I loved this book so much, too, I especially felt like Nao and her father were actual people I knew; it was a really uncanny feeling. I was moved by Ozeki's great compassion in writing about the mental health challenges of two different generations, and at the same time never letting the beauty of their lives be diminished, a theme she carried over to Form and Emptiness.

Alrighty, I just saw you recommend The Incarnations in another thread, and since I revere Ozeki and Mitchell, Barker just zoomed to the upper stack of my tbr. TY!!!

Still hoping for time travel!

There's nothing wrong with having copies of your book in both languages--try reading them in tandem. Also, think about this as a different kind of reading until you get proficient. It's more fun if you take plenty of time, read passages out loud, make flashcards, etc. Popular fiction includes quite a lot of vernacular and slang that you might not find easily in language instruction materials. When you layer on the author's style and use of literary devices, that's quite a lot of complexity to understand in one read-through. Good for you, OP for branching out in a new language!!