Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York : Picador, 2009.
Description
He is a brilliant math Professor with a peculiar problem-ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory.She is an astute young Housekeeper-with a ten-year-old son-who is hired to care for the Professor. And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them. Though he cannot hold memories for long (his brain is like a tape that begins to erase itself every eighty minutes), the Professor's mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. And the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son. The Professor is capable of discovering connections between the simplest of quantities-like the Housekeeper's shoe size-and the universe at large, drawing their lives ever closer and more profoundly together, even as his memory slips away.Yoko Ogawa's The Housekeeper and the Professor is an enchanting story about what it means to live in the present, and about the curious equations that can create a family.… (more)
Media reviews
Den mycket uppskattade japanska författaren Yoko Ogawa introduceras på svenska med en riktig hjärteknipare. Annat brukar det sällan bli när gamla, sjuka gubbar sammanförs med barn.
Booklist
The narrator in Ogawa's mysterious, suspenseful, and radiant fable, the youngest housekeeper at the agency, knows that her new client will be a challenge: nine housekeepers have already been fired. But when she meets the Professor in his small cottage, she is intrigued instead of wary. A brilliant
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mathematician, he lives a surreal life. The elderly Professor can't remember anything after 1975. He can absorb new information and new experiences for 80 minutes at a stretch, then it is erased, and he has to start over. Quiet and kind, his jacket festooned with scraps of paper on which he writes notes to remind himself of what he always forgets, he spends his puzzling days solving highly advanced math problems and winning national contests. At long last, he has the perfect companions. The smart and resourceful housekeeper, the single mother of a baseball-crazy 10-year-old boy the Professor adores, falls under the spell of the beautiful mathematical phenomena the Professor elucidates, as will the reader, and the three create an indivisible formula for love Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member cameling
This is a touching story of a mathematical genius who suffers brain trauma after he's involved in a car accident, leaving him with no long term memory after 1975. At present he seems to only remember in 80 minute chunks of time.
He reminds himself of certain things by writing little notes and
Through the Professor's communication with the Housekeeper, we are introduced to basic and advanced mathematical theorems in the most delightful way. As he does for the Housekeeper, so does he open our eyes to a different way to look at numbers and makes it even fun to do so.
With the introduction of her son, they form an interesting friendship, which makes one wonder how much does memory play in our lives, and if new connections can be made, even in short periods of time. This touching story brings it home that life's valuable moments are measured by their quality and not quantity.
He reminds himself of certain things by writing little notes and
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clipping them onto various parts of his clothes. A housekeeper enters to keep the house clean and to cook for the Professor. His odd questions centering around numbers initially confuse her but she learns that's the way he communicates. Through the Professor's communication with the Housekeeper, we are introduced to basic and advanced mathematical theorems in the most delightful way. As he does for the Housekeeper, so does he open our eyes to a different way to look at numbers and makes it even fun to do so.
With the introduction of her son, they form an interesting friendship, which makes one wonder how much does memory play in our lives, and if new connections can be made, even in short periods of time. This touching story brings it home that life's valuable moments are measured by their quality and not quantity.
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LibraryThing member countrylife
I've been duped! All the positive chatter about this book prompted me to pick it up. But be warned: there is MATH between the covers! I don't care HOW many times people tell me, “numbers are your friends”, that does not make it so. Yet this story may be the closest I've ever come to caring
The professor has suffered an accident that leaves him with a memory of only 80 minutes duration from the time of the accident. A relative has hired a housekeeping agency to send someone in to do his meals and cleaning. The ninth housekeeper to attempt the job comes with an understanding heart and a 10 year old son. There must be an untold story in the background of The Professor, for he so enthusiastically welcomes “Root” (nicknamed by the Professor for the shape of his hair resembling the square root sign) each time he appeared, even though he was unable to remember him from one time to the next. Yet, that relationship was so beautifully written, and the main thing I loved about this story.
Told in spare simplicity – the Professor and the Housekeeper are never even named, only the child who is at the 'root' of everything – this lovely little book will steal your heart, especially if you are a baseball or math fan. I am neither, but it ran away with my heart, anyway!
