Over the last few years I have read several books translated from Japanese to English, and I have noted that the books I have been choosing seem to have certain similarities. They are usually episodic with a story connected to one particular scenario and then the next story is about someone else. They often are looking at grief and those who are left behind, often they feature food and there are often cats.
Whilst the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki certainly fits three of these similarities, it is not so much a book about those left behind after a loved one dies, and it has a kind of magical realism running through it! Obviously you can tell from the cover that there are cats, it is episodic in structure (although it does tie together nicely at the end) and the food is out of this world, as you might guess from most of the chapter titles.
The sections of the book include
Lunar Chocolate Fondant
Mercury Cream Soda
Moonlight and Venus Champagne Float
The Full Moon Coffee Shop is a very unusual coffee shop. It can randomly pop up and then be gone just as quickly, it's waiters are talking cats, and for those who are lucky enough to visit, there is a side of astrological readings and otherworldly wisdom.
The first visitor is a down on their luck scriptwriter named Mizuki. In her twenties she was an in demand writer who had written hit TV shows. These days though, her TV scripts are out of fashion so she is writing for games, she lives in a much smaller apartment and she is something of a recluse. She has recently submitted a script that she is working on.
The second visitor to the cafe is Akari who works in TV and has the horrible job of telling Mizuki that her script isn't going to be picked up, which is difficult because they have a past connection. Akari has a reputation as a driven TV executive who has a mess to clean up when her leading lady gets caught up in a scandal.
Then there is computer guy Takashi who ironically seems to have a lot of technology related issues a lot of the time.
The final visitor is Meguma, a hairdresser who has moved back home to help out in her parents small salon but who is trying to work out what she wants her career to look like in future.
I thought would share a passage from the book to give a bit of a taste of the writing. When I was reading this on the plane, I was amused to see that there was a chapter called Mercury Cream Soda, because I knew I had scheduled a Weekend Cooking post about creaming soda for when I was away. So here is a short passage about Mercury Creaming Soda
At the end of a road, I spotted what looked like a popup cafe.
In front of a truck were several sets of wooden tables and chairs, where the passengers from the train were sitting. I recognised them, somehow, and yet their faces remained a blur.
I took a seat at a free two-seater table. Someone appeared and placed a glass in front of me. "Here you go. A Mercury Creaming Soda."
Unlike the scenery and people around me, the drink was vivid and distinct. It had all the usual components of a cream soda - ice cream and a cherry on top. What distinguished it from the normal version was that its soda wasn't the usual green, but instead a beautiful sky blue, and the ice cream was a greyish-what colour rather than the usual vanilla.
I pulled the glass toward me and sipped the drink through the straw.
The soda tasted pleasant and refreshing as it trickled down my throat, and the sweetness was just right. The taste was vaguely familiar and yet totally new,
The pale grey ice cream turned out to be a lemon-flavoured sorbet that went perfectly with the soda. As the flavours danced on my palate, I caught the sound of a woman's voice from the neighbouring table. She seemed to be complaining about something.
"Emails getting lost, data corrupting itself and now the train's late...Sheesh!"
The woman could have taken the words right out of my own mouth. It was if she was giving voice to my inner thoughts.
"Typical Mercury retrograde, isn't it?" she continued.
There is quite a lot of astrology in this book. Some of it I kind of skipped through, but some of it was very interesting, and some of it was just plain fun!
Interestingly, Jesse Kirkwood also translated the Kamogawa Food Detective Agency series by Hisashi Kashiwai. I might have to check out what else they have translated. The second book in the Full Moon Coffee Shop series is due to be released later this year. I will be reading it!
Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Steak Egg and chips
Monday - Normandy pork
Tuesday - Chicken Kebabs and baked potato
Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff
Thursday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Friday - Leftovers
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Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
