"Books Will Always Have the Last Word": Ruth Ozeki's The Book of Form and Emptiness

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“...story is more than just a discarded by-product if your bare experience. Story is its own bare experience. Fish swim in water, unaware that it is water. Birds fly in air, unaware that it is air. Story is the air that you people breathe, the ocean you swim in, and we books are the rocks along the shoreline that channel your currents and contain your tides. Books will always have the last word, even if nobody is around to read them.”


“Every person is trapped in their own particular bubble of delusion, and it's every person's task in life to break free. Books can help. We can make the past into the present, take you back in time and help you remember. We can show you things, shift your realities and widen your world, but the work of waking up is up to you.”

What is emptiness? In this book, Ruth Ozeki's creative imagination shines thru as she writes about loss/grief and the emptiness that ensues upon losing a loved one.
Benny Oh and Annabelle Oh are the main characters of this story, a son and mother that lose their father/spouse in a horrible and freak accident.
As a result of this loss, we learn about how both deal with this tragedy, with Benny hearing voices, skipping school, and finding solace in his public library. Benny meets a host of colorful characters with their own personal tragedies and how they cope. Benny finds love with a fellow psychiatric patient, Alice, and learns from the homeless philosopher/poet's quips and musings. And, then Benny finds the Book. The Book is a character in itself that directs Benny to what really matters in life.
Throughout Benny's struggles with grief, Annabelle is trying desperately to help her son while coping with her own grief. She has basically given up on herself after losing her husband and begins hoarding to cope, not willing to let anything go. Through Ruth Ozeki's writing, we learn about how Annabelle pushes through her grief to help Benny, so the two can work through their loss together and recover.
The story is beautifully narrated by Kerry Shale who breathes life into all the different characters.
Ruth Ozeki has once again created a beautiful piece that is full of vivid imaginations. Loved this story and would recommend it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

More on the book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57004637-the-book-of-form-and-emptiness

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