A Lazy Reader's Review of "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Synopsis

    What would you change if you could go back in time?

    In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

    In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café's time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

    But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally,, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Review

    If I were to review this novel in one word it would be this: bitterdsweet.

    The writing, translated from Japanese to English by Geoffrey Trousselot, is almost simplistic, which can make the emotional beats feel a bit heavy-handed or overly spelled out. However, I will say that the second chapter, which focuses on a marriage that ended too soon after the husband was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's almost sent me to my grave. It was gut-wrenching. I felt so sad for the entire chapter. Just rip my heart out of my chest, it would probably hurt less.

    The novel shines when it discusses the tension between what can and cannot be changed, offering a reminder that revisiting the past doesn't necessarily mean rewriting it. This liminal space – the café – offers a chance for the characters to confront what they wish they had said or done differently at one important point in their lives.

    It's downside, however, is that it can feel quite repetitive at times with its pacing and adherence to the café's rules occasionally stalling the narrative's momentum. The characters, while sympathetic, lack the depth that might make their struggles truly resonate. I think that's just the price you pay when you write a series of short stories about people going through difficult times in their lives. You can't give them the space they deserve to grow as characters because you're too focused on passing the overarching message through each story.

    Overall, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a bittersweet, gentle read that offers moments of emotional resonance but doesn't fully deliver on its intriguing premise. It's the kind of book that inherently invites the readers to reflect on life's fleeting nature but might also leave others wishing for a more dynamic narrative or richer character development. A solid three out of five stars – a good read overall, but not a transformative one. I would still recommend it as a quick winter read.

Dec. 6, 2024 – Dec. 7, 2024

★★★☆☆

Favorite Quote: "What does it hurt if I lie? If I can relieve his anxiety, even if it's just for a moment, it's worth it . . ." ~ pg. 135