Sweet Bean Paste: The International Bestseller
'I'm in story heaven with this book.' Cecelia Ahern, author of P.S. I Love You
A charming tale of friendship, love and loneliness in contemporary Japan
Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.
But everything is about to change.
Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed,
with devastating consequences.
Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa’s beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.
A charming tale of friendship, love and loneliness in contemporary Japan
Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.
But everything is about to change.
Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape and Tokue’s dark secret is revealed,
with devastating consequences.
Sweet Bean Paste is a moving novel about the burden of the past and the redemptive power of friendship. Translated into English for the first time, Durian Sukegawa’s beautiful prose is capturing hearts all over the world.
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Community Reviews
3.75!
A simple, easy-going slice-of-life book about finding meaning in the fact of being alive.
I enjoy these kinds of books precisely for the fact of its mundane settings and ideas. I love to read about people, and how they slowly but surely come accross their own personal challenges, how they face them and find comfort in creating meaningful connections to others.
It is simple, but it hits a personal sweet spot. Makes me believe our everyday lives are stories worth telling.
I also loved the choice of the author to make the three characters from three different generations. I thought it was a great idea to explore the theme of this book.
The flaws I found on this book, however, were in the developing of characters.
I understood that some things went unsaid, and could be interpreted, but I would have liked for the author to dig a bit more deeper in the character's worlds, especially Wakana's.
Since this story is mainly character driven, it would have been nice to spend a bit more of time with these characters and their relationship, and make this last one far more intertwined. Although there was definitely a try by the end of the book, I found it a tad too late. It would have been best if it was earlier on in the book. A few more pages would have benefitted this story, in my opinion.
Nevertheless, the main message of the book came accross the entire story, slowly showing and ending it with a BAM. Would be lovely to find more books from this author translated!
A simple, easy-going slice-of-life book about finding meaning in the fact of being alive.
I enjoy these kinds of books precisely for the fact of its mundane settings and ideas. I love to read about people, and how they slowly but surely come accross their own personal challenges, how they face them and find comfort in creating meaningful connections to others.
It is simple, but it hits a personal sweet spot. Makes me believe our everyday lives are stories worth telling.
I also loved the choice of the author to make the three characters from three different generations. I thought it was a great idea to explore the theme of this book.
The flaws I found on this book, however, were in the developing of characters.
I understood that some things went unsaid, and could be interpreted, but I would have liked for the author to dig a bit more deeper in the character's worlds, especially Wakana's.
Since this story is mainly character driven, it would have been nice to spend a bit more of time with these characters and their relationship, and make this last one far more intertwined. Although there was definitely a try by the end of the book, I found it a tad too late. It would have been best if it was earlier on in the book. A few more pages would have benefitted this story, in my opinion.
Nevertheless, the main message of the book came accross the entire story, slowly showing and ending it with a BAM. Would be lovely to find more books from this author translated!
category: oldest on TBR list
Iâm glad to have finally read this book! It was really comforting and sweet and a nice book short enough to read in one sitting.
Iâm glad to have finally read this book! It was really comforting and sweet and a nice book short enough to read in one sitting.
I read this on the plane to Japan because I thought I should read a Japanese novel to keep on theme â and I loved it! Just love, love, loved it. Plus, I got to eat dorayaki while I was there! It wasnât fresh off the grill, but it was delicious.
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