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A Tale for the Time Being

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A Tale for the Time Being

By: Ruth Ozeki
Narrated by: Ruth Ozeki
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Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 Hi! My name is Nao, and I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you.' Ruth discovers a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on the shore of her beach home. Within it lies a diary that expresses the hopes and dreams of a young girl. She suspects it might have arrived on a drift of debris from the 2011 tsunami. With every turn of the page, she is sucked deeper into an enchanting mystery. In a small cafe in Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao Yasutani is navigating the challenges thrown up by modern life. In the face of cyberbullying, the mysteries of a 104-year-old Buddhist nun and great-grandmother, and the joy and heartbreak of family, Nao is trying to find her own place - and voice - through a diary she hopes will find a reader and friend who finally understands her. Weaving across continents and decades, and exploring the relationship between reader and writer, fact and fiction, A Tale for the Time Being is an extraordinary novel about our shared humanity and the search for home.©2013 Ruth Ozeki Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Mystery Fiction Heartfelt Feel-Good
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Critic Reviews

A Tale for the Time Being is a timeless story. Ruth Ozeki beautifully renders not only the devastation of the collision between man and the natural world, but also the often miraculous results of it. She is a deeply intelligent and humane writer who offers her insights with a grace that beguiles. I truly love this novel.
A Tale for the Time Being is equal parts mystery and meditation. The mystery is a compulsive, gritty page-turner. The meditation -- on time and memory, on the oceanic movement of history, on impermanence and uncertainty, but also resilience and bravery - is deep and gorgeous and wise. A completely satisfying, continually surprising, wholly remarkable achievement, this is a book to be read and reread
There is far too much to say about this remarkable and ambitious book in a few sentences. This is for real and not just another hyped-up blurb. A Tale For the Time Being is a great achievement, and it is the work of a writer at the height of her powers. Ruth Ozeki has not only reinvigorated the novel itself, the form, but she's given us the tried and true, deep and essential pleasure of characters who we love and who matter
Hooray - Ozeki rides again!
All stars
Most relevant
I have been listening to this at my work and on the bus and I'm writing this on my break after just finishing. I decided to write down my thoughts before I forget.

This was my first audiobook and honestly, what an absolute delight!
Ruth Ozeki's writing really comes to life in her narration which is so full of character and emotion. I related a lot to the topics and events that happened and felt myself really connect with the characters. It made me think about my own life and as a result, I walk away from this work a bit better as a person.

I highly recommend!

Life changing!

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Just listened to this a second time & loved it even more. I am fascinated by the insights into Japanese culture & Zen Buddhism & also life on the small island in British Columbia.

I love that elements of magical realism can be explained by quantum physics & the plot is excellent. I also appreciate the moments throughout discussing philosophy, both Western & Eastern.

The writing is beautiful & the imagination that created this story is wondrous.

Some facts are illuminating, others grotesque & vile.

It’s a poetic, magical, philosophical, quantum science saga & I love every bit.

Possibly my favourite book of all time. Being.

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Wonderful book. My only criticism is didn't portray the wilderness and her creatures in the best light. Otherwise fantastic, deep exploration of time and our place in it. Also light hearted and funny in places. I'll read it again.

Great listen.

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One of my favourites so far this year. Loved the intertwining stories. Preferred audible to print. Reader was excellent.

Loved listening to this book…

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I first read this exquisite book a few years ago and was feeling the need to do so again when I saw that it was now on Audible, read by the author Ruth Ozeki. I have just finished listening to it and loved every amazing minute. I tried to listen slowly so that it would last longer and am so sad that it is finished. I'll wait a while and then listen again. Listening to the author herself gave so much more meaning to the many levels of this simple yet complex book (rather like Zen practice itself) and I was amazed to glean new understanding from a passage because of the way Ms Ozeki read it, as she intended... I heartily recommend the book and this reading of it!

possibly my favourite book ever read by the author

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