The Housekeeper and the Professor (Vintage Classics Japanese Series)
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Description
She is an astute young Housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him.
Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant mathematical equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers reveal a poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her son.
With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.
'This is one of those books written in such lucid, unpretentious language that reading it is like looking into a deep pool of clear water...Dive into Yoko Ogawa's world and you find yourself tugged by forces more felt than seen' New York Times
VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.
Book Information
Posts
A quiet but beautiful read about finding friendship in unexpected places.
I am in love with the calm and sober writing of most Japanese authors, but this book was something else. The housekeeper gets posted at a new client - a mathematics professor with memory loss after 1975 and a short term memory of only 80 minutes. What sounds like a recipe for disaster turns into a lovely story about finding friendship under uncommon circumstances, different ways of expressing love and affection and that family does not necessarily need blood relations. I felt like I was part of the story the entire time, an invisible guest in the small cottage of the professor, dwelling in his study, sitting in the kitchen, joining them on their adventures. Definitely a book that will leave you in thoughts after you’ve finished it.
How does a man live with only 80 minutes of memory? The story is heartwarming and I am really glad I had the option to read it. Live is difficult if your memory leaves you behind. The story of the professor and the housemaid pictures a friendship of two really differend people bonding over a 10 year old boy. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend you give it a try. Please remember reading is subjective.
I know nothing about baseball and math breaks my brain AND YET this tender, beautiful thing made me cry at the train station - 4.5/5* rounded up for The Feels. This novel moves slowly, reading it feels a bit like being cradled in a rocking chair. A loaded metaphor full of nostalgic melancholy, yes, but the vibes fit with it and the comforting, nurturing nature of this book calls for it. Through its narrative pov it never gives the reader the full picture yet it deals in the absolute truths of numbers and human connection. My heart is very fuzzy and full. TW: chronic illness - memory loss conditions; in a way death and grief are themes, but it's hard to describe, they are not immediate, death doesn't happen on the page for example, but grief still lingers in the corners
Description
She is an astute young Housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him.
Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant mathematical equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers reveal a poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her son.
With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.
'This is one of those books written in such lucid, unpretentious language that reading it is like looking into a deep pool of clear water...Dive into Yoko Ogawa's world and you find yourself tugged by forces more felt than seen' New York Times
VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.
Book Information
Posts
A quiet but beautiful read about finding friendship in unexpected places.
I am in love with the calm and sober writing of most Japanese authors, but this book was something else. The housekeeper gets posted at a new client - a mathematics professor with memory loss after 1975 and a short term memory of only 80 minutes. What sounds like a recipe for disaster turns into a lovely story about finding friendship under uncommon circumstances, different ways of expressing love and affection and that family does not necessarily need blood relations. I felt like I was part of the story the entire time, an invisible guest in the small cottage of the professor, dwelling in his study, sitting in the kitchen, joining them on their adventures. Definitely a book that will leave you in thoughts after you’ve finished it.
How does a man live with only 80 minutes of memory? The story is heartwarming and I am really glad I had the option to read it. Live is difficult if your memory leaves you behind. The story of the professor and the housemaid pictures a friendship of two really differend people bonding over a 10 year old boy. I really enjoyed the book and would recommend you give it a try. Please remember reading is subjective.
I know nothing about baseball and math breaks my brain AND YET this tender, beautiful thing made me cry at the train station - 4.5/5* rounded up for The Feels. This novel moves slowly, reading it feels a bit like being cradled in a rocking chair. A loaded metaphor full of nostalgic melancholy, yes, but the vibes fit with it and the comforting, nurturing nature of this book calls for it. Through its narrative pov it never gives the reader the full picture yet it deals in the absolute truths of numbers and human connection. My heart is very fuzzy and full. TW: chronic illness - memory loss conditions; in a way death and grief are themes, but it's hard to describe, they are not immediate, death doesn't happen on the page for example, but grief still lingers in the corners