Butter by Asoko Yuzuki

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Anyone else reading this? It's been strongly pushed in Waterstones, so I'd be surprised if no one else was

No, but will be after Christmas. I’m hoping it’s good.

Reading it now! Enjoying it so far. The descriptions of food are mouthwatering and I want to try some of it!

Yes, I have to keep on googling it though.
I'm enjoying it, but find that this, like other Japanese books I've read, have a very 'flat' style.
Not sure I enjoy that

I did this with my book club! We agreed the food descriptions made us actually hungry.

There was also a description of snow that I loved. It did such a good job of making me feel cold.

I agree with you about the ‘flat’, spare style. It’s in so many Japanese books I’ve read I wonder if it is a phenomenon of translating Japanese into English

I've read it. I've never read anything by a Japanese writer and it's encouraged me to try something else, but the descriptions of eating made me shudder. So much slurping, shovelling and tucking in!

I am! I quite agree with the 'flat' description. It's why I hated Before the Coffee Gets Cold. I too wonder if it's a translation issue. I usually love a good 'food' book (Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder makes me hungry every time!) but the descriptions in this leave me cold.

I feel like this is a genre that is being way too heavily pushed at the moment.

I LOVED it. Very strange as it was a slow, slow read but it was a world I loved going in to every night and I think it portrayed the misogyny towards women in Japan really well.

I'm listening to it on audible and enjoying it. Definitely agree about the food descriptions. The point about misogyny in Japan is very interesting.

I chose it as I enjoyed Clara and the Sun so much I wanted to explore another Japanese writer.

I’ve just finished it. I enjoyed it initially but lost interest from halfway onwards and by the end I really didn’t care about any of the characters. Looking at some online reviews it’s referred to as a thriller - I didn’t think there was anything thrilling about it! I didn’t believe in any of the characters and I’m astonished it was inspired by a true story. i don’t get the hype at all.

i can recommend sweet bean paste 😀

I enjoyed it but found the end a bit too much tbh

i di love a good Japanese murder mystery though and there are some really good psychological thrillers (Pro Bono was amazing)

I’ve got it on my to read pile - it was a Christmas present and it hasn’t spoken to me yet to start it. I do love food though, so maybe next!

I enjoyed it but it’s at least 100 pages too long.
And it’s very, very Japanese. Which I like.
I’m reading Pachinko at the moment (which I’m loving - only 3 pages to go!) and it’s obvious that it was written in English rather than translated from Korean or Japanese.

I read it for book club. I'm a voracious reader, but did struggle with it a little from about two thirds of the way in. I don't know if this was the style, or the translation (but I do read a lot in translation). I didn't love it, anyway. But that's book club!

It’s just too long.

Hated it. Ate a lot of butter the week I read it. Back to normal now, though will keep my eye open for 4am ramen.

Also read it with book club.

it wasn’t a favourite of mine. The endles. descriptions were unnecessary and the ending was disappointing

Also, there were some errors in the English (e.g. disinterested instead of uninterested) that made me wonder how much of what didn’t work was down to the translator.