Quotes from book
A Tale for the Time Being

A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being is a metafictional novel by Ruth Ozeki narrated by two characters, a sixteen-year-old Japanese American girl in Tokyo who keeps a diary, and a Japanese American writer living on an island off British Columbia who finds the diary washed up on shore some time after the 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan.

Ruth Ozeki photo

“That's what it feels like when I write, like I have this beautiful world in my head, but when I try to remember it in order to write it down, I change it, and I can't ever get it back.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Do all kids have to worry about their parents’ mental health? The way society is set up, parents are supposed to be the grown-up ones and look after the kids, but a lot of times it’s the other way around.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“But memories are time beings, too, like cherry blossoms or ginkgo leaves; for a while they are beautiful, and then they fade and die.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Sometimes when she told stories about the past her eyes would get teary from all the memories she had, but they weren't tears. She wasn't crying. They were just the memories, leaking out.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“An unfinished book. left unattended, turns feral, and she would need all her focus, will and ruthless determination to tame it again.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Information is a lot like water; it's hard to hold on to, and hard to keep from leaking away.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Assumptions and expectations will kill any relationship, so let’s you and me not go there, okay?”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“And if you decide not to read anymore, hey, no problem, because you're not the one I was waiting for anyway. But if you decide to read on, then guess what? You're my kind of time being and together we'll make magic!”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist? It feels like it exists, but where is it? And if it did exists, but doesn’t now, then where did it go?”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“I believe it doesn't matter what it is, as long as you can find something concrete to keep you busy while you are living your meaningless life.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Life is fleeting. Don't waste a single moment of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“No matter how much bullying they inflict on my body, as long as I have this hope, I can endure any pain.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“She smiled. “Life is full of stories. Or maybe life is only stories. Good night, my dear Nao.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well, if you give me a moment, I will tell you. A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me, and every one of us who is, or was, or ever will be.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“The important thing was that we were being polite and not saying all the things that were making us unhappy, which was the only way we knew how to love each other.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“What if I travel so far away in my dreams that I can't get back in time to wake up?”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki photo

“Print is predictable and impersonal, conveying information in a mechanical transaction with the reader’s eye. Handwriting, by contrast, resists the eye, reveals its meaning slowly, and is as intimate as skin.”

Ruth Ozeki book A Tale for the Time Being

Source: A Tale for the Time Being

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