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about numbers. Because – I LOVED this book! The professor has suffered an accident that leaves him with a memory of only 80 minutes duration from the time of the accident. A relative has hired a housekeeping agency to send someone in to do his meals and cleaning. The ninth housekeeper to attempt the job comes with an understanding heart and a 10 year old son. There must be an untold story in the background of The Professor, for he so enthusiastically welcomes “Root” (nicknamed by the Professor for the shape of his hair resembling the square root sign) each time he appeared, even though he was unable to remember him from one time to the next. Yet, that relationship was so beautifully written, and the main thing I loved about this story.
Told in spare simplicity – the Professor and the Housekeeper are never even named, only the child who is at the 'root' of everything – this lovely little book will steal your heart, especially if you are a baseball or math fan. I am neither, but it ran away with my heart, anyway!
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LibraryThing member brenzi
In The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa uses mathematics and baseball as metaphors for life and, in so doing, has written a very imaginative and charming novel. The housekeeper is a single mother, living in Japan in the early 1990’s, when she is assigned to the brilliant mathematics
“To the Professor, whose memory only lasted eighty minutes, I was always a new housekeeper he was meeting for the first time, and so every morning he was appropriately reserved and shy. He would ask my shoe size or telephone number, or perhaps, my zip code, the registration number on my bicycle, or the number of brushstrokes in the characters of my name; and whatever the number, he invariably found some significance in it.”
When the Professor discovers that the housekeeper has a ten year old son, who is home alone when the school day ends, he insists that the boy come to the Professor’s house. Once that happens, and the Professor names him Root, because his head is flat like a square root sign, they discover they have a common love: baseball. The Tigers are their team and the Professor has a favorite player, who, unfortunately, was traded away in 1985. The Professor’s memory being what it is, he does not recognize this and Root and his mother try desperately to keep the truth from him.
The housekeeper, Root and the Professor develop a wonderful, caring relationship centered on baseball and mathematics and the author explores a dry subject (mathematics) in a way that is appealing and surprising. At one point the Professor explains, “External truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material things or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions. Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression—in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.” The housekeeper realizes how much she needs this eternal truth and “the sense that this invisible world was somehow propping up the visible one.”
This was an enjoyable read and I recommend it.
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professor. She is his tenth housekeeper, the previous nine having been unable to deal with his special requirements. Ever since the Professor suffered a head injury in a car accident many years previously, his memory ends in 1975 and his short term memory only lasts eighty minutes. Therefore, every morning the housekeeper has to reintroduce herself:“To the Professor, whose memory only lasted eighty minutes, I was always a new housekeeper he was meeting for the first time, and so every morning he was appropriately reserved and shy. He would ask my shoe size or telephone number, or perhaps, my zip code, the registration number on my bicycle, or the number of brushstrokes in the characters of my name; and whatever the number, he invariably found some significance in it.”
When the Professor discovers that the housekeeper has a ten year old son, who is home alone when the school day ends, he insists that the boy come to the Professor’s house. Once that happens, and the Professor names him Root, because his head is flat like a square root sign, they discover they have a common love: baseball. The Tigers are their team and the Professor has a favorite player, who, unfortunately, was traded away in 1985. The Professor’s memory being what it is, he does not recognize this and Root and his mother try desperately to keep the truth from him.
The housekeeper, Root and the Professor develop a wonderful, caring relationship centered on baseball and mathematics and the author explores a dry subject (mathematics) in a way that is appealing and surprising. At one point the Professor explains, “External truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material things or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions. Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression—in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.” The housekeeper realizes how much she needs this eternal truth and “the sense that this invisible world was somehow propping up the visible one.”
This was an enjoyable read and I recommend it.
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LibraryThing member stretch
A gifted mathematician, after suffering a terrible accident is left with a memory that only last for 80 minutes. His world is reduced to solving puzzles from mathematic journals. His only connection with the larger world and important events in his life is through the handwritten notes clipped to
The Housekeeper and the Professor is about friendship and the bonds people form when they are open to receiving each other’s flaws as well as their gifts. It’s about to torn families coming together to form a new family built from the tragedies each has experienced. It’s about overcoming isolation and opening up to possibility. All wrapped in the beautifully understated prose of Yoko Ogawa.
