The Book Of Form And Emptiness Ruth Ozeki

THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS BY RUTH OZEKI

Paperback published by Canongate 24th March 2022

After the tragic death of his father, thirteen–year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house and sound variously pleasant, angry or sad. Then his mother develops a hoarding problem, and the voices grow more clamorous. So Benny seeks refuge in the silence of a large public library. There he meets a mesmerising street artist with a smug ferret a homeless philosopher poet, and his very own Book, who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

MY REVIEW

Ruth Ozeki has written many books, but this is the first time I have been introduced to this talented author, who has written something boldly different.

This story blends unforgettable characters with jazz, climate change and our attachment to material possessions, this classic tale by Ruth Ozeki is bold, humane and heartbreaking.

The first thing I noticed when reading this novel, The Book Of Form and Emptiness, is easy to see how Ruth Ozeki was shortlisted for the Woman’s Prize for Fiction.

I have never read a book, with the theme that a book is set within a book.

The author Ruth Ozeki has constructed a gem an idea, with a young boy having a book about his life.

In chapter one of this touching tale we learn that Benny’s father died in an car accident, but managed to go down an alley, where he stumbled and fell, only a few yards from his house. If he had managed to crawl a bit further, he may have been okay.

Benny started to hear voices at the age of twelve, shortly after his father died. His father was a jazz clarinetist . When Benny visits a library he meets a philosopher poet and his book who tells the story of Benny’s life. Benny’s dad fell in love his mother from the moment he saw her. His mother was pretty and kind, they were meant to for each other. His parents had secrets they didn’t want their children to know, but when his dad died his mom got sad, and the secrets didn’t sparkle anymore.

This book will start hundreds of people talking about it, because Ruth Ozeki has the gift to make readers care for Benny with a tear in your eye.

I could picture Benny’s suffering when he found a postcard, with typewriter like hand writing.

This is how one pictures the angel of History. His face is turned towards the past. Where we see a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe that keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurling it at his feet. The Angel wants to stay, to awaken the dead, to make whole what has been smashed.

I thought book was super to contain a book in a book. And with the detailed trauma that Benny Oh went through. I have to recommend this book as it flawless.

I would like to thank Canongate for sending me a printed copy to read and review.

About author Ruth Ozeki

Ruth Ozeki is an award-winning novelist and filmmaker. Her third novel, A Tale for the Time Being won the 2013 Independent Booksellers Book Award and the Kitchies Red Tentacle Award, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 and the National Book Critics Award for Fiction. She is also the author of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation.
Ozeki was born and raised in Connecticut, by an American father and Japanese mother. In June 2010 she was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest. She divides her time between British Columbia and New York.

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