Books are really time machines, says Ruth Ozeki

“That’s what books are, they’re containers for memory. They’re containers for the stories of the past. It’s an artifact that allows you to communicate with the past… I would imagine most writers have this sense of the book as being a kind of conduit between the past and the present, because of course, as I’m writing the book, I’m realizing that I’m talking to people who exist in the future, who might not even be alive yet.”
— Ruth Ozeki

The author Ruth Ozeki turned 70 earlier this month. This thoughtful commentary about books, writers, readers and time comes from a 2021 interview.