Author Elif Shafak constructs a highly unorthodox frame for her narrative in 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. She starts off with the death of her heroine Tequila Leila, and how she can still notice and remember things for several minutes as she lies dead, newly murdered, in a dumpster. We follow newly-dead Leila along as she recalls things from her life; it revolved around a motley group of her devoted friends and would-be lovers. Through this device Shafak hones in brilliantly on the...
November 08, 2021
"the book of form and emptiness," by ruth ozeki
Ruth Ozeki shows once again the Buddhist path to happiness in The Book of Form and Emptiness. As in 2013’s touching and memorable (and short-listed for the Booker) A Tale for the Time Being, Buddhist principles make a powerful appearance and form an influential background voice, deeper even than the voices heard by Form and Emptiness’s hero Benny. Our compassionate author offers to take us, her Kindergarten class, to a portal where The Way is apparent, in all its enigmatic glory and deceptive simplicity....
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