“No matter what difficulties people face, they will always have the strength to overcome them. It just takes heart.”
“Water flows from high places to low places. That is the nature of gravity. Emotions also seem to act according to gravity. 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.”
If a reader is looking for deep character study, unforgiving portrayal of loss, and complete emotional destruction, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi fits the bill. Set in Tokyo, this book follows the many faces who pass through Funiculi Funicula, a café at the center of a Japanese urban legend. The café is known for one seat, which is said to transport its occupant through time. Anyone who attempts to travel back in time is met with a strict, and often deterring, set of rules:
The only people you can visit in the past are those who have visited the café, and you can only meet them when they are in the café. You cannot leave the seat while in the past, otherwise you will be brought back to the present. Nothing you do in the past will change the present. Drink your coffee before it gets cold, or you will be stuck in the past.
Split into four sections, Before the Coffee Gets Cold details the lives of four people who find themselves needing to go back to the past. Along the way, the café staff receive meaningful exploration from Kawaguchi. Kazu, the waitress responsible for pouring the time travelers coffee, is a consistent character who is shown to have more meaning to the narrative as new people pass through.
Each story features themes of grief, heartbreak, maladies, regret, and love. I’ve never finished a book of its length faster. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a tear jerker that makes you fall in love with its characters before ruining their lives, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, especially those who dwell on the past. By reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold, I have thought more than ever before about what other people mean to me, and that is the mark of a great book.