Book Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold

At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn't change

This book had me God damn crying, pretty much from beginning to end. It is an immensely hopeful book – it plays on the idea that just because it seems hopeless doesn’t mean it is – there is always a reason to hope.

 The book centres on a coffee shop which, according to urban legend, lets you travel back in time. There are conditions:

1. you can only get back to meet someone if they’ve been to the café before.

2. Going back to the past will not change the present.

3. You cannot leave your seat.

4. You must be back before the coffee gets cold.

There are three stories to go through, each character with their own constellations of hope, despair and joy. There is always the resounding question with each central character in each story: “What if?”. First, you have a lady who asks “What if I told my boyfriend how I really feel, would he still leave for America?”. Then you have a nurse who wishes to meet with her husband, who is crippled with Alzheimer’s, to a time when he still remembers her and lastly, a lady who wishes to talk to the daughter she will never have a chance to meet. 

One thing is clear, going to the past cannot change the present, but it could change the future. Going to the future cannot change the past, but it can make you braver.

 Suffice to say, I was crying my eyes out. This book was too damn hopeful for its own good, and I read it in a day. The crying didn’t help my allergies, but that’s an entirely different kettle of fish. I just can’t quite pin down how this book can make you feel so sad, but ultimately leaves you basking in the glow of hope and, dare I say, joy? Talk about a rollercoaster of emotions.  

I only have one fault with this book. Just one. And it is a little thing, but it's about writing style. Now maybe it’s the way the book was translated? Maybe it's 100% the author. Who knows. But I must admit the way the book looks at young, beautiful women reminds me a lot of how Ian Fleming would describe his women in the James Bond novels. In this day and age, not really that cool.