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A review by pineconek
Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Feeling sad? Have you considered just reading the next instalment of Before the Coffee Gets Cold?
This one is more of the same - there's one chair, in one cafe, which can take you backwards or forwards in time for the length of time it takes for your coffee to get cold. But there are more rules: you can't leave the chair, and your actions won't be able to actually change anything. Most people don't bother with the magical chair upon hearing these rules, but we meet a few who do...
I really liked the fictional book referenced in this one: One Hundred Questions for the End of the World. If the world ends tomorrow, do you still get married? Do you save yourself at the expense of everyone else? Do you tell your young child? The characters grapple with these questions as a parlour game while the four vignettes of cafe stories explore similar ideas - knowledge of illness and impending death, protective lies, misunderstandings... Comedians also featured quite heavily in this instalment, which didn't grip me but definitely made for some memorable moments.
Recommended if you're looking for more of volumes 1 and 2, a good bedtime story/fairytale for grownups, and want to go back in time to have a conversation (even if it means that nothing will change). 3.5 stars rounded up.
This one is more of the same - there's one chair, in one cafe, which can take you backwards or forwards in time for the length of time it takes for your coffee to get cold. But there are more rules: you can't leave the chair, and your actions won't be able to actually change anything. Most people don't bother with the magical chair upon hearing these rules, but we meet a few who do...
I really liked the fictional book referenced in this one: One Hundred Questions for the End of the World. If the world ends tomorrow, do you still get married? Do you save yourself at the expense of everyone else? Do you tell your young child? The characters grapple with these questions as a parlour game while the four vignettes of cafe stories explore similar ideas - knowledge of illness and impending death, protective lies, misunderstandings... Comedians also featured quite heavily in this instalment, which didn't grip me but definitely made for some memorable moments.
Recommended if you're looking for more of volumes 1 and 2, a good bedtime story/fairytale for grownups, and want to go back in time to have a conversation (even if it means that nothing will change). 3.5 stars rounded up.