Book Review: “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Rating: 4/5
Toshikazu Kawaguchi, through his masterpiece, “Before the coffee gets cold,” will take you through an emotional rollercoaster ride with his beautifully crafted short stories with the same narrative.
Launched in 2013, the book was initially written as a play before it was adapted into a novel form.
Though people would label the book as one that falls into non-fiction, it dismisses a specific genre’s boundaries. The book is a blend of translated fiction, thriller, novel, and realism.
‘No matter how hard one tried while back in the past, one cannot change the present.’
The book realistically talks about time travel with rules attached to it. A lesson connected to it is that come what may, the present cannot be changed even if we go back to the past.
Throughout the book, the short stories have an aspect of commonality, i.e., Coffee. The author has elegantly described the art of coffee making in the book while smartly mentioning coffee’s history in Japanese culture.
While I have found no reasons why you shouldn’t read this book, here’s why you should give this book a read:
- Easy to read with a simple language.
- Adequate amount of suspense and hooks in the right place.
- Cultural theme different from the generic western storylines.
The above reasons make the book a must-read for me, along with Japanese culture, human relations, and the craft of coffee making.
There are 3 other parts to this book, which I look forward to reviewing.
Happy reading until then :)
Have you read “Before the coffee gets cold” or wish to read it? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments.
Any constructive feedback is highly appreciated.
Read the book review of “Don’t believe in everything you think” by Joseph Nguyen here.
