Just remember. Drink the coffee before it goes cold.
Before the coffee gets cold
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Genre: Literary
About: In an overlooked basement cafe there is a chair, usually occupied by a ghost, that if you sit in it and drink a certain coffee, you can travel back in time. But there are rules. The most of important one: drink the coffee before it goes cold.
Thoughts
The concept of this would make a great TV show and absolutely works as a series of connecting short stories. I loved the setting, there's a cosiness and warmth to the cafe that just makes you want to sit down and read like you're the ghost sat in the chair with her book.
I would absolutely not recommend reading this in a public cafe, however, as I'll admit to crying in two out of four stories. And the thing is - I knew exactly what was going to happen each time. This is a very predictable book and the writing (I think because it's translated) is not beautiful or particularly evocative. The four stories are also nothing revolutionary. I've read plots like this before and, as I say, I could predict everything that was going to happen. Yet I sobbed. I think the atmosphere of the book draws you in and the characters are endearing. You're getting small glimpses of their lives but although the conversations and the action is never anything dramatic, the moments hit big.
The writing was a bit unfortunate as I think English just doesn't have the subtleties that other languages, especially Japanese, do. For instances we don't have such a strict formal and informal way of talking and tone is important but I got the sense that there was a lot more layers to the speech in this book that didn't translate so smoothly. Instead, we get explanations of why it was odd the character said something a certain way, or how they worried the person would respond because of the tone they had used. All the explanations on language made the prose quite stilted and definitely not as poetic as the ideas the story otherwise conveyed.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. It's short and sweet and has such a cool concept. The time travel element is done in the cosiest, least dramatic way I've ever seen it done before. But warning: there is no cat. The cover is a total mislead.
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