Les delices de Tokyo (vuoden 2017 painos)

رقيقة وبسيطة هي "ملذات طوكيو" ولو أن ترجمة العنوان بالنسبة إلي العنوان الإنجليزي بدت غريبة
العنوان الأصلي كان حشوة الفاصوليا الحلوة
حشوة الفاصولياء التي كان يعدها سينتارو بطريقة سيئة ثم جاءت السيدة يوشي توكي مشوهة الأصابع لكي تعلمه أشهي وألذ حشوة
كانت السيدة يوشي عجوز في السبعين من عمرها تقريبا أصابعها مشوهة جراء مرض قديم ألم بها
ولكنها كانت تصنع الحلويات بحب وتجيد الإصغاء إلي لغة العالم الخفية
كانت ماهرة حقا ولكنها منبوذة من المجتمع بسبب وصمة مرضها السابق الذي أدي إلي تشوهها
إنه لمن المؤلم أن يتم حجزك بعيدا عن الناس منذ طفولتك بسبب مرض معد وبعد أن تتعافي تماما تجد نفسك وقد ضاع عمرك والمجتمع يخافك ويرهبك بسبب تشوهك ولا يقبل منك شيئا
يتطلب الأمر شجاعة كبيرة وكفاح مضن لمن هو منبوذ لكي يندمج مرة أخري في الحياة ويحتاج إلي مجتمع متفهم واعي لا يتأثر تفكيره بشكل أو هيئة
ينقبل الآخر بذكاء وبدون إيلام ( )

I saw the movie based on this book on Netflix and really liked the story of a down-and-out, handicapped older woman who is given a job making dorayaki, a sweet pastry of pancakes filled with bean paste. She helps the struggling owner of the failing shop to attract buyers with her delicious recipe and cooking. But she hides a secret that will be a huge problem for her and for the shop owner, Sentaro, as time goes by.

The characters and plot are heartwarming and unexpected. A very enjoyable novel. ( )

A not unfamiliar premise: a man working a dead end job making dorayaki (a pancake filled with sweet bean paste) is drifting along in his life. He has no prospects from a previous criminal record and no ambition, he just continues making these sweets. Until one day Tokue walks into the shop and changes Sentaro's life in ways he could never expect.

The premise was not unusual or strange but the book seemed ultimately cliched. You can pretty much predict how the book will go: sour guy with a chip on his shoulder doesn't know to do with this quirky character who has a mysterious past and story to tell. He's initially reluctant to deal with her in any way that would upend his existence but of course this character finds a way into his life, he gets curious about her and eventually she changes his life for the better.

Maybe because it's such a cliched story or because it's in translation or because I actually ended up watching part of the movie adaptation I wasn't impressed. I realized it seemed familiar and I see that I watched the film not long ago and didn't even make it all the way to the end.

It's a pity but I suppose the only good thing was learning a bit more about leprosy and its sufferers in Japan. Otherwise I'm lukewarm at having purchased this book and wish I could have picked it up from the library instead. ( )

This is a great little book, on the surface charmingly whimsical but as we progress it delves into deeper territory and some weighty issues. Sentaro, an ex-convict, works in a confectionery shop making dorayaki, Japanese filled pancakes. Into his life enters Takue, an elderly woman suffering the long-ago scars of leprosy. So begins their journey of discovery together, along with schoolgirl Wakana, as the novel explores various metaphors of imprisonment - both physical and mental - and how we should live our lives in harmony with Nature and the world around us. Touching, moving and well-written, this is a book to make you ponder your life and your place in the grand scheme of things! ( )

The title of the book – and the writer’s name (Durian? As in like the fruit? Or does it have some other meaning?)- was what attracted me at first, as well as the lovely color scheme of the cover.

And what a poignant and moving story this was.

It’s an odd couple kind of story. An ex-con working at a dorayaki shop to pay his debts and a 76-year-old woman with gnarled hands who asks him for a job at the shop, offering to teach him her recipe for sweet bean paste, which she says she’s been making for fifty years.

(Dorayaki is a Japanese confectionary with sweet red bean paste sandwiched between two small pancakes.)

Sentaro doesn’t want to hire her at first, even though she offers to accept a lower pay. But it turns out that Tokue makes amazing sweet bean paste.

“Unlike the ready-made paste, this was the smell of fresh, living beans. It has depth. It had life. A mellow, sweet taste unfurled inside Sentaro’s mouth.”

Sentaro had been using a commercially-made paste which isn’t exactly the best. He’s been pretty much grudgingly doing his work every day, it’s more about paying off his debt than anything else.

But after he hires her, business begins to improve. And Sentaro starts to be more interested in the making of dorayaki. They experiment with beans from different countries. And since Tokue doesn’t work every day, Sentaro begins to make the paste himself.

However word soon gets out – to the customers, to the shop owner – that there may be something wrong with Tokue. People stay away from the shop, the owner wants Sentaro to get rid of her. But how can he?

Sweet Bean Paste is a story about loneliness, about prejudice, about two outsiders who become unlikely friends. I loved how the focus was just on a few characters and the friendships that developed among them.

And oh, the changing of the seasons, especially with all the cherry blossoms!

“Blossom surrounds him on all sides, as if he is at the centre of a deep, sparkling lake. He senses the full force of emotion that has been dormant in the trees all year, waiting for this once-a-year explosion of joy: their pure, unadulterated happiness.”

And most of all, this book will make you long for a taste of dorayaki. Or maybe you’ll be tempted to try to make your own!

And that was exactly what I did.

(See my blog post for my adventures in dorayaki making) ( )