In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time…
From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula’s time-travelling offer.
Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Kawaguchi’s previous novel, we will be introduced to:
The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago
The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral
The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry
The old detective who never gave his wife that gift…
This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?
This is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, though strictly speaking it isn’t necessary to read the first book. I thought I had rated it a full 5 stars, but actually it was only a 4. Nevertheless I will rate this sequel as a nice 4.5. It wasn’t necessarily “better” than the first, but considering the expectations from the first book I had going in, it actually met the (somewhat high) standards I had going in, thinking there wouldn’t be much more to add.
Tales from the Café is a continuation from the last book, but mostly it’s just new characters coming into this special cafe in Tokyo. The rules are simple, the café allows you to time travel, but only until your coffee gets cold. The main caveat is that the past (or future) cannot be changed no matter what you do in that short journey. So why would anyone want to go back? Nevertheless there are those who do, and each book is a collection of such people’s experience who wish to travel through time.
The characters in the café remain the same, though we get a further exploration of their characters, which I think was really excellent, and a nice backdrop to the main substance of the story through the customers coming in. The characters who came to travel through time were also well done, and I definitely had some teary moments during those conversations, no matter just how short they were. The emotional build up and the change in the characters truly illustrates the power of the cafe, and the book knows how to capitalize on it.
I commented last time that some of the translations were a bit off, but I think in this book I didn’t notice it as much. That, or I just got more used to it. Nevertheless, I didn’t see it as a problem here, perhaps contributing to its higher rating.
The plot was once again excellent. There is always a very gentle continuity between the short stories, and between the customers and the café characters. I really enjoyed all their interactions and it really helped to add the emotional suspense and the connection that you felt to each character and their circumstances. The book also sets out the pace really well. Sometimes I get the feeling that the character or their plight is a little bit predictable, and it usually starts off that way, but the way that it’s developed and how the author derives the message and meaning from the story really gives me new perspective, which I really appreciated all throughout the book.
I definitely enjoyed this book a lot and I’m glad I picked it up. I definitely recommend the first two books in the series. Not to mention they’re very short reads! Stay tuned for book 3 in the series.
Overall Recommendations
Tales from the Café is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, which again takes places in this special café in Tokyo which allows a person to travel back into the past to speak with someone, usually a loved one. However, there is nothing that can be done during the travel to alter present reality. While this usually deters most customers, some others will go anyway. Just what is the purpose of such a travel, and what can be learned from a conversation where nothing in reality can be altered? Find out in this collection of very short stories, full of emotions and a journey of self-realization and self-discovery. I definitely recommend the first two books in the series!
Down the Rabbit Hole 