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his worn out suits. Unable to form lasting relationships with anyone new, he’s stuck in the past that no longer exists. Isolated from the world, it’s left to his widowed sister-in-law to be his caretaker. To this end, she hires a series of housekeepers to tend to the “professor’s” few needs and to keep his shack of a home from deteriorating any further. Meeting new people for the professor and the person in question is a daunting experience that must be repeated every day. The only connection the professor can form with these people is through their numbers (birth date, age, height, shoe size, etc.); and finding the interplay those numbers have with the only world he understands, mathematics. Enter an under educated housekeeper devoted to her work and her nine year old son (an avid baseball fan) who shake the professor’s self constructed reality to reveal a fully fledged person. The Housekeeper and the Professor is about friendship and the bonds people form when they are open to receiving each other’s flaws as well as their gifts. It’s about to torn families coming together to form a new family built from the tragedies each has experienced. It’s about overcoming isolation and opening up to possibility. All wrapped in the beautifully understated prose of Yoko Ogawa.
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LibraryThing member nobooksnolife
The Housekeeper and the Professor
by Yoko Ogawa, translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder
I just finished reading this elegant translation of "Hakase no Aishita Sushiki" (author copyright 2003) which brings to the English speaking world a wonderful novel incorporating some weighty social issues
It is a quintessentially Japanese story, yet like all good novels, its problems are universal--social disenfranchisement, aging, failure of education system--to name a few. If you have some knowledge of modern Japan, the story may feel more poignant, but even if you know nothing about Japan, the characters' dilemmas will ring true. If your tastes include math, baseball, and Japan, this novel may likely become one of your favorites. Personally, my eyes glaze over at the appearance of numerals and equations; I sleep through baseball; but the "Japan" part hooked me. The humanity of the story hooked me.
Perhaps more than other societies, it's tough to be a misfit in Japan. (As a foreigner living in Japan, I can relate). The characters in this work are all misfits, quietly and somewhat tragically unable to live up to society's expectations. The housekeeper, fatherless and then orphaned, is a single mother to her own young son. Though few details are sketched, there are hints that the son is not well liked at school. Intelligent but under-educated, the mother takes jobs cleaning houses and is hired by an old woman to clean her brother-in-law's (the professor's) house. The woman sets forth strict rules for the job, based on the odd facts that define the professor's reclusive life and unusual behavior. He is a world-renowned math genius whose long-term memory stops in 1975. His memory for current events and new information lasts only 80 minutes.
Almost without realizing it, these humble souls discover a uniquely human connectedness. The plot involves a gentle, almost sublime, teaching of math and the magical guile of a truly great teacher in the person of the professor, plus an adoring rendition of the sport of baseball. So important are math and baseball that they nearly become characters in themselves. There is enough suspense, intrigue, and a few surprises to make this a satisfying glimpse of life in modern Japan.
"Hakase no Aishita Sushiki" was made into a movie directed by Takashi Koizumi (assistant director to Akira Kurosawa on several films) in 2006, and reportedly played well to Japanese audiences. Now, thanks to Stephen Snyder's translation, the novel The Housekeeper and the Professor will be released in the United States in February 2009.
by Yoko Ogawa, translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder
I just finished reading this elegant translation of "Hakase no Aishita Sushiki" (author copyright 2003) which brings to the English speaking world a wonderful novel incorporating some weighty social issues
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into a thought-provoking story with an economy of prose and a light touch. It is a quintessentially Japanese story, yet like all good novels, its problems are universal--social disenfranchisement, aging, failure of education system--to name a few. If you have some knowledge of modern Japan, the story may feel more poignant, but even if you know nothing about Japan, the characters' dilemmas will ring true. If your tastes include math, baseball, and Japan, this novel may likely become one of your favorites. Personally, my eyes glaze over at the appearance of numerals and equations; I sleep through baseball; but the "Japan" part hooked me. The humanity of the story hooked me.
