to find her own place - and voice - through a diary she hopes will find a reader and friend who finally understands her. Weaving across continents and decades, and exploring the relationship between reader and writer, fact and fiction, A Tale for the Time Being is an extraordinary novel about our shared humanity and the search for home.

23/05/2016:

'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.'
This book was so beautiful! It was funny and heartbreaking and extremely insightful all at the same time and the main character, Nao, was extremely loveable. I found myself more drawn to her story at first but slowly Ruth and Oliver and even little Pesto crawled their way into my heart. It was a beautiful story and the writing was just as good. The book is peppered with marvelous quotes and the following is one of my favourites: 
'Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out.' 
Overall, this is one of my favourite reads of 2016 so far. I highly recommend it!

Jannis M

I've read and reread and listened and relistened to this book multiple times (it's phenomenal as an audiobook, narrated by Ozeki herself with proper intonation for the Buddhist chants). In my opinion, it is the most masterful of Ozeki's novels and expertly employs her version of magical realism in a way that makes the regular world seem all the more special. This book is very dear to me.

jam 🍯

My favorite book.

I've read and reread and listened and relistened to this book multiple times (it's phenomenal as an audiobook, narrated by Ozeki herself with proper intonation for the Buddhist chants). In my opinion, it is the most masterful of Ozeki's novels and expertly employs her version of magical realism in a way that makes the regular world seem all the more special. This book is very dear to me.

This book makes me want to live.

Karis Ryu

Rosamund Mather

The writing itself was very good, but I feel like the story didn't really work. I hated the "plot device" of terrible things happening over and over to this one girl, with no-one stepping in; it just made me feel like serious issues were glossed over. I enjoyed the fact the character was bilingual, and I liked Jiko. Overall though I had high hopes, which fell flat after the first 100 pages or so.

Anyaconda

This was one of the books that has been on my want to read list for years. Then I found a thrift shop copy and it sucked me right in. 
It is such an impactful book and I don't really know how to describe it. I want to read everything Ruth Ozeki has written and is going to write. 

This is a new favorite of all time.

Ivy X

Received this from a goodreads giveaway. 

It took me a while to get through this book but it was a great read (minus 1 star because of how slow it got at some points). I loved the trippy perspectives relating to concepts of time, multiple universes/outcomes, life/death, etc -- reading them from Nao's perspective was so refreshing! 

While Nao's sections spoke to me more than Ruth's, I think Ruth's sections provided the necessary perspective of a present reader. 

Also, spoiler -- but the two most heartbreaking moments in this book were: 
1. when Nao found out her father tried to win the online auction for her sake. The sadness and shame she probably faced when she realized what he was trying to do and how much he knew about the bullying she was experiencing :( & the anger she must've felt when she thought "oh this is another thing my father can't do right."

2. Reading Haruki #1's secret French Diary and finding out that he decided to crash into the waves -- "Better to do battle with the waves, who may yet forgive me." -- this truth is so heartbreaking as it highlights a bitter reality for kamikaze pilots during the world war. Haruki #1's struggle with his moral compass/conscience also puts Nao's father's experience of being fired for not wanting to work on military technology into perspective and you understand his grief/depression more.

Trish

❝ Life is full of stories. Or maybe life is only stories. ❞

——

❝ But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die. ❞

——

❝ Where do words come from? They come from the dead. We inherit them. Borrow them. Use them for a time to bring the dead to life. ❞

——

Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”

A Tale for the Time being is a multifaceted, metaphysical novel orbiting around the elusive concept of time. There are dual perspectives, two timelines, discussions of Buddhism, Zen practices, school bullying, depression, suicide, quantum physics, elements of magical realism, commentaries on politics, war, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, dementia, writing and reading. That’s the big-picture summary. 

But if someone asked me what this book was about and why they should read it, I’d say this:

A Tale for the Time Being is a coming-of-age story that says “you’re never too old to grow up.” 

——

❝ Hey Jiko, how old do you have to be before you’re really grown up? Not just your body, but your mind?

<105 years>

Thats what she just texted me. That’s how old she says you have to be before your mind really grows up, but since she’s a hundred and four, I’m pretty sure she’s joking. ❞

——

No matter how difficult and unbearable life may seem at a moment, keep living. Change is the one thing we can rely on, so keep learning, keep growing, keep living— the world, circumstances, people, and atmosphere around you will change too, then one day you’ll wake up with a new zeal for life. 

