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The Book of Form and Emptiness

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The Book of Form and Emptiness

By: Ruth Ozeki
Narrated by: Kerry Shale, Ruth Ozeki
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About this listen

Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022.

When a book and a reader are meant for each other, both of them know it....

After the tragic death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house and sound variously pleasant, angry or sad. Then his mother develops a hoarding problem, and the voices grow more clamorous. So Benny seeks refuge in the silence of a large public library. There he meets a mesmerising street artist with a smug pet ferret; a homeless philosopher-poet; and his very own Book, who narrates Benny’s life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

Blending unforgettable characters with jazz, climate change and our attachment to material possessions, this is classic Ruth Ozeki – bold, humane and heartbreaking.

©2021 Ruth Ozeki (P)2021 Canongate Books Ltd. Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Magical Realism Fantasy Magic Tear-jerking Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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Winner Women's Prize for Fiction 2022

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All stars
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Voice acting sounds like mockery most of the time. It kills all the quiet magic of the story.

Nice story mismatched by performance

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I haven’t got enough words to say how much I loved this book it is a beautiful novel exquisitely written looking at mental illness and grief through many sympathetic lenses. One of which being Zen philosophy and it certainly made me want to learn more about this topic.

I loved every single one of the large cast of characters but I was especially routing for Anabelle the mother who I just adored.

I have heard said that this book needs an edit. Please no just give yourself to 536 pages of masterful and emersive story telling.

Audio book also beautifully performed.

This book is Sublime

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In a book with nearly 100 chapters the reading performance is the key to get me listening and this book was performed superbly. The story was also very interesting and thought provoking concept from The Book perspective. Really enjoyed it!

Amazing performance

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such a beautiful book! I highly recommend this. A great and moving story and great narration.

great book

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the narration brought all aspects of the story alive. I would recommend this book.

loved everything about this book

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I loved this book. I don’t know if the descriptions of mental illness and care are accurate or plausible, but it seemed right and written with love. I mostly think the reading was great but in general don’t like when narrators try to change their voice- particularly not when a male narrator tries to sound like a woman…

Sad and beautiful

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A beautiful woven tale of connection between the different worlds. The author brings every character to life, including inanimate objects. I will never again look at a book or a tea pot or a table in quite the same way again.

Loved the story and the narration

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I really enjoyed this book. It had so many references to, and explorations of, bigger ideas and the human experience. I couldn’t stop listening to it - sometimes through the night.

Layered and beautifully weaved

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I enjoyed this and I liked the narration. A bit slow in places but overall a great story telling. Loving Ruth Ozeki!

Enjoyable

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This was one of the strangest, but most enjoyable books I have come across, and the author has been very well served by Kerry Shale’s reading of it. He differentiated the various characters beautifully, from the quivering uncertainty of Annabel’s voice to the booming Slavic generosity of The B-Man. A book of rare humanity and an unbeatable performance.

Wonderful reading

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