Other things, like the constant repetition of previously explained information and the author’s bizarre preoccupation with describing what the characters are wearing any time they re-appear can’t be pinned on poor translation. For starters, saying that the writing is obvious and simplistic is putting it kindly, though to be fair it’s not clear how much of it is about getting lost in translation from the original Japanese. While the central concept is interesting and charming, I described the book as “clunky” for a reason. The book explores different scenarios in four interconnected stories – titled The Lovers, Husband and Wife, The Sisters, and Mother and Child – about four people who wish to go back to the past even though they’ll never be able to correct their mistakes or prevent a heart-breaking personal loss. With these limitations in place, you’re left with time travel on a very small and deeply personal scale, as a way to revisit an important moment in your life or see a lost loved one. And finally, you must finish your cup of coffee in the past before it gets cold, or you’ll be stuck in the magic seat forever. Whatever you do in the past will never change the present when you return. You can only time-travel from one specific seat in a cafe, and can’t budge from it while in the past. What if there was a quaint old cafe, unchanged for decades, where a humble cup of coffee could give you a chance to travel back in time? But before you get all excited about visiting the dinosaurs or killing Hitler, consider the many seemingly arbitrary rules attached. Time travel is a popular scenario in science fiction, but in Kawaguchi’s book it happens more in a way of magical realism rather than hardcore sci-fi, where you generally expect rules that make some sort of sense. Clunky but likeable surprise hit from Japan that offers a rather unique and whimsical take on the good old time travel trope.
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