Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
What is it about?
Would you travel back in time, if you had the chance? Who would you like to meet and why?
OK, but what is it really about?
At first glance, the small windowless café, located in an unassuming back alley somewhere in Tokyo, looks like a relic of long gone times. But an urban legend says that visitors to this café can travel back to the past if they are willing to follow a set of rules. These rules include, among others, that they have to sit at a certain table at the café and are not allowed to get up from that designated chair while visiting the past. They have to understand that they can’t change the present. And here comes the most important one: They must drink the entire cup before the coffee goes cold. If the time travellers break one of these rules, they turn into a ghost, condemned to sit at the very same spot in the café forever – or at least until the next person forgets to come back to the present on time.
Is it any good?
I’ll be honest, it took a while for me to get into the rhythm of this novel. Sure, any book that revolves around time travel is a little odd to begin with, but even when you accept this premise as a given, “Before the coffee gets cold” is written in a way that didn’t feel instantly accessible to me: too many repetitions and a rather slow pace. Perhaps it’s the fact that the author, Toshikazu Kawaguchi, is a playwright, and this novel was indeed adapted from one of his plays. But once I familiarized myself with his distinct writing style, this book turned into a true pleasure to read.
When we first meet Fumiko, who desperately wants to travel back in time to prevent her boyfriend Goro from moving to the US for his dream job, the other characters mentioned – the café owner, the waitress, the patrons – only seem to play a minor role. They seem to be there to advance the plot, to move things along and send the time travellers on their way. But as the story progresses, these seemingly second characters gradually come to the fore. Luckily so, because their stories that made me fall in love with this book. They are, at times, very melodramatic, but moving nonetheless.
Favorite character?
Almost all the characters in “Before the coffee gets cold” get their day in the sun. Some stories are more touching than others. After I finished reading this book, I realized that there was one character I still wanted to learn more about: Kazu, the waitress, who plays such a crucial part in sending the time travellers to the past, yet still remains somewhat of a mystery. She often seems detached and very matter-of-factly, but can also show real vulnerability in certain situations. I would have loved to find out more about Kazu.
Most memorable quote?
“But Kazu still goes on believing that, no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart.”
Conclusion?
After reading the first chapter, I thought to myself, what a peculiar little book. But only one night later, I found myself intrigued, strangely moved and emotionally invested in the characters and their storylines, even shedding a tear or two when learning more about their (at times truly heartbreaking) fate.
Do you know this feeling when you look at someone and don’t even notice them at first because they seem so unassuming? And then you are allowed a glimpse behind the façade, and suddenly everything is different? You are taken aback and can’t for the life of you remember why you weren’t drawn in in the first place? That’s exactly how I feel about this book. It reveals its appeal only slowly, page by page, chapter by chapter, but once you’re hooked, you won’t be able to let go – which, fortunately, you don’t have to because as I found out yesterday, the sequel “Tales from the café” was published last year. Now excuse me, I have to place an online book order.
AT A GLANCE
Title: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Translated by: Geoffrey Trousselot
Published by: Picador (2019)
Pages: 224
Language: English