Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2023) Before your memory fades. Translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot.

I only read the beginning of this book. You know the saying, you shouldn’t judge the book by the cover? Aye. Really? Well, it’s got ‘Global bestseller’ on the cover. That means lots of folk have bought it. Being translated from Japanese to English is also a mark of quality. I liked the idea of it. ‘Before your memory fades’. My memory is like a rubber that has already rubbed most of itself out. So there’s congruence there. There’s a relationship map of characters. That’s good. Saves me jotting down who’s who?

Lots of reasons to think I’d like it…

Here’s the story. A ghost sits in a café. An old gentleman in black sits near the entrance. I’m not sure if you sit on him or beside him, but by the time the waiter or waitress has served you coffee, you can time travel.

Remember that thing with Doug McClure (who the fuck is Doug McClure) and dinosaurs. That could be you. Or jumping forward in your own wee Tardis to meet your daughter who is now the same age as your mother.

By the time your coffee cools your back in the café.

Like Mr Ben. Remember him? Different outfits and he’d go back in time and become a knight of something after he’d come from behind his counter.

So, I’m preprogramed to like this book. Although programmed is the wrong word. I should like this book. I don’t. Couple of pages. Hate it. I don’t mind saying that about an international bestseller because nobody cares and nobody reads shit like this, but I’m mindful of indies doing their best and getting the worst. Read on (or in my case, don’t read on).  

Unleash the Beastie! https://bit.ly/bannkie