Invisible links in our life

[A Tale for the Time Being]

The author delves into the various themes such as time, memories, and how seemingly interconnected things are to one another. The story start with a diary entry of a girl, Nao, living her life as a student in Tokyo, with alternating chapters about Ruth, who found this particular diary washed ashore from Tokyo (supposedly from the tsunami which occurred few years back) and was living on an island, remotely far from Japan. Nao shares her life stories about school, bullies, suicide, while Ruth resonates deeply with Nao with her career at a bottleneck.

Through Nao's descriptions of her life having to relocate from USA back to Tokyo, Ruth learns of her traumatic experience as a teenage girl. Ruth also shares the stories with her husband and they would go through the diary together. The novel also centre around a nun, who happens to be Nao's great grandmother, who lost her child in WWII. As the story progresses, Ruth gets more emotionally invested and tries to find out what happens to Nao.

The novel also includes elements of magical realism, with Nao's diary seeming to take on a life of its own and Ruth experiencing strange visions and synchronicities. As the two narratives intertwine, the novel raises questions about the nature of time and memory, and how the past and present are interconnected.

Ozeki's writing is both insightful and poetic, with a keen eye for detail and a gift for capturing the emotional complexity of her characters. The novel's themes and motifs are woven together in a way that is both elegant and deeply thought-provoking.

Overall, the book : -

1) displays the interconnectedness of all things. One action causes impacts on others, both presently and into the future. I particularly like how the book puts that "every being that exists in the entire world is linked together as moments in time, and at the same time they exist as individual moments of time. Because all moments are the time being, they are your time being."  

2) introduces meditation as a coping mechanism. This is where I think it's relevant and relatable to our current fast paced lifestyle. Akin to Nao , we should try to find solace in a certain meditation practice at times of distress such that we can cope with the challenges of life and at the same time, able to cultivate a sense of well -being into us.

3) takes you on a journey to find meaning and purpose. The characters in the stories are facing issues in life – Nao gets bullied, her father gets retrenched and tries to commit suicide, Ruth facing a writer's block. I would like the readers to perhaps pause, and reflectively ponder on some of the issues that we have in our lives and make a positive change to it. I appeal to the readers to find some meaning and purpose in their life instead of going through things in motion.

Lastly, i truly believe that good will always triumph evil. In time of desperation, never give in to your demons. Instead, stand firm and hold your fotress and remember, you are limitless and only you have the power to become the better version of yourself.

The book is available for purchase at the link below: