If you had a chance to go back in time, who would you like to meet? What part of your past would you choose? Is there something you would like to change or maybe experience the day again?
If I was given the option of going back, I would be confused for sure. There are so many things I want to experience again, so many people I want to talk to again; I may never be able to decide what I want to do.
“But Kazu still goes on believing that, no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart. And if the chair can change someone’s heart, it clearly has its purpose.”
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a novel published in 2015 and is set in a cafe in Tokyo by the name of Funiculi Funicula. The cafe has a particular chair which allows a person to travel in time. There is a long list of unbreakable rules like once back in time you cannot leave the seat which effectively means that you cannot meet anybody who hasn’t visited the cafe. Also, whatever you say or do, you can’t change the present.
The novel follows the lives of cafe staff and four people who visit their past. The first person we read about is a lady Fumiko who goes back in time to meet her boyfriend who has moved out of the country. She wants to tell him about her feelings.
The second person is a nurse Kohtake who wishes to read her husband’s letter to her. Her husband is suffering from Alzheimer’s in the present and has forgotten her face or name.
The third person is Hirai who had evaded meeting her sister in the cafe and the sister later died in a road accident. The fourth person is Kei, one of the owners of the cafe who goes to the future to meet her daughter. Kei is pregnant in the present and the doctors have told her that if she continues with the pregnancy she will die because of her heart condition. Kei has decided to continue with pregnancy and only goes to the future to see if her daughter is happy.
The book explores various relationships like lovers, husband-wife, sisters, and mother-daughter. Through their time travelling the characters realise their love and the depth of their relationships. Every character has a unique story and although it may seem that if one can’t change the present what is the point of going to the past but through their time travelling the characters realise how much potential their future holds.
The characterisation is great, the stories well-woven and interesting and I was completely engrossed in the book. After a long time I found that book I was unwilling to put down. It’s simple and brilliant. I highly recommend it.
My rating: 5/5
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