As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Ruth Ozeki’s “A Tale for the Time Being” presents an alternating, first-person point-of-view from the perspectives of a teenage girl, Nao, and a middle-aged woman, Ruth, who is — and maybe in some ways isn’t — the actual novelist. This novel calls upon the reader to ponder the author’s deeply explored theme of time. Is it real or imaginary? Can a person travel in time? Can someone freeze or preserve a moment in time through a physical act or state of consciousness?
Themes of environmental threats, suicide, quantum physics, alternative realities and more are also explored in this work. A reader seeking a deep, thought-provoking read might find these subjects intriguing. Using a variety of techniques, Ozeki skillfully keeps readers in a constant state of imbalance throughout the story.
Read our review to decide whether you want to add this book to your reading list.
‘A Tale for the Time Being’ Summary: A Diary Connects Two Strangers Between Generations
Ruth, a novelist and the daughter of Japanese immigrants, finds a plastic bag washed up on the beach near her island home off the coast of British Columbia. She picks it up, planning to discard it. Her curious husband, Oliver, opens the bag and finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox with a cache of letters, an antique wristwatch and a journal (hidden inside a Proust novel) inside.
Ruth reads the diary, written by a 16-year-old Japanese girl named Naoko, becomes concerned for her well-being, and embarks on an obsessive quest to help her.
Constantly tormented at school since her family’s relocation from Sunnyvale, CA, to Tokyo, Japan, Nao plans to write the story of her 104-year-old great grandmother Jiko’s life and then die by suicide. Nao describes herself as a “time being” and writes to her unknown reader as if she were speaking to a close friend.
In addition to commonly discussed themes of time, impermanence and the present moment, mental illness, suicide, environmental issues and the metaphysical realm are important themes in this work. Fact and fiction are interwoven throughout the book.
The narrative mentions the disappearance of certain trees on the island, the harpooning of whales to near extinction as fuel in the early history of Whaletown Island where they live, the plastic pollution swirling in the seas, and the hazards of the nuclear meltdown after the tsunami. Ruth’s husband, Oliver, an environmental artist, plants ancient trees from the NeoEocene epoch that he believes will survive climate change in their area. There’s also a strong metaphysical aspect to the work — including dreams, quantum physics, the Schrödinger’s Cat paradox, and Zen and Buddhist principles.
Comp Title: ‘The Midnight Library’
Matt Haig’s novel, “The Midnight Library,” also follows a metaphysical thread. Main character Nora finds herself in an alternative reality between death and life in a library, where every book she opens leads her through a different possible version of her life.
At The Rauch Review, we care deeply about being transparent and earning your trust. These articles explain why and how we created our unique methodology for reviewing books and other storytelling mediums.
Audience and Genre: Psychological/Literary Fiction That Can Appeal to All Ages, But Especially Women and Japanese Americans
“A Tale for the Time Being” was on The New York Times bestseller list and was a Finalist for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. This book appeals to a wide age range of readers because one main character, Nao, is an angsty teen, and Ruth is a middle-aged female writer. The fictional character, Ruth, is also the author herself. This technique of writing a character that resembles or models the author is described in the literature as author surrogate.
The book explores many different themes and is a complex, deep read. Most vendor pages list the genre as psychological fiction. It may also be listed as Japanese American fiction or literary fiction.
“A Tale for the Time Being” is a unique work of fiction with an unusual premise. Readers may enjoy this book more if they are philosophical, concerned about the environment, and open to the idea of a mystical or metaphysical layer to life. There are many scenes of suffering and torture in the book that may trigger sensitive readers. Anyone unwilling to stretch reality when reading fiction or looking for a fast-paced read will likely find this novel to be a disappointment.
Perspective: First-Person Through a Character and Journal Entries, With a Blend of the Author’s Real Life
The book alternates between Nao’s first-person journal entries and Ruth’s first-person accounting of her life, past and present. Ruth’s husband, Oliver, often reacts to Ruth’s experiences reading the journal, noticing subtleties she misses.
To better align her own life experiences with Nao’s, Ruth attempts to read a recorded journal each day. When Ruth isn’t reading the journal, she scours the internet for information on Nao and her family. Letters and emails Ruth uncovers add to the tension and development of the story.
Nao’s journal is a collection of stories about people in her life — primarily her great grandmother, Jiko, her great Uncle (often referred to as Haruki #1), and her father (sometimes referred to as Haruki #2).