And for those moments you feel your life is stuck or stagnant, look to the past—history and literature—and learn from it, know what happened before you, expand your mind, your perspective, your horizons. Never stop growing up. 

——

Thank you so much @penguinbooks and @vikingbooks for the gifted book.

eliz

it's hard for me to listen to audiobooks so I almost never do but the narrator of this book (the author herself) saved the whole thing. much entertaining than the story itself, gave life to the characters the way I couldn't read it the same way again after trying to read it with my own eyes. it's unfortunate since I liked the flow of Nao's side of story but it keeps on dragging because of Ruth's povs. could not care less about her and her husband and anything about her overall.

edit: from 2-3 stars
while browsing through my notes I realized that the story is actually quite memorable. guess I read it on the wrong time.

excerpts:
p. 21 "A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and everyone of us who is, or was, or will ever be."
p. 126 "I don't think it was helping him find the meaning of life, but at least it gave him a concrete goal, which counts for something. I believe it doesn't matter what it is, as long as you can find something concrete to keep you busy while you are living your meaningless life."
p. 137 "...by cutting into illusions. By cutting intro pixels and finding blood. By entering the cave of mind and walking into fire. By making shadows bleed. You can feel life completely by taking it away."

A brilliant, unforgettable, and long-awaited novel from bestselling author Ruth Ozeki "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 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 a 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 humour 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.

Jonathan Crowe

My review is now online at AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

Sara

Stephanie Ridiculous

Be warned that sexual assault, child prostitution, and bullying are major plot lines. Probably not suitable for younger readers, and adults should proceed with caution. 

This book starts promising but totally fails to deliver. Ruth is boring, one dimensional, and static. She is treated like an idiot by everyone in her life and usually just takes it. Her husband is just as flat and literally only serves to communicate information either pointless, or that the author thinks you're too stupid to figure out yourself. 

Nao is supposed to be a 16 year old girl, but her narrative doesn't fall in line with that at all. 

The majority of the book references a goal that is never achieved, the authors attempts to be edgy with "quantum time" hi-jinks is dull and predictable. 

The first 30 pages or so are intriguing, but it falls apart quickly after that.

Katie Chua

alright, i changed it to 5 stars. re-reading this was such a meta/weird experience for me. for a book so centered on time and temporal realities, it was so weird to be transported to all the initial feelings i had when i first read this book. it was weird to think about who i was (freshly graduated from high school), where i was (on my back porch in colorado), when it was (in the beginning of the summer, when i would come back from my morning shift at starbucks with an iced tea and read for the next hour or two outside) all around five years ago. 

i remember not loving the ending or perhaps, not really "buying" it, but i'm here to say i was YOUNG and IMMATURE and now i probably am still all those things but i have a little more knowledge, context, and life experiences to appreciate this book and its craft by ozeki.

idk man — this is a book that touches on personal agency, the relationship between reader and writer, disaster (ecological and human), zen buddhism, isolation (islands yo), grief, war, imperialism, capitalism, technology, and so much more. i hadn't forgotten it when i first read it and i still won't now. if anything, it's cemented itself in my brain now.

Emma Friedheim

As good as people say. Fascinating, well-written, and utterly unique. And so moving! Highly recommend.

Melanie Richards

If any back-cover blurb undersells a book, it would be the one on "A Tale for the Time Being". Then again, I have no idea how you'd do justice to such a smart and layered novel. Just read it.

bhargavi

This book definitely made me think; it’s main appeal lays in the strength of its narrative voices. Nao sounds like a teenage girl, and the author does an excellent job of making her relatable without making her perfect. The theme of the book is complex at first, but gets easier to understand the more you read on. I thought the message got a little heavy-handed and too apparent for my tastes towards the end, but the resolution was satisfying for me and I enjoyed all of the ideas it explored. The addition of letters and emails into the medium was also a nice touch and the writing style was simultaneously clear while being poignant and thoughtful; overall an engaging read that feels incredibly timeless and present all at once. 

Cindy Lieberman

Time, choices, motivations, family... Quantum physics ... Depression... Bullying and prostitution ... Displacement and belonging....Many interesting topics covered in an interesting way that switches back and forth between the present and more than a decade ago. Encompassing 9/11 as well as the nuclear power plant shutdown in Japan.

Josefina

jiaqi kang

i feel like i was too dumb to really get this... but it was nice... it was very magical and beautiful!!! and it doesnt NEED to be "gotten"

Nadine 

what an awesome book - haven't read something so interesting and yet repulsive and compelling in a long time.

A Tale for the Time Being

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