L V
This story takes place in a cafe in which time travel is possible—with limitations. In this cafe, time traveling begins once the customer is served a hot cup of coffee, and it ends right before the coffee gets cold. The customer can’t extend the visit and faces severe repercussions if they do.
Characters in the story all have different reasons for wanting to go back in time. Some wish to change how a past confrontation ended. Alas, another limitation to time traveling here is that it is not possible to alter a course of events (Think of Marty in Back to the Future. There’s nothing he’d be able to do to prevent Doc from getting shot and dying). Well, that’s a twist. I was excited to see how the characters’ lives would change without them being able to just undo or create an event in the past that would provide a much better outcome to their present or future.
The premise is beyond intriguing. So good. The execution, however, is lacking. I’m not a Japanese lit snob by any means, but this book lacks the soulful depth, sorrow and insight I’ve connected with in the very few Japanese books I’ve read in the past. I’m chalking it up to poor translation. However, the repetition splattered throughout is unforgivable (pretty sure not the translator’s fault). For such a short book, the writer spends most of his time re-explaining minute details and not enough time on plausible storylines and emotion.
The characters could be a lot more developed and relatable with just a bit more care. The last story is the most touching. Just when the character is developed enough to tug at my heartstrings, the writer strays and begins to over explain things we just read. He focuses in on how it’s a ceremony and how carefully the coffee is served. The going back to the clocks and re-referencing the coffee getting colder, which are key elements up to a point, I can’t help but feel are repeatedly mentioned as a means to skip over chunks of plot and feeling he just couldn’t build upon enough to put into words . It’s a bit of a cop-out.
The moral of the story is clear enough though: Don’t wait until it’s too late to do a thing. And even though some things can’t be undone or unsaid, if you have a chance to listen and speak honestly, perhaps you’ll get some closure and come out a better and more enlightened being. Life will still go on either way, but we must remind ourselves that it is short and the coffee is getting colder by the second. And that’s a piece of advice worth a 3.50 star rating.
This story takes place in a cafe in which time travel is possible—with limitations. In this cafe, time traveling begins once the customer is served a hot cup of coffee, and it ends right before the coffee gets cold. The customer can’t extend the visit and faces severe repercussions if they do.
Characters in the story all have different reasons for wanting to go back in time. Some wish to change how a past confrontation ended. Alas, another limitation to time traveling here is that it is not possible to alter a course of events (Think of Marty in Back to the Future. There’s nothing he’d be able to do to prevent Doc from getting shot and dying). Well, that’s a twist. I was excited to see how the characters’ lives would change without them being able to just undo or create an event in the past that would provide a much better outcome to their present or future.
The premise is beyond intriguing. So good. The execution, however, is lacking. I’m not a Japanese lit snob by any means, but this book lacks the soulful depth, sorrow and insight I’ve connected with in the very few Japanese books I’ve read in the past. I’m chalking it up to poor translation. However, the repetition splattered throughout is unforgivable (pretty sure not the translator’s fault). For such a short book, the writer spends most of his time re-explaining minute details and not enough time on plausible storylines and emotion.
The characters could be a lot more developed and relatable with just a bit more care. The last story is the most touching. Just when the character is developed enough to tug at my heartstrings, the writer strays and begins to over explain things we just read. He focuses in on how it’s a ceremony and how carefully the coffee is served. The going back to the clocks and re-referencing the coffee getting colder, which are key elements up to a point, I can’t help but feel are repeatedly mentioned as a means to skip over chunks of plot and feeling he just couldn’t build upon enough to put into words . It’s a bit of a cop-out.
The moral of the story is clear enough though: Don’t wait until it’s too late to do a thing. And even though some things can’t be undone or unsaid, if you have a chance to listen and speak honestly, perhaps you’ll get some closure and come out a better and more enlightened being. Life will still go on either way, but we must remind ourselves that it is short and the coffee is getting colder by the second. And that’s a piece of advice worth a 3.50 star rating.