Perhaps more than other societies, it's tough to be a misfit in Japan. (As a foreigner living in Japan, I can relate). The characters in this work are all misfits, quietly and somewhat tragically unable to live up to society's expectations. The housekeeper, fatherless and then orphaned, is a single mother to her own young son. Though few details are sketched, there are hints that the son is not well liked at school. Intelligent but under-educated, the mother takes jobs cleaning houses and is hired by an old woman to clean her brother-in-law's (the professor's) house. The woman sets forth strict rules for the job, based on the odd facts that define the professor's reclusive life and unusual behavior. He is a world-renowned math genius whose long-term memory stops in 1975. His memory for current events and new information lasts only 80 minutes.
Almost without realizing it, these humble souls discover a uniquely human connectedness. The plot involves a gentle, almost sublime, teaching of math and the magical guile of a truly great teacher in the person of the professor, plus an adoring rendition of the sport of baseball. So important are math and baseball that they nearly become characters in themselves. There is enough suspense, intrigue, and a few surprises to make this a satisfying glimpse of life in modern Japan.
"Hakase no Aishita Sushiki" was made into a movie directed by Takashi Koizumi (assistant director to Akira Kurosawa on several films) in 2006, and reportedly played well to Japanese audiences. Now, thanks to Stephen Snyder's translation, the novel The Housekeeper and the Professor will be released in the United States in February 2009.
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LibraryThing member mamzel
What a delightful story!
The narrator is a young single mother who is a housekeeper through an agency. When the agency sends her to the latest house she is apprehensive because there are nine blue stars on the card meaning there were nine housekeepers before her. What she finds is an old man in a
Every day she has to introduce herself to him by pointing out the drawing he made of her on one of the notes on his sleeve. She starts bringing her 10-year old son with her because the professor could not stand to think of him home alone. He nicknames the boy Root because his flat head reminds the man of the square root symbol.
As time passes, their unusual relationship grows and her total ignorance of more than basic math is turned into an appreciation due to his deep love for the study. The reader is also given a new way to view an otherwise mundane subject for most of us. Even those of us without an interest in baseball can see how it can be so much more than just a game to its fans.
Brief and spare, this book packs more beauty and love than books twice its size.
The narrator is a young single mother who is a housekeeper through an agency. When the agency sends her to the latest house she is apprehensive because there are nine blue stars on the card meaning there were nine housekeepers before her. What she finds is an old man in a
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two-room cottage. He is dressed in an old suit covered with notes. The most telling one states "My memory lasts only eighty minutes."Every day she has to introduce herself to him by pointing out the drawing he made of her on one of the notes on his sleeve. She starts bringing her 10-year old son with her because the professor could not stand to think of him home alone. He nicknames the boy Root because his flat head reminds the man of the square root symbol.
As time passes, their unusual relationship grows and her total ignorance of more than basic math is turned into an appreciation due to his deep love for the study. The reader is also given a new way to view an otherwise mundane subject for most of us. Even those of us without an interest in baseball can see how it can be so much more than just a game to its fans.
Brief and spare, this book packs more beauty and love than books twice its size.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
Having heard raves about this book, I was really looking forward to it. But while I enjoyed reading about the relationships of the characters--an elderly mathmatician who had been left with an eighty-five minute attention span following an accident, his humble yet loyal and resourceful housekeeper,
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and her ten-year old son--, overall, the novel left me cold. Perhaps this is because I skipped over most of the long passages focused on math problems (I found them rather irritating, just as I had math in high school), and because I have no interest in baseball, be it Japanese or American. The supposedly philosophical messages about perseverance, memory, responsibility, the importance of work, and love were nice enough but fairly cliché. I found myself struggling to finish this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member zibilee
Left debilitated by an accident many years ago, the Professor lives the life of a hermit, a situation that is complicated by his memory, which only retains the past eighty minutes of his life. Anybody or any thing that has been apart from him longer than that must be reintroduced as though brand
This was a story that did not disappoint. It was a tale both moving and unique, and the characters really stayed with me. I found myself thinking about the oddness and sorrow that must have been the Professors life, often wondering how I might deal with an eighty minute memory. I suspect not well. In its sparse yet elegant style, the story of the Professor touched my heart and made me consider the power of relationships and their influences in peoples lives. It was enlightening to be able to see how people so fundamentally different could grow to love and depend on each other. Though it cannot be said that the Professor formed lasting attachments, I think it is very debatable to say that the times he spent with the mother and son were both valuable and crucial times for him.