Readers can easily follow point-of-view shifts as the name of the narrator is listed in the chapter headings.
One of the most unique aspects of the work is the author surrogate technique. This technique — like many of the other writing techniques the author employs — keeps readers in a constant state of imbalance and uncertainty. Readers will wonder what aspects of Ruth’s character are true and which ones are fictional. The alternating point-of-view is essential to understanding both main characters better, and it builds suspense.
Three Cs: Compelling, Clear, Concise
Editorial Note: We believe these three factors are important for evaluating general writing quality across every aspect of the book. Before you get into further analysis, here’s a quick breakdown to clarify how we’re using these words:
- Compelling: Does the author consistently write in a way that would make most readers emotionally invested in the book’s content?
- Clear: Are most sentences and parts of the book easy enough to read and understand?
- Concise: Are there sections or many sentences that could be cut? Does the book have pacing problems?
Compelling: Perhaps Not as Much If You Don’t Care About Ruth or Nao
Older or more sensitive readers may find Nao’s personality offensive. She comes across as crude, hostile and mean. Her redeeming trait is that she speaks in a chummy manner with the diary’s reader, in one point referring to him or her as her God.
Many Amazon reviewers described Ruth’s character as “boring.” The language used in these reviews suggests these readers are members of the Millennial or Gen Z population. Ruth lives in a remote place and lives a largely isolated life, which may lack appeal to some readers. People who strongly dislike one character may lose interest in the story.
The element of not knowing what happened to Nao when she’s in terrible peril lures readers to read on, even when the pacing of the book slows. (spoiler alert) There’s the possibility Nao killed herself, the possibility that she was killed in the 2011 tsunami. Readers not completely turned off by her bristly character will want to know what happened to her.
“A Tale for the Time Being” brings to the surface the painful reality of life’s impermanence. Most people sense this as an undercurrent but bury it in the subconsciousness and try not to think about it too much. Ozeki constantly aims to keep the reader off balance. The planet’s uncertainty is brought to the forefront in this book, along with the uncertainty and threats to the lives of the characters.
Clear: For Readers Who Are Willing to Focus and Forgive Footnotes
Adjusting to the author’s voice was challenging. At first, reading felt tedious due to Nao’s bristly personality and the frequent footnotes for Japanese words that appear in the journal entries. Although familiarizing readers with Japanese culture and vocabulary contributed to the overall impact of the novel, the frequency of these footnotes were distracting to the story.
Nao is portrayed as a victim, and she behaved vindictively and even violently toward her unpopular classmate, Daisuke, and her depressed father. It was surprising and somewhat distressing that her difficulties didn”t open windows of compassion for others in similar situations.
Ozeki’s writing style is sophisticated. Her work is professional. No typos or errors appear in the book. It was professionally edited. The extensive footnotes in Japanese were sometimes jarring to read through and seemed overdone.
The basic plot was straightforward. Ruth finds Nao’s diary and wants to change how she fears it ends. There are also many themes and subthemes in the book.
No noticeable plot holes were apparent in the story. In some instances, the reader must be willing to shift into a quantum or metaphysical frame-of-reference.
Concise: A Bit Too Much Focus on Nao and the Footnotes
(multiple spoiler alert) Ozeki could have improved the reader experience by including fewer footnotes and diminishing scenes where Nao was tormented and tortured. The scene where she nearly killed unpopular classmate Daisuke seemed cruel and overdone. Her cruelty in general may grate on some readers’ nerves. After Nao’s mother complains about the suffering her daughter is experiencing at school, her classmates and teacher for weeks pretend Nao is dead. Her teacher even daily calls roll and marks her absent. These repeated days where she is treated as if she were dead (the school eventually holds a “funeral” for her) made for tedious reading.
Pacing of the “A Tale for the Time Being” varied. Sections that supported Ozeki’s theme of impermanence — the deadly tsunami and the September 11th terrorist attacks, for example — were well-paced and interesting. Chapters that revealed answers the reader was seeking, such as Haruki #1s letters written in French and the emails from the Stanford professor, also kept me turning pages. Nao’s summer experience with Jiko was an important part of Nao’s growth as a character and made for comfortable-paced reading.
Character Development: A Small, Well-Developed Cast
Nao, Ruth and Oliver are unique and compelling characters. Nao is a disturbed teenager. Her family’s sudden relocation from Sunnyvale, California to Tokyo, Japan, the constant teasing and torture she experiences at her new school, and her father’s mental instability overwhelms Nao to the point that she plans to die by suicide. Some troubled teens will be able to connect to her character.
