His mother, Annabelle, grappling with her own sorrow, tries and fails to help as Benny cycles through despair, anger and the pains of growing up. In his grief, Benny starts hearing voices from inanimate objects. Ozeki, a Zen Buddhist priest, Smith College professor and the author of 2013’s Booker-shortlisted “ A Tale for the Time Being,” tells the story of Benny Oh, a teenager whose father, a caring and lighthearted jazz musician, is run over by a garbage truck. This startling notion animates Ruth Ozeki’s new novel, “ The Book of Form and Emptiness,” a vivid story of fraught adolescence, big ideas and humanity’s tenuous hold on a suffering planet. What if all our acquisitions, effortlessly acquired, started talking back to us, their voices crowding our heads as their presence clutters our lives? Capitalism, the internet and Amazon have ensured we can have anything we desire (and can afford). We live in an age dominated by our possessions. If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from, whose fees support independent bookstores.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |