A Tale for the Time Being

I read the first page and was hooked. A Japanese teenager is sitting in a French maid cafe, writing to an unknown 'you.' Already there was so much I wanted to know.

Nao is the teenager and she wants to die. But first she wants to tell the story of Jiko, her 104-year old great-grandmother, an early feminist and rebel and now a Buddhist nun (and who I would like to be when I grow up.) Nao's voice seems absolutely authentic--she's vulnerable, tough, witty, kind, ruthless, and, above all, a survivor.

And there's Ruth, on the other side of the Pacific, who is reading Nao's diary which she found washed up on the beach. Ruth is a novelist who is having trouble writing and we glide into meta-fiction when we realize that Ruth is also the author of the book in our hand. Ruth's story and her relationship with Oliver (the name of Ozeki's partner) is almost as compelling as Nao's story and the novel bounces from one to the other as the stories become more and more intertwined. 

This is such an amazing book. I wanted to read it quickly, to resolve the many questions it raised. And I wanted to read it slowly, to savor each moment and to immerse myself in the meaning/non-meaning.

It's a treasure-trove of ideas and speculations, hints and allegations. Teen age angst, Japanese culture, Zen philosophy, Western philosophy, magical realism, family secrets, ecology, the nature of time and reality . . . It's like a marvelous kaleidoscope that just keeps spinning.

Every once in a while, I encounter a book that shifts my perceptions. This is one.

Most highly recommended.