Before starting Toshikazu Mawaguchi’s Before Your Memory Fades, I took a photo of it in a coffee shop. In fact, I specifically took the book (which I knew I was not gonna read straight away) to the coffee shop to take a photo. It’s a book about coffee shops what can I say.
I took my typical coffee cup and book flat-lay but it didn’t seem quite right. So, in the spur of the moment I took another photo. In this one, I took a picture of the book with the coffee shop’s inspirational neon wall art (I think you all instantly pictured the exact vibe of this cafe). This motivational (or cheesy is you’re no fun) quote was a sign in itself… and not just because it is literally a sign. Unbeknownst to be, this book would strike a cord and resonate with my life.
I should have expected the book to pack an emotional punch. I have previously read the first two books in this series. Both Before The Coffee Gets Cold and Tales from the Cafe were fantastic reads. I even felt inspired to write a review of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. And yet I was unprepared for the tears and gasps this book would produce.
‘he realised that no matter how difficult life seemed, it could be completely turned around by a single epiphany’
Kawaguchi is known for tugging at your heart strings. All three novels in this series are formed of episodic intertwining chapters that detail one persons choice to travel in time.
At Cafe Donna, someone can return to the past… if they follow a few rules. These rules which include being unable to change the past and you have to rerun before your coffee gets cold, puts off a lot of visitors. Yet the stories in all three focus on a couple of examples where people are so desperate to return to the past that they go back anyway.
The people who travel in time have specific goals in mind. Their determination is admirable, if at times concerning. The strength of emotion it takes to travel in time, corresponds to the strength of emotion this book generates.
As mentioned, this book was a sign to me. Sometimes you read a book at the exact perfect time in your life, and this is certainly one of them for me.
‘You must, absolutely must… become happy Ok? Can you promise me?’
At the moment, I am on a journey. And in this journey, I have to choose myself and I have to choose life. The book reminded me to do this by showing me various people realising the same thing. Both ‘The Daughter’ and ‘The Comedian’ centre around characters who intent not to return to the past. They want to travel to the past to achieve their final wish before they say goodbye to their lives in the present.
The stories may sound depressing, but they are far from it. Interwoven into each story is an endless stream of beautiful and gut wrenching quotes. In fact it might be the most quotable book I have ever read. You could very easily steal multiple lines of this book to provide an inspirational Instagram account with a years worth of content. I never do this but I found myself literally gasping out loud when reading this book. I couldn’t help highlighting this book, because the book highlighted many key concepts for me.
Before Your Memory Fades is the perfect emotional read. Fans of self help books, Matt Haig, TJ Kline’s latest two novels will love this book. Its genre might be nearly incomparable to them, but they pack the same punch. I highlight recommend everyone read this book. Unless you haven’t read the first two yet. In that case, I encourage you to grab a cup of coffee, get cosy in bed, and get absorbed into the world of Cafe Donna.
Words and Dragons 