Basta un Caffè per Essere Felici by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

 Basta un Caffè per Essere Felici

by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is another powerful book on the little cafeteria located in Tokyo, where it is possible time-travelling in the past or in the future.

Rules are diversified: you must remain sat in the chair; the person you want to meet must have been a client of the cafeteria; nothing will change the destiny of the people involved in the time-travels; it's impossible to save an existence for example; every time-traveler starts the experience when the coffee is put in the cup and the coffee, once in the past or future must be drunk when still warm; in opposite case people die and become phantoms. 

Stories analyzed by the author are four and all strong and touching. The first one, oh, I cried a lot reading that, is the story of two close friends. 

One of them, Suichi had a daughter, but after few months from this joyous event, a terrible fact changed the cards on the life's table so that his friend, Gotaro, grew her up. That's why there is a special, special intensity in this story: it's the story of an optimistic Suichi, the one who always looked at the positive side of the existence, with a video recorded for his daughter and for her wedding, rich of comforting words for Gotaro as well.

In the second story Yukio wants to meet her mother; a mother who had believed in the talent of his son as a potter: Yukio left so his parents, went to the workshop of a famous potter, where he learned the work; unfortunately as it happens sometimes at a lot of people, remained behind and wasn't in grade to build his own existence, living poorly, making immense sacrifices, without to resolve anything with his profession. 

One day, he had in the while put aside a lot of money with the purpose to open his own store, someone dishonest stole him everything: so the promise of a  workshop vanished, abruptly: covered by debts, desperate, when her mother died, he could not attend the funeral. Yukio so, felt the necessity to meet again the mother: his idea was the one of dying, leaving the coffee alone and cold: the mother understood it, and asked to his son, although the difficulties experienced, to return to the world, and to fight.

It's another stunning and powerful story, in particular in the line when the mother tells him: "The biggest pain for a parent is not being in grade to save the existence of a son who wants to die." But, in this case, Yukio will return to the present.

The story of Kurata and Asami is a story of a broken love... Kurata wanted to see if the girlfriend was fine after his end. It is moving because in this case the trip will be in the future and in general in the future is more difficult to meet people... 

Kiyoshi is a middle-age man. He had lost the wife more than 30 years ago; he hadn't never presented her any gift, so he bought her for the time-travel in the past a necklage. Once returned in the past, he will understand that the wife had profoundly misunderstood him. He loved Kimiko so badly. 

Kazu one of the workers of the cafeteria will resolve his intimate problems, caused by the death of her mother. The phantom, in fact in the cafeteria is the one of her mother, who didn't never return from her time-travel. She will confess her that she wants to be happy, setting Kaname, this one the name of the phantom of the cafeteria, happy, cheerful and free.

Absolutely moving, these books are balms for the soul!

Highly recommended.

Anna Maria Polidori