Book Review – Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This book is translated from Japanese by Geoffery Trousselot. I am mentioning the translator because translators don’t get enough credit for their work. It takes skill and know-how to translate not just words but nuances of one language into another.

I picked up this book because the premise of the book is so interesting – there’s a cafe down a little side street in Japan where you can travel back in time to meet or do whatever you feel you need to. Who would you meet? What would you do?

Of course, every time travel mechanism has its rules. This one is no exception – you have to stay in that one seat and have to return to the present before the coffee gets cold – will the many rules stop you from attempting to travel back in time?

A woman wants to travel back in time to say the things she didn’t say at her last meeting with her boyfriend. A wife wants to receive a letter from her husband who is losing his memory. A sister to speak to her estranged sister one last time. A mother to meet the child she never met. Although it seems to start out as four different stories, there is a fine link between all the stories and it’s not just the location (the cafe) where these stories take place. I will leave you to find out for yourselves.

I like the simple way the stories are written; direct yet with a certain quietness that I associate with the Japanese culture. I find my heart warmed not only by the people who are so desperate to travel back in time but also by the people who run the cafe, especially by the twist at the end which personally affects the owners of the cafe. It was also interesting to get an insight into some aspects of Japanese culture.

I highly recommend this book to those who want something which tugs at the heartstrings, offers some cultural perspective and leaves you asking questions of yourself and your own heart’s desires.

This book left me wanting to know who are the other people who might have travelled back in time. So it’s a good thing Kawaguchi wrote 3 more books, which I will be adding to my TBR list 😀

Happy Reading!

syc