I'll have to check this book out. I loved The Book of Form and Emptiness, which is very much a meditation on the nature of things and objects. Also, congrats on 1,000 subscribers!
The Book of Form and Emptiness has been mentioned three times now in the comments to this post so I am definitely putting it on my list to read really soon. I'd like to stay in Ozeki's voice for a while.
Thanks for the congrats. We here at SPARK are more tortoise than hare but we know how to keep moving!
Also, I definitely want to read the Ozeki book now. Aren't Little Free Libraries wonderful things? I read so many things now that I never would have looked for myself.
I love the LFL's in my neighborhood. In fact, tomorrow I am going to drop books off at a bunch of them. Within a few blocks in every direction there are at least six. They have been treasures.
Wow! That’s great! I am not sure where all the ones around here are, but I enjoy stopping at ones I see on road trips, and then there’s also this place:
Wow! That’s great! I am not sure where all the ones around here are, but I enjoy stopping at ones I see on road trips, and then there’s also this place:
It is, indeed, a great diner. Feel free to use “lunch with fellow substack author Jenn” as a reason to make it a through stop on your way to Cape Cod or New Hampshire or Maine or even eastern Canada.
You were the first to mention The Book of Form and Emptiness but not the last in these comments and elsewhere today. Thank you for the recommendation. I'm definitely going to follow it.
The desire to know and the balance between knowing and uncertainty are so relatable. It's a human inclination to seek understanding and knowledge, yet there's a beauty in embracing the unknown, the possibilities, and the mysteries of life and storytelling. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I am probably too comfortable with what I do t know. Another difference between Dan and I. He will win trivia every time. But I do like emotional context- I think it’s key towards repair etc. as you mention, so I pay close attention in that realm.
I’m putting this book on my list. Thanks for the rec. I also loved the moment of zen pic. Thanks Kathy B. Did the arrow work? Clever of you to think of this. I was just telling Dan on our hike that only a small portion of folks who read my work click the heart and I was wondering if it was because it was hard to find it.
Re: the Heart and the arrow, I learned about this from others early on..
I think that folks who receive our posts via email may sometimes, or at least first, avoid clicking the heart or the headline because they are then prompted to register with Substack. Some eventually register as they get more comfortable but for others, it takes a while.
I'm so conflicted! I'm dying to read Nao's diary, and your book synopsis is enticing. But. Like you, I like knowing things. And I can get annoyed with unresolved endings. In fact, I tend to adopt a bratty annoyance with authors who leave me hanging. I like the way you're enjoying the wondering. Maybe I'll read it and try to embrace that behavior. I'll let you know! Congratulations on hitting 1,000!
The interesting thing is that Ozark provides a very satisfying outcome that Ruth, one of the protagonists, believes. It's happy. But we realize in the final pages that we can believe in it only because we don't know for sure. As long as all things remain possible, that satisfying ending survives.
I am just like you when it comes to medical issues. I even went one stop farther and had genomic testing done. I learned some very unexpected (and disconcerting) things about future possible diseases but I have zero regrets about the testing. As for books, it depends on how invested I am in the story. Sometimes I'm ok with an ambiguous ending and unanswered questions. Other times, I vow never to read that author again LOL (but I never mean it). I am infinitely curious so I suspect that pays a role in wanting a definite conclusion to a book. Congratulations on the 1,000 reader milestone!
I don't think the genomic testing is too far. It definitely tests the desire and readiness to know things, though. No regrets is the way to go, though.
I think you're right -- if the author writes a book that satisfies even with an ambiguous ending, then she has done her job. If I arrive at the end and it feels manipulative or just plain unfinished, I don't love it.
Thanks for the congrats and thanks for helping me get there!
I read A Tale for The Time Being last summer and absolutely loved it! I’m glad you did too - it’s definitely a book that surprises you with its brilliance.