I really liked the method of exposition in this book. There was a great crispness to the dialogue and narrative; a tossing out of the old familiar way of storytelling into a new and more refined style. It seemed as though there were great stores of emotion on every page, yet somehow, things didn't overflow or get messy. There was just enough control of sentiment to make this a moving yet tight read. The fluid quality of the writing was very nice as well. I felt the chapters and narrative moved seamlessly along with none of the awkward or jarring shifts in it that I sometimes feel while reading other books. This was a very calm book that belied it's emotions. It dealt with very tragic and sometimes alarming things, but in a subdued and moderated way. I think that this actually served the story well, because it made everything so much more profound and penetrating. There was also a quiet joy suffused throughout the story, something tangible and uplifting that I took away and savored.
It was impossible not to love the Professor. Reading about him was both sad and humbling, yet the ways in which he dealt with his problem seemed ingenious and clever. He was never nasty and recalcitrant, never giving someone hell for the life he lost. Rather, he was quiet and subtle. He spent most of his time working on formulas and math puzzles that had stumped other mathematicians. His love for the little boy was something that was stirring and wonderful to read. I loved the sections between boy and man, both accepting the other for what they were, loving each other unconditionally. Watching the little boy grow and change was something great as well. As he begins to really understand the Professor, he begins to look for increased ways to appreciate and care for him. It was obvious to me, and to any who will read this book, that the boy and the Professor shared a common understanding of the heart, a connection deeper and keener than most relationships.
Another thing that I thought was nice was the inclusion of math and math problems. Though I have never studied math or been one to enjoy it, the author makes several allegories in the story using math, and uses the math sections as a tool for bridging the emotional divide between the Professor and the others. There are a lot of challenging ideas in this book, but it is one that can be read on several different levels, which I think makes it an even better book. The book also discuses baseball, but not in a way that is alienating to those who have no interest in the sport. Mostly the book discusses what it is like to be a fan and to get excited about your passion. In fact, you could almost substitute baseball in the book for rock concerts, or soccer, or anything that you as a reader have an affinity for.
This was a kind book, something that you could easily spend an afternoon with and leave feeling calm, sated and happy. It was also very poignant, in a quiet way. I found that even though I put this book down, I continued to think about it and I kept trying to bring it up in conversation. There is so much in this book about the nature of unconditional love and the beauty of spiritual generosity. I have to say that I really hope that this gentle book will be appreciated by many. A really great read that I definitely recommend.
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new. To combat this cruel fate, the Professor takes to wearing small bits of paper stuck to his suit with safety pins. The notes he pins on himself have all the information that he needs in order to function. Because of these difficulties and idiosyncrasies, he has been through many housekeepers/care-givers. Most have left unhappily and with many complaints. When the newest housekeeper arrives, she not only sees the damaged man but also sees the beauty and wonder inside of him. As it turns out, the Professor has an incredible propensity for math, and has even won significant prizes and accolades for his work and research on the subject. Soon the Professor begins to insist that the Housekeeper bring her young son to work with her, and from their first meeting, the Professor is enchanted with the boy. The Professor, so overjoyed to be around the young boy, begins to show him the secrets of math and becomes a father figure to him. Soon the boy and the Professor begin to share a powerful affection for each other that manifests unexpected changes in both of their lives. As the boy, the Housekeeper, and Professor learn and teach each other about math, baseball, and each other, unbreakable bonds are formed and lives are impacted. Both touching and emotional, this book seeks to show the way that one person's life, however blemished, can affect the lives of so many others.This was a story that did not disappoint. It was a tale both moving and unique, and the characters really stayed with me. I found myself thinking about the oddness and sorrow that must have been the Professors life, often wondering how I might deal with an eighty minute memory. I suspect not well. In its sparse yet elegant style, the story of the Professor touched my heart and made me consider the power of relationships and their influences in peoples lives. It was enlightening to be able to see how people so fundamentally different could grow to love and depend on each other. Though it cannot be said that the Professor formed lasting attachments, I think it is very debatable to say that the times he spent with the mother and son were both valuable and crucial times for him.
