Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsAn easy read that's complex enough to make you think
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2014
I loved this book. A Tale for the Time Being contains so much, its characters are so rich and yet the book maintains an easy pace, even when the pages contain complex information.
The story is built around two sets of characters based in two places and two different times. The primary characters are Ruth and Nao. Ruth lives in the present day on a remote Canadian island, with her partner, Oliver, and their cat. Ruth had been a successful writer in New York City but has since been struggling with writer's block. Nao is a Japanese teenager whose life has taken a turn for the worse. Her family had been enjoying the trappings of the dotcom boom in California but have been forced to return to Japan after the fortune, in every sense, took a downward turn.
The lives of Ruth and Nao cross after Ruth finds the Japanese girl's diary washed up on the island where she lives. In an effort to decide how it made its way across the ocean - was the diary pulled out to sea by the recent tsunami? - Ruth is drawn into Nao's life: her family's difficult adjustment after arriving back in Japan. Nao's diary also introduces Ruth to two more generations of the Japanese family's, an uncle who was reluctant soldier in the second world war and her grandmother -an anarchist feminist turned nun.
A Tale for the Time Being is a smart book, but it is also an easy book to read. The reader is treated to rich details about Japanese culture, language and history but in an effortless way. Fictional events within the book are woven with real contemporary events to create a beautifully layered story.
More than anything I loved the tone of the book. The characters are so compelling because their dialogue is so realistic and their problems so believable. Their dialogue is so interesting too, like listening to an interesting guest who is exceptionally erudite yet can communicate the ideas in a way that is easy to comprehend. For example, the book contains musings on Proust an quantum physics but discussed in a way that friends may discuss the plot of a film
I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's easy enough to be a relaxing read yet complex enough to make you think. Enjoy it.