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Today I have another book review! I finished it recently and I found out there's also a movie based on it...maybe I'll watch it this weekend...
❝If you could go back, who would you want to meet?❠ opening quote of the book
Tokyo is a city filled with cafΓ¨s and coffee shops, but only one can make its customers travel back in time. This particular place, named “Funiculi Funicula”, is run by married couple Nagare and Kei and Kazu, Nagare's young cousin who serves the tables.
Actually, there are so many tables and the clientele is composed of regulars...and a strange lady who always sits at the same table and wears the same clothes. One would think that if you could really go back in time, the cafè would be always full, but there are quite a few rules that have to be followed and people tend to get discouraged by them...
The stories are divided by protagonists, with a total of 4 chapters: we have two lovers who are facing a serious obstacle to their relationship, a married couple where the husband doesn't recognize his wife anymore, one free-spirited young woman trying her best to avoid her younger sister and, lastly, a woman pregnant with her first child.
Who will be brave enough to abide by all the rules and travel back in time? And what are their reasons to do so?
ππMy Thoughts
I knew I made the right book choice as soon as I discovered the name of this peculiar cafè: Funicoli Funicolà is actually a Neapolitan song and, even if I'm not from Naples, I learned it when I was in elementary school. Since it is a cheerful and happy song, I thought "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" would also be somehow a heartwarming reading...
You'd think that in Japan you'd stumble into tea rooms and tea shops every other step...wrong! Of course, there are those as well but I was shocked to see how many Starbucks, Tully's Coffee, or Caffè Veloce shops are all over the country.
I liked the organization of the stories, it gave a nice and clean flow to the whole book. They were all touching because all the protagonists decide to take the risk and visit their past. But one rule of going back in time is that, even if you go back, your present and future won't change. So why bother, right?
If this group of people really want to go back so desperately, it means their motives are deep. And that understanding will, ultimately, lead to a change...in the people themselves.
The writing style of the author is really nice and clear and I felt able to relate to most of the characters' situations and problems. When
I finished it I felt kind of optimistic and in a good mood which, in times like these, is obviously a pro!
My vote: 8/10
Ph: goodreads.com
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