Experiencing writer’s block and boredom, Ruth is unable to complete a memoir about her mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s and subsequent death. She’s forgetful and disgruntled, living on a remote island for the sake of her husband’s health instead of living the fast-paced life in New York she is accustomed to.
(spoiler alert) Oliver is a scientist and a deep thinker and tends to notice what others overlook. Ruth was about to discard the plastic bag she found on the beach. He wanted to know what was in it. Ruth was confused about blank pages in the diary she thought once had writing on them, and Oliver suggests she look again after Ruth had a dream where she was able to act in a way that improved Nao’s situation.
Nao and Ruth are both stuck in a rut. Their connection through the diary facilitates their personal growth. Flashbacks, current scenes and other incidents unbalance the readers, making them uncertain where they are in time. Ruth even gets confused, feeling an urgent need to act quickly to save Nao, forgetting that whatever has happened to Nao is now long passed.
This dynamic fits the mystical elements of the story. According to quantum theory, time is not a fundamental part of reality, and even the past can be changed.
Nao feels like a victim at the outset — snatched away from her friends in Sunnyvale, a place where she was happy and popular, to be thrown into a Japanese school where kids pick on her mercilessly, and she has little chance of succeeding in the educational system due to her lack of proficiency in Japanese. During the summer she spends with Jiko, Nao begins to look outside herself and realizes that other people have struggles and difficulties, too. In addition, she becomes empowered by some of the Zen techniques Jiko teaches her.
Ruth is an author surrogate. The author’s real-life husband, Oliver, is another non-fictional character in the novel. This realistic injection adds to the sense of instability the reader experiences reading the story. The reader will want to guess which aspects of Ruth’s character and life are reality versus fictional.
Story: A Slow But Suspenseful Tale of Worlds Overlapping Beyond Time and Place
Patient readers will find this book engaging due to the suspense that builds after Ruth starts reading Nao’s diary and realizes she is in peril. “A Tale for the Time Being” is an intriguing, complex, mind-bend of a read. It isn’t a fast paced read. It is unique. I’ve never read any book I could say was similar.
(spoiler alert) The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger in that it seems apparent Ruth has affected Nao’s life in a positive way, but readers still don’t know if Nao later died in a tsunami. Nao had vowed to return to Jiko’s temple every March, and the tsunami was on March 11, 2011. Miyagi, near Jiko’s temple, was one of the areas hardest hit by the tsunami. The author’s choice to keep the reader in limbo fits Ozeki’s theme of the unpredictability and uncertainty of life.
Prose Style and Dialogue: A Unique Blend of Letters, Emails and Typical Exposition
“A Tale for the Time Being” is one of the most unique and thought-provoking books I’ve read in recent years. There is a good balance of showing versus telling in the narrative. Most scenes unfold through dialogue and action. Telling occurs through Oliver’s explanations and some emails and letters read by Ruth.
Below are several excerpts that enable readers to better understand the book (multiple spoiler alert).
“If I were a Christian, you would be my God,” says Nao, speaking to her diary’s reader. Even though Nao was close to giving up, she longed for someone to notice her and intervene on her behalf. In another instance, she says, “I am reaching through time to touch you.” The time spent with her great grandmother, Jiko, opened her up to the possibility of metaphysical experiences.
Ruth reads a quote from Zen master Dōgen that says, “Time itself is being, and all being is time…In essence, everything in the universe is intimately linked with each other as moments in time, continuous and separate.” This message encapsulates what Ozeki reiterates throughout the story — that every moment in time is precious because life is impermanent.
During an internet search, Ruth comes across a passage on a Stanford professor’s blog that turns out to have been written my Nao’s father, Haruki. He says:
“Suicide feels like One Authentic Thing
Suicide feels like Meaning of Life
Suicide feels like having the Last Word
Suicide feels like stopping Time Forever”
Haruki’s verses link to the time theme. Nao’s father felt so uncomfortable with his future, that he wanted to freeze time through suicide. This mindset also seemed to fit with how Nao felt. Haruki wanted to stop failing. Nao wanted her suffering to end.
When taking a Japanese bath with Jiko, Nao says, “That’s the thing about Jiko, one of her superpowers, is that just by being in the same room with you, she can make you feel okay about yourself. And it’s not just me. She does this with everyone. I’ve seen her.”