Well, Betsy, here was I reading a borrowed library E-book when your post comes along: a pity I can’t post the evidence, but I am presently reading Ruth Ozeki’s ‘Timecode of a Face’ and loving it. She hooked me when I watched an interview last year that she gave at the Cheltenham Book Festival about her life in general and The Book of Form and Emptiness specifically, which I read soon afterwards. Been on my list of ‘Desert Island Books’ ever since (8 titles). As for wanting to know. The truth is we can’t, but thanks to speech and writing we can share, bringing us together in the process, and that has to beat knowing alone! 🐰
I have just ordered The Book of Form and Emptiness and cannot wait to read it. We may not be able to know much for certain but I am pretty sure I am going to love it as much as you did and several others here who recommended it. Thank you!!!
Each Saturday, I welcome your personal reflections on life - past, present, and future - like a hug. Thanks for being who you are and for what you are doing, Sweet Betsy
Synchronicities. How I love when these happen. Just yesterday I was reading an interview with Ruth Ozeki, and am quoting her in a piece I'm putting together, and here she is in Spark. I haven't read the book yet either, but, because of your comments and review, it's moved up on my TBR list. And in the way of synchronicity, I may very well come upon another Ruth Ozeki quote or book or reference today. Thanks for another great Spark to start my Saturday morning.
I'm looking forward to reading the quote you will be sharing and the piece you are writing! She is an amazing writer, you'll be glad you moved the book up your TBR list.
Great piece--and I definitely want to read the book now-- and some good quotes today, too, but the words that floored me this morning were yours:
"They want me to sit with them and love them in the face of uncertainty because it is already clear to them what should always have been clear to me: no amount of knowledge replaces the need for a hand to hold in the darkness."
I love holding hands with you all, in darkness and in the new light of day!
I'll have to check this book out. I loved The Book of Form and Emptiness, which is very much a meditation on the nature of things and objects. Also, congrats on 1,000 subscribers!
The Book of Form and Emptiness has been mentioned three times now in the comments to this post so I am definitely putting it on my list to read really soon. I'd like to stay in Ozeki's voice for a while.
Thanks for the congrats. We here at SPARK are more tortoise than hare but we know how to keep moving!
I think most of us are tortoises rather than hares, but it's not as glamorous or exciting or newsworthy, is it?
No. You never get a headline that reads "she inched forward and eventually made progress." :)
It would be a better world if there were more headlines like that.
Congrats on hitting 1,000 subscribers! Very well deserved.
Thank you, Lyle. I'm grateful.
Photobombed by a hummingbird. Excellent!
Also, I definitely want to read the Ozeki book now. Aren't Little Free Libraries wonderful things? I read so many things now that I never would have looked for myself.
I love the LFL's in my neighborhood. In fact, tomorrow I am going to drop books off at a bunch of them. Within a few blocks in every direction there are at least six. They have been treasures.
Wow! That’s great! I am not sure where all the ones around here are, but I enjoy stopping at ones I see on road trips, and then there’s also this place:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/traveler-restaurant
What a fantastic diner! I'm going to invent a reason to pass though Union , CT.
Wow! That’s great! I am not sure where all the ones around here are, but I enjoy stopping at ones I see on road trips, and then there’s also this place:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/traveler-restaurant
It is, indeed, a great diner. Feel free to use “lunch with fellow substack author Jenn” as a reason to make it a through stop on your way to Cape Cod or New Hampshire or Maine or even eastern Canada.
Every Ozeki book is good and thought-provoking. I think her latest, The Book of Form and Emptiness, might be her best.
You were the first to mention The Book of Form and Emptiness but not the last in these comments and elsewhere today. Thank you for the recommendation. I'm definitely going to follow it.
The desire to know and the balance between knowing and uncertainty are so relatable. It's a human inclination to seek understanding and knowledge, yet there's a beauty in embracing the unknown, the possibilities, and the mysteries of life and storytelling. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I am probably too comfortable with what I do t know. Another difference between Dan and I. He will win trivia every time. But I do like emotional context- I think it’s key towards repair etc. as you mention, so I pay close attention in that realm.
I’m putting this book on my list. Thanks for the rec. I also loved the moment of zen pic. Thanks Kathy B. Did the arrow work? Clever of you to think of this. I was just telling Dan on our hike that only a small portion of folks who read my work click the heart and I was wondering if it was because it was hard to find it.
Re: the Heart and the arrow, I learned about this from others early on..
