Just when it seemed we were safe to come out of the basement and join the world again, COVID-19 paid a new visit in the form of the Omicron variant so we are back to BCZ (Book Club Zooming). This was not all bad, however, as it allowed us to fold in those who are vacationing or living in warmer, sunnier places.
To orient ourselves, let's start with the publisher's description:
"One year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-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.
At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the
voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school,
driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public
library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers.
There, Benny discovers a strange new world. He falls in love with a
mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library
as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who
encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst
the many.
And he meets his very own Book—a talking thing—who
narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly
matter."
Insights and Opinions
+ Once discussion started, our group drew immediate comparisons between this book and Ozeki's earlier work, A Tale for the Time Being, which we read years ago, discussed and loved. Steve and Linda pointed to the themes and devices common to both books -- grief and loss, the animating power of the written word and its ability to change one's life, the sentience of all things.
+ Lois highlighted the theme of reality and how it is experienced differently by each character, leading to the ultimate question with which Benny has to grapple -- what is real? There is Benny's reality, and his mother Annabelle's reality, the reality of the therapist, and the librarian. All profoundly different yet all profoundly real to the person.
+ To Steve, the objects themselves also became important characters -- the voices, the books, the snow globes, the teapots, Benny's Coping Cards, The Aleph's hand-written notes tucked away for others to find and follow or not -- even the precipitous bridge in the library addition.
+ As someone who spent time working in libraries, Margy appreciated the accuracy of the library as a character. Librarians do form relationships with their regular homeless occupants and libraries are also faced with the current-day challenges of deaccession and bindery closure as technology takes over.
+ There was some disagreement about whether the ending wrapped up too precipitously but then Steve rightly pointed out that everything that occurs in the closing pages is introduced as a possibility earlier on and, as a result, the book reaches its logical conclusion. To Steve, Kenji was there all along, perhaps nudging things toward a better place.
+ To Liz, Ozeki's treatment of every character was compassionate. As a result, despite the oppressive force overtaking Benny and Annabelle, a reader is led to understand everyone's point of view -- each player's reality. There are no good guys or bad guys. Just flawed people trying to make it through the day.
+ Ozeki is a superlative writer. As is our way, we brought our favorite passages to read aloud. There are too many to share here. But consider this quote from The Bottleman: "Ze truth about stories is that is all we are. A famous Cherokee writer named Thomas King once said this. We are ze stories we tell ourselves, Benny-boy. We meck ourselves."
+ Margy admitted to having actually read Walter Benjamin's Unpacking My Library, which amazed us all.
+ This is a perfect pandemic book and, as Lois suggested, should be kept on one's shelf, taken down regularly, opened to any page, and read until you are calm.
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| The best way to enjoy our book discussion. |
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