Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

 

We spent a lovely afternoon by the pool at Lisa's house to discuss Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawagunchi. The setting of the novel is a coffeeshop in a back alley in the streets of Tokyo.  There is something very special about this coffeeshop. If you sit in the right seat, you can be asked to be transported back in time! But there's a catch: you have to come back before your coffee gets cold. Actually, there are other catches, like sometimes there's a ghost in the seat, but learning these rules is part of the fun. The novel develops several story lines, each with a character wanting to bend the linear trajectory of time to help with a relationship.  In the book, we encountered a young woman wanting to talk to her departed lover, estranged sisters, a wife wanting to see her husband before his memory is ravaged by Alzheimer's Disease, and a mother wondering about her child.

Reactions to the book were mixed. Some struggled with the awkward translation into English and questions about the storyline while others were touched by the deep human relationships and excited to get their hands on the sequel. Some interesting conversations ensued for example, the role of Japanese versus American culture in the reader's reaction to the plot, quiet silence versus rebellion, and how personalities are molded or not molded by environment.

September will be another rare occurrence of two bookclub meetings in one month - wow. We're looking forward to seeing Liz, who we miss so much.