The Book of Form and Emptiness

No cover — Ruth Ozeki: The Book of Form and Emptiness (Hardcover, 2021, Penguin LCC US)

Hardcover, 548 pages

Published Sept. 20, 2021 by Penguin LCC US.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-48940-6

(1 review)

Literary Award: Women's Prize for Fiction (2022)

A brilliantly inventive new novel about loss, growing up, and our relationship with things, by the Booker Prize-finalist author of A Tale for the Time Being

After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.

6 editions

Court reviewed The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Unsatisfying

3 stars

Content warning Spoilers for the ending

Too long, a good number of pages could be cut to its benefit. It takes a while for things to get going. The sections on the Marie Kondo equivalent didn't add anything.
While the descriptions of mental illness feel believable and interesting, at the end things are wrapped up in an unsatisfying and inauthentic way. Annabelle did not really have an "aha" moment, I don't think she even got real therapy, and Benny didn't have a breakthrough with medication or treatment. I don't feel that either are truly on a path towards healing.
Some distasteful language around Benny's new friends, many of who are experiencing homelessness. These secondary characters felt like cliches as well.

I enjoyed the premise and I felt like Benny's and Annabelle's struggles were well documented, though could have been a little tighter. Ultimately I'm not sure what this book was trying to tell me.

Subjects

Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Contemporary