One of my favourite book series is Before the Coffee Gets Cold. As I wrote earlier, “At its core, the series delves deep into the complexities of human emotions and relationships. Each story in the café involves characters grappling with regret, love, forgiveness, and the desire to reconnect or reconcile with their past. It prompts us to ponder what we would do if given the chance to revisit the past, and at what cost. It is a captivating series that skilfully combines a unique and imaginative premise with deep emotional storytelling, philosophical depth, and beautiful writing. It offers both an escape into a magical world and a mirror reflecting our own lives, making it a compelling read.”
It is one of the books which I have always wanted picturised. I had even told a friend whose family is in the film-making business to consider buying the rights and making them as a short series! And so imagine my surprise when one day I found that the first book had indeed been made into a movie. Café Funiculi Funicula is a Japanese movie with English sub-titles. Bhavana and I watched it together a couple months ago. She had not read the books. Both of us loved the movie. For her, the movie worked entirely on its own; for me, it was the joy of seeing beloved characters finally come to life.
For long, I had wondered what the café and people so beautifully described in the book would look like. While reading lets us build our own images, seeing people in action and their emotions come out has its own charm. After some time, the spoken language did not matter. What stays with you are the four stories.
As the book blurb puts it: “If you could go back, who would you want to meet?In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold. Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?” Of course, going back (or forward) in time does not change the present.
As I wrote: “The stories of our past don’t need alteration; they require acknowledgment and a place in our heart’s gallery. By recognising this, we allow ourselves to be whole, carrying the richness of each experience as a quiet strength. In the end, maybe it’s not about changing our stories, but about understanding their impact and moving forward with a heart full of gratitude for the journey.” Seeing the stories come alive on screen created the same magical effect I feel reading each of the five books (with a sixth to come in May).
