Anyone who knows me personally would say that I am a coffee addict, so when I was recommended to read the book Before the Coffee Gets Cold, the title immediately piqued my interest, and I had to figure out what a story that revolves around a simple coffee shop could be about.
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold, published December 6, 2015, is the first book in a five-book series. It was first published in Japanese and translated into English by Geoffrey Trousselot. It’s a novel that takes place in a bijou back-street Tokyo café that allows its customers to time travel only under a few unusual and specific conditions, the main one that follows the title being that when a person travels back into time, they must finish their coffee before it gets cold. As someone who never researches a book or film before diving in and always going in blind, I initially expected a more adventurous story with plenty of action. However, the book turned out to be more easygoing and laid-back, focusing instead on the characters’ relationships and their emotional journeys. In the beginning I was not sure if the slower paced story was going to be very intriguing, but as the story developed and I learned more things about the characters, I found the way the book explored the emotional depth of each character to be very heartwarming. Each character follows an already introduced character’s story a bit more in depth, which creates a powerful sense of sonder, showing each character has their own complex feelings and life stories.
The setting of the story follows a café called Funiculi Funicula located in a windowless basement of a narrow back alley in Tokyo Japan, the café gained popularity with long queues each day from an urban legend of how it had the power to send a person back in the past but for some reason no one had actually gone back into the past because of the long list of annoying rules you had to follow which the owners themselves could not explain, why leaving it a mystery of if anyone could actually go back into the past. The first rule being that when you return to the past you can only meet people who have already visited the cafe before, secondly no matter how hard you tried you could not change the past. Other rules include to go back into the past you had to sit in a particular seat and could not leave that seat or you would at once be brought back to the present. You’re also only allowed one trip and you must drink all your coffee before it gets cold, or risking becoming a ghost. These rules at first glance make going back into the past seem pointless and even a risk to take, what would be the point in time traveling if you had to follow all these bizarre rules. But as the story goes on it becomes clear that there are more meaningful reasons for going into the past, to face regrets, emotions, unsolved feelings, and making peace with the past is more of the true goal of returning to the past showing that sometimes closure is more important that control.
Kawaguchi uses different literary devices in the story, for example tone; the tone of the story is soft and quiet and the imagery he uses to describe the setting of the story; the expression of characters’ face adds depth to every scene. The characters in the story and even the café itself becomes a character, holding secrets and memories from the past. The structure of the story is my favorite part, how each chapter follows a distinctive character and the build of emotional rhythm that pulls the reader in. Symbolism plays a leading role, the coffee for example is not just coffee but a symbol of the little time you have and how when you have you should use it well, a letter of time, warmth, and fleeting moments.
I really enjoyed this book; I read it all in one sitting. It was very meaningful, too, as it was a reminder that time is of the essence and is something you should not take it for granted. We do not get a do-over of the past, and this book encourages that the present and the future is more important than the past, how even if we cannot change the past, we still have control of the present and can always look forward the future.
I would recommend book to other students, if you are into time travel fiction, magical realism, and science fiction, this story’s the fit for you. It is a short read, something you can read in one sitting, it is a very character-driven story and leaves a long-lasting impression on you. The story is extremely easygoing, calm, and sometimes uneventful, but if you are looking for a thoughtful story that makes you reflect on life, relationships, and time, Before the Coffee Gets Cold is worth reading.
Get the book! Check out Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi at the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, or the Queens Public Library.
About the author This review is by Reanna D.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