This was the first time Nao’s narrative suggested she took notice of or gleaned any real insight into another person. In another instance, Nao is very protective of Jiko when some delinquent individuals harass them at the market.
Late in the visit, Jiko tells Nao about her gentle, philosopher son’s experiences in World War II. “The military men despised them. They bullied them and beat them every day. They broke their bones and crushed their spirits.” This passage shows the bond forming between Nao and Jiko and speaks to Ozeki’s tendency to portray torment and violence in this book.
Haruki #1 wrote several letters in French, knowing his commanders wouldn’t be able to read them. Jiko gives the letters to Nao. They are included inside the pouch washed up on the beach. Ruth gets the letters translated and learns Haruki #1 is about to be sent out to plunge his plane into an American aircraft carrier. He is one character desperate NOT to die. Reading these letters incites a deep emotional experience for the reader.
Haruki #1 says, “If I could only smash the clock and stop time from advancing. Crush the infernal machine. Shatter its bland face and rip those cursed hands from their torturous axis of circumscription! I can almost feel the sturdy metal body crumbling beneath my hands, the glass fracturing, the case cracking open, my fingers digging into the guts, spilling springs and delicate gearing. But no, there is no use, no way of stopping time, and so I lie here, paralyzed, listening to the last moments of my life tick by.”
Paradox — such as the Japanese crow appearing in British Columbia as a kind of “messenger” — occurs frequently in the book. Metaphor is used sparingly. Irony is a literary device I noticed (characters desperate to die by suicide versus Haruki #1 desperately wishing he could stay alive is one example). There was foreshadowing about Ruth and Oliver’s cat, Pesto, disappearing, which once again kept the reader on edge, because it seemed likely the outcome would be dismal.
Setting: Tokyo and Rural British Columbia
The setting for “A Tale for the Time Being” was primarily Tokyo, Japan, and a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. Nao visits her grandmother, Jiko, in a mountainous coastal village near Miyagi, Japan.
Setting is one more technique Ozeki employs to keep the reader in a constant state of instability. It is unlikely to lure many readers to book a trip to Japan. Nao’s school is written as a dark, hostile place full of insensitive students and teachers. The remote island where Ruth lives is portrayed on one hand as beautiful and peaceful, while at the same time isolated and terrifying. Storms where power is lost, and bitter cold days happen in the story. Ozeki described pets being attacked or killed by wild animals.
Rhetoric: Climate Change, Pollution and Mental Health
Narrative about trees not surviving heat, whales being killed to near extinction around the island, and the discussion about the currents where plastics are accumulating in the Pacific Ocean demonstrates that the author has serious concerns for the environment. She clearly wants readers to recognize our planet is in peril and realize how precarious our situation is.
Ozeki immerses readers in the concept of time and calls on them to ponder what meaning it has in their lives. Perhaps she wants readers to understand why people might feel motivated to die by suicide. She seems to have a negative outlook on humankind in general. One main character in the book (Nao) starts out mean and hostile and many of the book’s characters are violent and cruel. The author seems to believe that human kindness is the exception and not the rule.
Overall, themes are introduced in a way that isn’t intrusive. They are woven into the story in a way that works and incites introspection.
Cultural and Political Significance: Harsh Criticism of Japan, With Focus on 2011
“A Tale for the Time Being” flips back and forth from different eras from present to 2011, 2001 and even back to World War II times. Differences in eras were not particularly noticeable in the text but never struck me as ill-fitting.
No strong political views are expressed, although readers that are concerned about the environment and make efforts to take care of it are more likely to relate to the book because environmental peril is a strong theme throughout the novel. Japanese people may be offended by the book.
“A Tale for the Time Being” is unique in that both main characters are Japanese American, yet Japan is portrayed in a negative way in every era portrayed in the book. In World War II, servicemen were harshly beaten and even killed, and pilots were sent on suicide missions. Nao and her whole family are unhappy living in Japan after having lived in California. A description of public officials allowing toxic water to flow into the sea after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown after the 2011 tsunami hammers the final nail in the coffin.
Critiquing the Critics: Is the book too much for readers to digest?
“A Tale for the Time Being” had more than 9,000 reviews on Amazon as of July 14, 2024, with an average rating of 4.3.
Five-star reviewers enjoyed the tapestry of topics Ozeki created. They also connected to the metaphysical and quantum aspects of the book. Some readers compared “A Tale for the Time Being” to books by Haruki Murakami. I am not familiar with his work.
