I’m reading this time warped historical novel by Ruth Ozeki that includes my favorite 13th century Japanese philosophers, Dogen Zenji. I’m only 25% in but this great and has my attention and imagination. Ruth’s writing is fantastic and fanciful. Instructive in that it is very, very descriptive. Something my writing sorely lacks. Ruth weaves autobiographical data with fiction in a caring way that moves me, the reader. Writing what she knows. Two of the characters are married and named Ruth and Oliver. Oliver is the name of her real life husband and an important part of the book is set on an island of the coast of British Columbia and Ruth and Oliver live on an Cortes Island of the coast of British Columbia. This all fits nicely with the story which weaves time and being and time being into the narrative. Multilayered and intriguing on many levels.
More to come, as I continue exploring Dogen’s fascicle in the collection Shobogenzo called “Uji’, which is where he outlines his notions of moments and of time being.