I really liked the method of exposition in this book. There was a great crispness to the dialogue and narrative; a tossing out of the old familiar way of storytelling into a new and more refined style. It seemed as though there were great stores of emotion on every page, yet somehow, things didn't overflow or get messy. There was just enough control of sentiment to make this a moving yet tight read. The fluid quality of the writing was very nice as well. I felt the chapters and narrative moved seamlessly along with none of the awkward or jarring shifts in it that I sometimes feel while reading other books. This was a very calm book that belied it's emotions. It dealt with very tragic and sometimes alarming things, but in a subdued and moderated way. I think that this actually served the story well, because it made everything so much more profound and penetrating. There was also a quiet joy suffused throughout the story, something tangible and uplifting that I took away and savored.
It was impossible not to love the Professor. Reading about him was both sad and humbling, yet the ways in which he dealt with his problem seemed ingenious and clever. He was never nasty and recalcitrant, never giving someone hell for the life he lost. Rather, he was quiet and subtle. He spent most of his time working on formulas and math puzzles that had stumped other mathematicians. His love for the little boy was something that was stirring and wonderful to read. I loved the sections between boy and man, both accepting the other for what they were, loving each other unconditionally. Watching the little boy grow and change was something great as well. As he begins to really understand the Professor, he begins to look for increased ways to appreciate and care for him. It was obvious to me, and to any who will read this book, that the boy and the Professor shared a common understanding of the heart, a connection deeper and keener than most relationships.
Another thing that I thought was nice was the inclusion of math and math problems. Though I have never studied math or been one to enjoy it, the author makes several allegories in the story using math, and uses the math sections as a tool for bridging the emotional divide between the Professor and the others. There are a lot of challenging ideas in this book, but it is one that can be read on several different levels, which I think makes it an even better book. The book also discuses baseball, but not in a way that is alienating to those who have no interest in the sport. Mostly the book discusses what it is like to be a fan and to get excited about your passion. In fact, you could almost substitute baseball in the book for rock concerts, or soccer, or anything that you as a reader have an affinity for.
This was a kind book, something that you could easily spend an afternoon with and leave feeling calm, sated and happy. It was also very poignant, in a quiet way. I found that even though I put this book down, I continued to think about it and I kept trying to bring it up in conversation. There is so much in this book about the nature of unconditional love and the beauty of spiritual generosity. I have to say that I really hope that this gentle book will be appreciated by many. A really great read that I definitely recommend.
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LibraryThing member bragan
A single mother with a ten-year-old son comes to work for an elderly mathematician who, having suffered a head injury in 1975, cannot remember anything past that time for more than eighty minutes. The three of them form a bond, and the mathematician teaches them lots of nifty facts about numbers,
Having seen this book praised highly by a lot of people, I think I was expecting something a bit more, I don't know, emotionally intense. But really it's just a sweet, very low-key book about friendship and math, with a nice, very subtle thematic undertone involving the fragility of memory and the unchanging eternity of numbers.
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which, honestly, is much more interesting than it sounds.Having seen this book praised highly by a lot of people, I think I was expecting something a bit more, I don't know, emotionally intense. But really it's just a sweet, very low-key book about friendship and math, with a nice, very subtle thematic undertone involving the fragility of memory and the unchanging eternity of numbers.
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LibraryThing member williecostello
After reading and loving Ogawa's other two books that have been translated into English ("Hotel Iris" and "The Diving Pool"), I was very disappointed by "The Housekeeper and the Professor". What I appreciated so much about those other works was how deftly Ogawa was able to juxtapose beautiful,
I can see how other people might enjoy this book, but for me, it failed to deliver on all the points that drew me to Ogawa in the first place.
