I enjoyed this book a lot! I was really happy with the book. Slow build up ... felt like Murakami but a lot more subtle. The surrealistic parts did not happen until the end; I think I would have liked more of that in the beginning. But I will say the magic parts were well done and subtle. I especially loved the parts about the end of the diary changing, how the words kept fading ("Reader's Block") - this was so lovely and so well done. I loved it.

It was also cool how the "Ruth" story seemed semi-autobiographical. I also liked how you start out thinking the book is about Jiko;s cool life as an anarchist, but it's only tangentially mentioned... It ended up being more about the girl's father, the girl's suicide tendencies, and their family.

In fact, now that I am thinking of the book from a larger scale, I think the buildup was too slow. Only once she gets to the temple (more than halfway through the book) does a lot of the action start taking place. I guess the turning point or the big decision Nao had to make was Jiko's funeral — at the same time when Ruth makes a big decision to keep reading ("rewrite the narrative.") Because of this unreliability we do not know if the ending of Nao's diary ACTUALLY happened or if Ruth made it up. But then, who's to say if she made up the entire book? So - that is why I love the ending. It was really well done.

Also makes you question the "happy ending" from Nao's diary. As a reader you WANT to doubt it now, especially because of Ruth's unreliability. However, you don't care, and you'll believe it anyway because it is the better ending. What a cool twist! (the words disappearing)

Summary

A Tale for the Time Being is a lovely book with parallel narrative in which an older woman (Ruth) finds the diary of a teenage girl (Nao). The narratives start to weave together - slowly, gently, like waves - so that by the end you don't know if Nao's narrative is affecting Ruth's or vice versa - or both. I got a lot of Murkami vibes but with less jagged edges and more smooth transitions.

I'm always a sucker for an unreliable narrator. Ruth's unreliability isn't really shown until near the end of the book, when the words start disappearing from the diary when Ruth is reading. I thought this was a lovely twist, because this is when it becomes obvious that both Ruth and Nao are both influencing each others' lives, and shows the deeper connection between the two (other than the dreams Ruth had had until them, which were pretty unclear until then). Because of this unreliability we do not know if the ending of Nao's diary ACTUALLY happened or if Ruth made it up. But then, who's to say if she made up the entire book? So - that is why I love the ending. It was really well done. Also makes you question the "happy ending" from Nao's diary. As a reader you WANT to doubt it now, especially because of Ruth's unreliability. However, you don't care, and you'll believe it anyway because it is the better ending. What a cool twist! (the words disappearing)

The voices were very distinct and very well done. Nao's voice was very teenage-girl-voice, not just in writing style but also thinking pattern. You could really look into her head. I also like how she makes it sound like the diary is about Jiko's cool life as an anarchist, but it becomes the vehicle that drives Nao to write her diary.