Midnight Librarian's Book Review: A Tale For The Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

“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…”

Spanning the planet from Tokyo’s Electric Town to Desolation Sound, British Columbia, and connected by the great Pacific gyres, A Tale for the Time Being tells the story of a diary washed ashore inside a Hello Kitty lunchbox and the profound 

effect it has on the woman who discovers it.
A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 

By the most circuitous and serendipitous route imaginable, a video review of Ruth Ozeki's book done by the incomparable Rhomany, convinced me to download it to give it a 'quick read'.
HA!
It was her remark that the book was partly set on 'an island in Canada' that perked up my ears and I said to myself, 'I wonder?'
Sure enough.
The Canadian part of the story is written from the point of view of someone living on one of the islands offshore from Vancouver Island (where I am from) and my hometown even comes into play (albeit briefly).
This book is so well written and moving, that once downloaded, I actually had to read it ALL the way through until 0330 (midnight librarian hours) though admittedly there are some parts that were Very Difficult - kamikaze training, the bullying at school, and the tsunami tradgedy, but even those (which I confess I skipped over since I wanted to sleep that night!) are so well integrated into the story, that in daylight you can go back and pick it up again.
Sidenote: The author Ruth Ozeki is the only practicing Buddhist Priest (so far) who can lay claim to being shortlisted for the very prestigious Booker Prize For Fiction.
Blessings to all Time Beings out there.