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sparse, and poetic prose with dark and often unsettling undertones. This book, on the other hand, just came across as overly sentimental to me, almost like a sappy movie. I also did not enjoy the many discussions of the "beauty" of mathematics, which I found exaggerated and amateurish. I kept on reading the book because I really expected Ogawa to throw in some really unexpected, sinister turn to the plot, but no, the whole thing went on in its subdued, melodramatic tone.I can see how other people might enjoy this book, but for me, it failed to deliver on all the points that drew me to Ogawa in the first place.
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LibraryThing member 1morechapter
‘Math has proven the existence of God, because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil must exist as well, because we cannot prove it.’
Absolutely wonderful — I loved this book!!
Have you seen the movie 50 First Dates? It’s one of my favorite movies, and a very similar
The housekeeper does her best to please the professor and works around his disability. She tells him about her 10 year old son, and he insists on letting the son come to his cottage after school, even though it’s against the cleaning agency’s rules. The professor writes notes to himself to help remind him of the housekeeper and her son. The boy and the professor both have a love of baseball, and the professor uses this to teach the boy mathematics. Soon a strong bond is formed among the three of them.
There is quite a bit of math in this book, and of course I enjoyed those references tremendously. I have an engineering degree, and mathematics has always been a love of mine. I don’t think you have to know math like I do to enjoy this book, but you will certainly appreciate the beauty of it a bit more if you do.
‘Eternal truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material things or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions. Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression — in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.’
Very highly recommended!!
2003, 2009 for the English translation by Stephen Snyder, 180 pp.
5/5
Absolutely wonderful — I loved this book!!
Have you seen the movie 50 First Dates? It’s one of my favorite movies, and a very similar
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situation occurs in this book. A mathematics professor has only 80 minutes of short term memory due to a car accident, but he remembers everything clear as a bell that happened before his head injury. He continues to solve mathematical proofs and has an uncanny ability to know exactly where the North Star is in the sky, even when there’s no visibility. He is kind and has a great love for children. But, he remembers only 80 minutes at a time in the here and now. His sister-in-law lets him live in a cottage next to her main house, and she has hired a ninth housekeeper to cook and clean for the professor.The housekeeper does her best to please the professor and works around his disability. She tells him about her 10 year old son, and he insists on letting the son come to his cottage after school, even though it’s against the cleaning agency’s rules. The professor writes notes to himself to help remind him of the housekeeper and her son. The boy and the professor both have a love of baseball, and the professor uses this to teach the boy mathematics. Soon a strong bond is formed among the three of them.
There is quite a bit of math in this book, and of course I enjoyed those references tremendously. I have an engineering degree, and mathematics has always been a love of mine. I don’t think you have to know math like I do to enjoy this book, but you will certainly appreciate the beauty of it a bit more if you do.
‘Eternal truths are ultimately invisible, and you won’t find them in material things or natural phenomena, or even in human emotions. Mathematics, however, can illuminate them, can give them expression — in fact, nothing can prevent it from doing so.’
Very highly recommended!!
2003, 2009 for the English translation by Stephen Snyder, 180 pp.
