Butter by Asako Yuzuki (English + Japanese) eBook

“Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder PDF” by Asako Yuzuki is a novel of surprising depth. While it may appear as a simple thriller at first glance, its depths reveal thought-provoking themes touching upon isolation, gender roles, societal pressures, body image, and individual autonomy.

In recent times, female Japanese authors have been making waves in the global literary scene, and rightfully so. The raw, unsettling, and thought-provoking feminist narratives of writers like Sayaka Murata and Mieko Kawakami have garnered well-deserved attention.

Asako Yuzuki joins this league with her blockbuster “Butter”, although with a twist: while Murata sends her characters into the wilderness to explore extreme dynamics, Yuzuki’s novel provocatively revolves around a woman’s affinity for buttering her rice. Yes, it’s a narrative that avoids offense, disturbance, or confusion, offering instead a gentle and easily digestible tale of entertainment.

Our protagonist, Rika, a magazine employee in her thirties, seeks to interview a woman accused of seducing and murdering three men through her culinary prowess. Entering the world of Kajii, Rika becomes ensnared in her web, succumbing to the manipulations of this deeply troubled woman and indulging, quite liberally, in butter.

Themes of misogyny, particularly in the workplace and concerning female body ideals, intertwine with discussions of pleasure and, most prominently, loneliness. Whether it’s the lonely men Kajii ensnared or Rika’s male acquaintances grappling with alienation, or even the women like Rika and her friend Reiko, conforming to traditional roles, loneliness permeates the narrative.

At its core, the novel stretches itself too thin, with extensive descriptions of culinary delights serving as a metaphor for life’s pleasures or, more directly, sex. While this might appeal to food enthusiasts, some, like myself, found the excessive butter indulgence a culinary sacrilege. Moreover, the butter metaphor, like the narrative itself, lacks complexity. Ultimately, the book concludes with a feminist commentary reminiscent of Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Despite its length, the novel zips by, thanks in part to the excellent translation by Ursula Gräfe. However, “Butter” falls short of exemplifying the heights of Japanese female literature’s current acclaim, being too safe, straightforward, and simplistic.

Nonetheless, it offers a lighthearted and enjoyable read for those seeking entertainment.

About Butter – Asako Yuzuki PDF