A review by anusha_reads
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

lighthearted medium-paced

“IF YOU COULD GO BACK, WHO WOULD YOU WANT TO MEET?”

A café, coffee, of course, people, waiters/waitresses, chairs, four short stories.

The past is a history and the future a mystery: does that intrigue you?

Do all our wishes come true in our one ephemeral life?

How long should our life be so that we tick off all the items on our bucket list?

“WATER FLOWS FROM HIGH PLACES TO LOW PLACES. THAT IS THE NATURE OF GRAVITY. EMOTIONS ALSO SEEM TO ACT ACCORDING TO GRAVITY.”

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is about relationships, confusion, desires, love, and of course time travelling. The Café Funiculi Funicula has this magical chair that takes you through time. Anybody desirous of travelling has to wait till this spiritedaway-lady-in-white-dress gets up for a toilet break. Here's when they sit on the chair abiding by a set of rules, to get their questions answered, travelling backwards or forwards in time.

I would have loved to learn the story about the woman in the white dress. Though it’s a short book, it dragged on. I enjoyed the last story about the mom and daughter, which portrays a mom's love for her daughter. Many events were predictable and facts were repeated often. The author has painted a vivid picture of the café, and I liked the waitress Kazu, who is depicted as a person who is caring and empathetic. I wouldn’t call the stories captivating as they felt detached, devoid of allure. I’m not sure whether the content lost its charm due to the translation or whether the author had meant to write it in this style.

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHETHER ONE RETURNS TO THE PAST OR TRAVELS TO THE FUTURE, THE PRESENT DOES NOT CHANGE. SO IT RAISES THE QUESTION: JUST WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT CHAIR?”

This wasn’t my cup of coffee!