Hooked

I have just started reading Ruth Ozeki’s “A Tale for the Time Being” and all I can say is thank god for this book having two narrators.  While I understand that you can’t just start a book somewhere exciting and that you have to build, if the author had put her point of view instead of Nao’s first entry as the first chapter in the book I don’t think I could have continued reading.  Sure, I could see why someone would have put it the other way.  If we were to get a glimpse into the narrator/author’s point of view first and then Nao’s first entry after the narrator found the book then it would be in chronological order and would also make sense.  But I repeat, thank god that was not the case.  This is one of those moments where you realize how important hooks are to any piece of writing.  Nao’s entry immediately engaged me and made me want to keep reading even once the author began to tell her story about walking on the beach.  If the first diary entry was that interesting, surely it could only get better as she told the story of her grandmother.  Who also sounds incredibly interesting.  I can’t wait to learn more about her.  In fact, I am so interested in Nao and her grandmother that I am willing to put up with entire chapters where the most interesting sentence is: “Ruth was a novelist, and novelists, Oliver asserted, should have cats and books” (11).  I suppose a congratulations are in order, for having cats and reading books and all.  Please, elaborate even further on your life as I wait (im)patiently to find out what great stories this buddhist nun grandmother has and of course what happens to the teenage girl who is going to kill herself as soon as she finishes writing the stories down (this is not a spoiler, she tells us in the first diary entry that she is planning to commit suicide and it is also on the back of the book).  Anyways, back to the importance of engaging hooks.  As I trudged through the narrator’s first paragraph, I couldn’t help contrasting different aspects of both sections and wondering why Nao was so much more interesting than the actual author of the book.  After all, she is a published author and this novel was a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker Prize.  One key characteristic that stood out to me was the opening line that each chose to use.

Nao

“Hi!  My name is Nao, and I am a time being.  Do you know what a time being is?  Well if you give me a moment, I will tell you,” (3).

My Reaction

No, I have no idea what a time being is.  I am not going to lie, I originally thought that “time being” in the title was being used like “we will meet in his office for the time being”, not a being of time.  So no, I don’t know what a time being is, please tell me.  Please explain what the title of this book I am about to invest hours of my time in means.

Ruth (Author)

“A tiny sparkle caught Ruth’s eye, a small glint of refracted sunlight angling out from beneath a massive tangle of bulging kelp…” (8).

My Reaction

I couldn’t even convince myself to finish copying down the entire first sentence.  Yes I would like to know what is so important about the thing that caught her eye in a bunch of sea gunk but, you know, could you get to the point a little faster?  Yes your descriptions are beautiful, and for being an author successful enough for me to have found this novel I would you would be able to describe things nicely.  But I get the point.  Please tell me what is so important about the seaweed and explain what this has to do with the girl who is going to kill herself.

What I have concluded is that hooks are important.  The initial thoughts and reactions of the reader are likely going to decide whether or not they give up on your book after the first couple chapters, pages, or even sentences.  So, well played Ruth Ozeki, I am hooked.