Readers tended to love or dislike the frequent footnotes.
Most often criticized by reviewers was Ruth’s “boring” character, overdone bullying scenes, and too many metaphysical and quantum leaps in the story.
The Guardian thought the multiple themes were a bit too much for the average person to digest and described “A Tale for the Time Being” as “a vast, churning basin of mental flotsam.”
Kirkus Reviews called it, “A masterpiece, pure and simple.”
The Washington Post described the book “as emotionally engaging as it is intellectually provocative.”
Most reader reviews were favorable. A dislikeable character, to me, isn’t a valid barometer of a “bad” book. Whether a character is unlikeable will vary drastically from reader to reader. These comments on characters might, however, help a reader decide if they would be able to connect to the work or not. Criticism of the book by The Guardian comment struck me as harsh and shallow. “A Tale for the Time Being” might be a mess to read if a reader seeks something mindless that doesn”t require deep thinking.
Book Aesthetic: An Ocean Scene That Divides the Settings and Characters
The cover is artistic and includes horizontal strips of color that are blue, red, yellow and green, perhaps representing a broken timeline. There is a red vertical strip with “New York Times Bestseller” on the right side. The cover appears to be thoughtfully designed and fitting for the book. The commercial elements are the awards and bestseller information. The other aspects seem very creative.
The strip at the top has a cartoon sketch of Nao, the blue one below it mentions that “A Tale for the Time Being” is a Booker Prize Finalist and that strip also includes a short blurb from the Los Angeles Times. There is also an airplane on this strip, probably Haruki #1’s kamikaze plane. There is a strip with ocean, another that is a meadow with some pine trees, and one with a pattern on it, possibly the front of Nao’s diary. The ocean — a strip halfway down the front cover — separated the two characters. Ruth seems to be represented by the Pacific northwest outdoor scene on the bottom strip.
Reviewer’s Personal Opinion: On Living at a Slower Pace and Difficulty With Nao
I found it intriguing that Ruth wanted to read the diary slowly, to align her daily schedule with Nao’s. She lives on an island where time doesn”t escape as quickly as in a big city where people tend to be rushing around.
Living part of the year in a small Mexican town, I notice how time seems to attenuate when I’m in a place where people live at a slower pace. Nao began living more in the present moment because she didn’t think she had much time left, because she planned to die my suicide. The fact that both Ruth and Nao were living primarily in the present moment instead of the future or past allowed the quantum theory to work. This framework opened more possibilities for a different ending to the story than the one that seemed destined to happen.
Nao’s personality irritated me. She was the character I found difficult to like. I was incessantly teased as a child, and these traumatic experiences gave me more compassion for people experiencing difficulties. If anything, I wanted to lash out at people who were hurting me, not other unpopular kids facing harassment. Nao treated others who suffered in a very cruel way, which I couldn’t relate to. I was especially annoyed by the scene where she almost killed her classmate, Daisuke.
Oliver was my favorite character. He always noticed what others overlooked. I also have a master’s degree in geology and am — like him — kind of a science geek.
Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” is a novel that similarly follows a metaphysical thread. This book is also a faster paced, easier read.
I have never met or communicated with the author. My daughter gave me a copy of this book, and I found it to be an intriguing and unusual read, and so I pitched it for review.
‘A Tale for the Time Being’: An Excellent Book, Minus the Footnotes and Bits of Slow Pacing
My rating for “A Tale for the Time Being” is 4.5 stars. I found the book to be intriguing, thought-provoking and unusual. Ozeki effectively immerses the reader in the story’s time warp and keeps the reader in a state of unease and discomfort about what is about to happen next. Ozeki is a skilled writer, and the book is professionally edited and presented.
I deducted .5 for the excessive footnotes in Nao’s diary — which slow the story — and the slow pacing in prolonged sections about the cruelties inflicted on Nao at her Japanese school. I believe these elements will keep some readers from finishing the book.
Buying and Rental Options
E-Commerce Text and Audio Purchases
E-Commerce Audio Purchases
Physical Location Purchase and Rental Options
“A Tale for the Time Being” is available at most Barnes & Noble locations and most independent bookstores.
Digital Rental Options
“A Tale for the Time Being” is available through many libraries on the Libby app. An audiobook version is also available online and through library apps.
Get recommendations on hidden gems from emerging authors, as well as lesser-known titles from literary legends.
