In All Over Creation, she succeeds in drawing her readers into the lives of characters who are complex, fascinating and very real. She stimulates thought by artfully imparting information without preaching, weaving it seamlessly into the fabric of plot and character. Above all, again and again she moves the reader deeply with her ability to convey the depths of human relationships, as well as the joys and tribulations of youth, maturity and old age. Her exposition of the many forms that the family dynamic can take is done with great feeling and delicacy. Parent and child, man and woman, husband and wife, young and old, she explores them all with great wisdom and compassion, all the while maintaining the edge that is required to treat some very large issues of good and evil.
I do not like to read reviews that give away too much plot, but I cannot praise this story enough. It is thought provoking, gut wrenching, warm, frightening, heartening, joyous and sad, all at once. This is a book that draws you deeply into the lives of the characters, and when you come to the end of the story, you are left with a profound feeling of having partaken in their journey. Once again, I can't wait for Ms. Ozeki's next one.
Ozeki again proved able to weave an entertaining and touching tale interwining human nature and our food supply. She tells a poignant and touching story about the unpredictability of nature while simultaneously making you laugh out loud.
While Ozeki's satirical style makes the situation sound far fetched, she is again absolutely on time, as confirmed in recent articles in "Harpers" and the "New York Times" have confirmed. There is a sound basis in fear underlying the strident opposition of the Europeans to genetically alerted crops besides a seemingly elitist aversion to the American largely convenience food diet. Ozeki accurately represents how genetic modification of the agriculture is a critical threat to the world's health supply as a whole. Unfortunately, the actual outcome is less likely to be as upbeat as the novel's end.
