Becky's Book Reviews: 109. Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Wednesday, September 08, 2021

109. Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Translated into English by Geoffrey Trousselot. 2019. 213 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Oh, gosh, is that the time? Sorry, I have to go," the man mumbled evasively, as he stood up and reached for his bag.

Premise/plot: Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a collection of inter-connected short stories set in a special cafe. The stories are "The Lovers," "Husband and Wife," "The Sisters," and "Mother and Child."

So what makes the cafe so special? Well, there's one special chair--usually occupied by a GHOST--that allows the person to visit the past or future. Their visit will be a short one--the duration of a cup of coffee. They must return to the present....you guessed it...before the coffee gets cold...or there will be consequences. There are rules that make this "time travel" challenging. You have to stay seated in that exact chair. The person you're visiting must have visited the cafe at some point. And absolutely nothing you do in the past during your visit will change the present. Since a GHOST is occupying the one and only chair with magical time traveling capacities, you have to WAIT (no matter how long) for your turn.

Each person who travels in Before The Coffee Gets Cold is desperate. Can their be resolution and peace when the present can never be altered or changed?

My thoughts: I see there is a cat on the cover. I honestly don't remember a cat in the story?! Did I miss it?! Is it just their to tease us?!

Anyway, I liked this one. I almost feel like every reader would have to read it twice--maybe even three times--to "get" it. I remember feeling the exact same when I watched the movie Inception for the first time. I went into it thinking the only thing linking the stories was the place and the element of time travel--but I was wrong. I didn't realize it in time to really appreciate it. But maybe YOU will--if you haven't read it yet. Don't be afraid to jot down notes--I wish I had.