Ruth Ozeki's The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021) tells the story of a teenage boy and his mother as they struggle to rebuild their lives after the sudden death of the family's father. The novel blends grief, mental illness, and Zen Buddhist philosophy into a moving exploration of what it means to listen to the world and find meaning within chaos.
After the accidental death of his jazz musician father, Kenji, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear the voices of inanimate objects. The voices belong to things like his father's clarinet, the refrigerator, and even pieces of trash. They whisper, chatter, and shout, creating a world that feels crowded and noisy. At the same time, Benny's mother, Annabelle, begins hoarding objects in an attempt to cope with her grief. The more she collects, the louder the voices around Benny become, until their home is overflowing with both possessions and emotional weight.
Unable to find peace, Benny starts spending time in the public library, where the objects are calm and orderly. In this quiet refuge, he discovers new friendships and ideas that help him understand his strange gift. He meets a homeless artist called the Aleph, a poet-philosopher who challenges conventional views of sanity and reality. Benny also encounters the Book—a mysterious, sentient narrator that tells his story and guides him toward self-awareness. The Book helps him learn to distinguish between the voices that confuse him and the ones that offer wisdom.
Meanwhile, Annabelle's hoarding spirals into a crisis that threatens her well-being. Her turning point comes when she discovers a Zen-inspired decluttering guide called Tidy Magic, which teaches her that letting go of possessions can also mean letting go of grief. Slowly, she begins to confront her pain and reconnect with her son.
By the end, both Benny and Annabelle start to rebuild their lives with a clearer sense of peace and understanding. Benny learns to listen more deeply—not only to the objects around him but also to the silence within himself. The novel closes with a sense of balance between form and emptiness, echoing Zen teachings about impermanence and interconnectedness.
