Plants Don’t Drink Coffee

Plants Don't Drink Coffee
by Unai Elorriaga (in original Basque)
Translated by Amaia Gabantxo
208 Pages
Fiction
Archipelago Books
July 2009

In Plants Don't Drink Coffee the reader follows the story of four very diverse yet intersecting people while enjoying a ride of lightheartedness and depth. Tomas a young boy with the desire above all else to be intelligent, is the star of this novel or maybe one of the stars. He is precocious and witty and incredibly funny to read. When reading his thoughts you can hear him saying these things in a pre-adolescent, high-pitched and non-stopping excited sort of way. There is a main story which unites all four people that is clever and has a mystery feel to it, or adventure.

This book for me was a complete success. Unai did everything right in his writing and the translation was incredible as well (by Amaia Gabantxo). It was one of those books where you feel the need to keep reading it through the chapter breaks, and every time you sit down you want to lap it up. Reading about the Basque culture was very interesting to me, as it is a people group that intrigues me in their strength and resourcefulness.

I took this with me on the plane on my trip to Spain and it was the perfect read to keep my attention all through the long hours of sleeplessness on the plane, and then to help me pass some of my jet lag mid-night reading sessions after we arrived. Plants Don't Drink Coffee never failed to impress me, I loved most the honesty of the voice, the transparency of failures, the clever voice of a child and the witty actions of everyone. It is one of the best books I have read this year. Loved it.

It is my honour to bestow upon Plants Don't Drink Coffee my 'can't cluck enough' chicken award!