There’s that whole thing about judging a book by it’s cover. Apparantly you’re not supposed to. But I bet if we’re honest with ourselves, it happens a lot.
I’ll go first.
I’m not a fan of time travel. Or love stories. I’m not a connoisseur of Japanese literature, which is more of a shortcoming than a judgement on my part.
I am a fan of coffee. And the color blue. And while I didn’t need a new book, this past Valentine’s Day I was a lone and feeling sorry for myself, so I wandered to the bookstore and picked up the first thing that caught my eye.
Judging this particular book by its cover worked out. Enter, Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
Toshikazu Kawaguchi adapted this slim novel from a play, and I can envision it unrolling just as wonderful on the stage as on these pages. Kawaguchi takes a sci-fi idea and makes it commonplace - in this particular cafe, in one particular seat, one can visit the past.
“Kohtake was served with a coffee specially brewed by Nagare. With the coffee in front of her, she closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. It was her moment of happiness. As per his insistence, the coffee had been made from mocha beans with their distinct aroma, which coffee drinkers either love or hate. Those who enjoy the aroma, like Kohtake, can’t get enough of it. In fact, you could say that the coffee picked the customers.”
Provided they return before their cup of coffee gets cold.
We have the pleasure of following four vignettes of ordinary people all with very different motivations to visit the past. At its heart, this book is about relationships - lovers, partners, families, sisters, relationships that have changed, relationships that might have been. It’s also a commentary on the nature of time and consequence, as each character grapples with perhaps the most challenging rule of time travel - nothing you do in the past will change the future.
Oh, and there’s a ghost as well.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is full of sumptuous descriptions of the cafe and coffee making, and astute, simply-stated observations of human nature. Reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold feels exactly like curling up in a window seat at your favorite cafe, sipping a vanilla latte and listening to the rain.