Overall Rating and Opinion of A Tale for the Time Being

Discuss the February 2014 book of the month A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

How do you rate A Tale For The Time Being?

1 star - poor, recommend against reading it
1
5%
2 stars - okay, fair
3
14%
3 stars - good, recommend it
12
55%
4 stars - excellent, amazing
6
27%
 
Total votes: 22

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Taylor Razzani
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Re: Overall Rating and Opinion of A Tale for the Time Being

Post by Taylor Razzani »

This one is a little difficult to process for me. I keep going back and forth with what I liked and what I didn't like in the book and, to add another layer, what my actual feelings to what I liked or didn't like and whether or not I really felt that way.

To start off, I really enjoyed Nao's story and couldn't believe all the heartbreak she dealt with. I didn't identify with her throughout the whole book, but every now and then a passage would come by that I could relate to or that at least caused me to appreciate her a bit more. Ruth and Oliver, on the other hand, I was not a big fan of. I didn't really get much from their characters, but I liked how the author added in someone reading the diary instead of Nao just telling her story, it added a little something extra to the book.

I'm a little torn on the last bit of the book. The dreams and time bending and all of that are an interesting concept, but it slightly felt a bit out of place for this particular book. But overall, this book had an entertaining enough story, and it also made me think about the present and future and feel for the struggles people might go through that they try to hide. I can see why there are so many different opinions on this book. There is so much to like and not like, I feel as if the takeaway from the book is definitely different for everyone who reads it, even if it is just something minor.
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kthompson
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Post by kthompson »

I really liked this book until the end, when all the Shrodinger's cat psychology/philosophy elements started coming into play. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't understand a single word of the last chapter and it hurt my overall opinion of the book. I absolutely love the characters, though. Ruth is very interesting to me in that she's looking for some story to tell, which makes me wonder if some of Nao's story is exaggerated by Ruth to create a more interesting story.
atonykamau
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Post by atonykamau »

I really liked this book, the storyline was easy to understand and also the characters were easy to relate to. This book was interesting to read and can really grab the audience attention.
kelvinmwaniki17
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Post by kelvinmwaniki17 »

This is definatly a book i would recomend that readers read. The storyline was not complex and therefore could be understood and enjoyed by any reader.
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ms_vinkel
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Post by ms_vinkel »

This is on my TBR for this year! :D I've had the copy for a long time now. I've seen mixed ratings for this, though, so I'll be going in with a low expectations. I'll be reading it some time soon and will get back to rating it when I'm done.

Aside: I just noticed there's a voting poll which I'm not sure if it affects the actual rating on the Bookshelves. Ohwell.
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