I think that folks who receive our posts via email may sometimes, or at least first, avoid clicking the heart or the headline because they are then prompted to register with Substack. Some eventually register as they get more comfortable but for others, it takes a while.
What do other folks think?
I'm so conflicted! I'm dying to read Nao's diary, and your book synopsis is enticing. But. Like you, I like knowing things. And I can get annoyed with unresolved endings. In fact, I tend to adopt a bratty annoyance with authors who leave me hanging. I like the way you're enjoying the wondering. Maybe I'll read it and try to embrace that behavior. I'll let you know! Congratulations on hitting 1,000!
The interesting thing is that Ozark provides a very satisfying outcome that Ruth, one of the protagonists, believes. It's happy. But we realize in the final pages that we can believe in it only because we don't know for sure. As long as all things remain possible, that satisfying ending survives.
Thanks for the congrats!
Great post Betsy, looking forward to reading the book!
Thank you, Joleen. You'll be glad you read the novel. It's a great way to spend a few days.
I loved a tale for the time being so much!
I'm not surprised. We have lots of books in common, it seems! I really loved it.
I am just like you when it comes to medical issues. I even went one stop farther and had genomic testing done. I learned some very unexpected (and disconcerting) things about future possible diseases but I have zero regrets about the testing. As for books, it depends on how invested I am in the story. Sometimes I'm ok with an ambiguous ending and unanswered questions. Other times, I vow never to read that author again LOL (but I never mean it). I am infinitely curious so I suspect that pays a role in wanting a definite conclusion to a book. Congratulations on the 1,000 reader milestone!
I don't think the genomic testing is too far. It definitely tests the desire and readiness to know things, though. No regrets is the way to go, though.
I think you're right -- if the author writes a book that satisfies even with an ambiguous ending, then she has done her job. If I arrive at the end and it feels manipulative or just plain unfinished, I don't love it.
Thanks for the congrats and thanks for helping me get there!
I read A Tale for The Time Being last summer and absolutely loved it! I’m glad you did too - it’s definitely a book that surprises you with its brilliance.
Yes. I am keeping it close for a reread. I know I will want to look it over from time to time.
Well, Betsy, here was I reading a borrowed library E-book when your post comes along: a pity I can’t post the evidence, but I am presently reading Ruth Ozeki’s ‘Timecode of a Face’ and loving it. She hooked me when I watched an interview last year that she gave at the Cheltenham Book Festival about her life in general and The Book of Form and Emptiness specifically, which I read soon afterwards. Been on my list of ‘Desert Island Books’ ever since (8 titles). As for wanting to know. The truth is we can’t, but thanks to speech and writing we can share, bringing us together in the process, and that has to beat knowing alone! 🐰
I have just ordered The Book of Form and Emptiness and cannot wait to read it. We may not be able to know much for certain but I am pretty sure I am going to love it as much as you did and several others here who recommended it. Thank you!!!
Each Saturday, I welcome your personal reflections on life - past, present, and future - like a hug. Thanks for being who you are and for what you are doing, Sweet Betsy
Thanks, PJ! And thanks for helping us over the 1,000 subscriber mark!
Synchronicities. How I love when these happen. Just yesterday I was reading an interview with Ruth Ozeki, and am quoting her in a piece I'm putting together, and here she is in Spark. I haven't read the book yet either, but, because of your comments and review, it's moved up on my TBR list. And in the way of synchronicity, I may very well come upon another Ruth Ozeki quote or book or reference today. Thanks for another great Spark to start my Saturday morning.
I'm looking forward to reading the quote you will be sharing and the piece you are writing! She is an amazing writer, you'll be glad you moved the book up your TBR list.
Great piece--and I definitely want to read the book now-- and some good quotes today, too, but the words that floored me this morning were yours:
"They want me to sit with them and love them in the face of uncertainty because it is already clear to them what should always have been clear to me: no amount of knowledge replaces the need for a hand to hold in the darkness."
I love holding hands with you all, in darkness and in the new light of day!
You'll love the book, Jennifer. I'm glad my words resonated with you today and I am grateful for all your support of SPARK!