Before the Coffee gets Cold

‘Before the coffee gets cold’ was reviewed at our book club recently. Darika Bhatia, who lives in Muscat, gives her take on the book:

Before the Coffee gets Cold

 ‘Before the coffee gets cold’ was reviewed at our book club recently. Darika Bhatia, who lives in Muscat, gives her take on the book:

Who would you want to meet if you had the opportunity to travel back in time? And where would you go in your past life or your future? Toshikazu Kawaguchi born in Osaka in 1971 recounts the lives of four individuals in his novel ‘Before the coffee gets cold’ who travel back and into the future of their lives. Originally written as a play, the novel won the grand prize at the Suginami Drama Festival and has become an international bestseller. The author has produced, directed and written for Sonic Snail, the theatrical group.

At first, I was not impressed by the plot or story. It seemed quite trivial with the same scenario being repeated again and again. The main character of each of the four stories enters a 100 year old café named Funiculi Funicula in Tokyo that serves a special brewed coffee with the offer of the experience of travelling back in time as long as they abide by certain rules. The stories are centered on some key relationships of lovers, husband and wife, siblings (sisters) and a mother and her child. However, the stories seem to drag and lack depth. The rules for travelling back in time are also introduced throughout the book which for me was annoying and disjointed.

However, I changed my mind after the last story where Kei shows courage in asking for a glimpse of her future considering her precarious medical condition. This draws on the strength of her character as she knowingly takes this risk when there were potential life threatening difficulties with the birth and her baby. In her journey into the future, she encounters Fumiko and discovers Miki, her teenaged daughter, works in the café alongside Goro, the other characters in the previous stories. By this time, the characters feel like they have become one family and have completed a full circle. There is a strong sense of community akin to that in Japanese culture with all the characters playing a role in the café or connected to the café in some manner.

The novel explores the importance of communication; what we are scared to say and question for fear of receiving a response we do not want to hear and the assumptions we make of that which is unsaid. Hirai in the third story hides from her sister Kumi as she is unable to talk about what she feels until it is too late. How often do we hold back from speaking directly and freely? Similarly, Fumiko in the first story only discovers Goro, her lover, questioned he was the right man for her when she travelled back in her past and asked him directly about leaving for America.

Kawaguchi’s words, “When in the presence of someone with whom you have a bond, and to whom you have entrusted your feelings, it is hard to lie and get away with it. The truth just wants to come flowing out…It is much easier to conceal sadness from a stranger, or someone you don’t trust” resonated with me. Do you agree?

The author brings the atmosphere in the ancient café and its traditions alive through his descriptions of how the café’s special coffee is brewed, the three clocks that show different times and its sparse furniture and few visitors. The travel back in time has connotations of Aladdin and his magic lamp with the whirls of steam and smoke from the coffee mug transporting the characters to their chosen destinations. I was half expecting one of the characters to overstay their time and was almost disappointed when they all came back before the special coffee got cold. Perhaps that’s for another novel?

Although the stories have a certain sadness about them as the characters travel back or forward in time seeking answers to difficult situations, they draw on the positive experience from their encounters such as Hirai taking over the family business in the knowledge that she has her sister’s blessing. In the author’s words “no matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them”. In summary, ‘Before the coffee gets cold’ is an enjoyable, easy, short read with stories that make one ponder.