The Book of Form and Emptiness is a contemporary novel by Japanese American filmmaker and novelist Ruth Ozeki. Published in 2021 by Viking, the novel is a coming of age story that deals with grief, physical and mental growth, and our relationships with non-living things.
Benny Oh is a fourteen-year-old boy who has just lost his father in a tragic accident. While at home alone, he begins to hear voices all around the house. Benny soon finds out that mundane things in the house are talking in a strange way. He doesn't understand their words but understands their emotional state. As things begin to pile up in the house, the more voices he hears.
Attempting to ignore the voices only makes things worse. Wherever he goes, he hears the voices until he goes to the public library and discovers a whole new world of things. Benny goes on an epic journey of discovery where he will fall in love and learn unimaginable things. These experiences will forever change who he is and make him better as he struggles with the loss of his father. Benny has to take up the responsibility left by his father, quell the chaos.
The Book of Form and Emptiness has a fine selection of characters who are sympathetic but vibrant at the same time. It explores our attachments to material things and the meaning we put on them to give us purpose. The subject is bold and interesting, and we get to witness Benny grow and experience love, heartbreak, loss, and finally inner peace. The novel is a significant tool for self-reflection, as Ozeki intended it to exist metaphysically.