5/5
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LibraryThing member bkatz
This is a beautiful book which ask questions such as "what is the nature of family" and "what is connection" and "how important is memory." A housekeeper and her 10-year-old son care for an elderly man who was once a brilliant math professor. He had a severe car accident in 1975, and while he
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retains old memories, he can only sustain new memories for 80 minutes. The three develop a friendship and become a "family" through connection. However, because of the professor's memory, he re-meets the mother and son every day as if for the first time. The three bond over math and baseball; the uneducated housekeeper finds she can follow some complex math if she works at it, which enhances her sense of self. The boy and professor love each other, the boy showing heightened maturity in his behavior toward the professor. According to the Washington Post, this book sold more than 2.5 copies in Japan and was made into a movie. Ron Charles writes, "Perhaps Ogawa's Japanese fans, who are several years ahead of us on the inevitable shuffle toward a geriatric society, are responding to her quiet spiritual wisdom " (Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2009). Show Less
LibraryThing member cinesnail88
I read about this book in the NYT Book Review and happened to see it in a bookstore several weeks later. On a whim I bought it and I'm glad I did. Despite it's relatively short length, this novel by Ogawa packs a punch. The Professor is an endlessly lovable character - and the fact the Ogawa
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doesn't try to tidily wrap things up and tell you everything at the end was appreciated - by me, at least. Show Less
LibraryThing member kidzdoc
The narrator is a young woman employed by a housekeeping agency, who is assigned to work in the cottage of a retired mathematics professor in 1992. The Professor suffered a traumatic brain injury after a motor vehicle accident in 1975. His long-term memory prior to the accident is intact, but his
She is a single mother of a 10 yr old boy, a latchkey child, and she has little time to spend with him, though she loves him deeply. The Professor insists that the child, who he calls Root, accompany his mother after school. The Professor takes to Root as if he was the son that he never had, and Root for the first time has an adult figure in his life who can provide him with love and attention.
This is a beautifully told, metaphorically rich story of memory and experience, and the characters are adorable and unforgettable. It is a novel to be savored and revisited.
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short-term memory is limited to 80 minutes.She is a single mother of a 10 yr old boy, a latchkey child, and she has little time to spend with him, though she loves him deeply. The Professor insists that the child, who he calls Root, accompany his mother after school. The Professor takes to Root as if he was the son that he never had, and Root for the first time has an adult figure in his life who can provide him with love and attention.
This is a beautifully told, metaphorically rich story of memory and experience, and the characters are adorable and unforgettable. It is a novel to be savored and revisited.
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LibraryThing member Yestergirl
The beauty of numbers... For some of us numbers are a dark mystery that we know can solve the problem of man flying to the moon but we must believe this on faith. For others math is like a series of brushstrokes on a piece of lined paper that form a glimpse into a perfect piece of artwork. In Yoko
As the result of a traumatic brain injury sustained in an auto accident almost 20 years ago, the professor, who is just referred to as 'the professor' thru-out the whole story, has a memory that lasts only 80 minutes. The Housekeeper is the woman the professors sister-in-law has hired to take care of him. And every morning when the housekeeper reports for work, they reintroduce themselves and start anew. The professors mind is still alive with the equations of his past and lives his life by sharing his love of mathematics wiht the housekeeper and her 10 year old son, Root, who the professor call Root because his head is flat like the square root symbol.
Simple numbers like the housekeeper's birthday of Feb. 20th become a lesson in natural numbers... "220 ( 2 - 20 ) is divisible by 1 and 220, with nothing left over, so 1 and 220 are factors of 220. And Natural Numbers always have 1 and itself as factors..." Or the professors favorite baseball player's number is the number 28 - a perfect number! (what's a perfect number? you'll have to read the book to find out...)
But the beauty of this story is it's simplicity. The characters have no names, except for root which is really a nickname, and the majority of the story takes place within the walls of a run down cottage that the professor lives in. The Housekeeper's empathy towards the professor slowly transforms him from a lonely 2 dimensional hermit, to a character with a bit of flash & blood, with feelings and thoughts that you believe he's finally being able to express out loud because of the love a a hired housekeeper and her fatherless son.
Simply a charming book. Each sentence is like a whisper of a thought, hardly detectable, but slowly builds into a touching & memorable story. At 180 pages it becomes a perfect afternoon read.
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Ogawa's book The Housekeeper and the Professor, the professor is the later - a brilliant mathematician that loves numbers. But he has a bit of a problem - his memory lasts only 80 minutes - and this fact is prominently pinned as a note to his suit jacket so he can 'remember' that fact. Actually anything of importance in pinned to his suit jacket, so that he looks like a walking bulletin board. But this book isn't really about mathematics, but a story about the love shared by the virtual family of the professor, the housekeeper who is hired to take card of the professor, and the housekeepers 10 yr. old son. And it is the story of hope, where you can find meaning in your life no matter what your circumstances.As the result of a traumatic brain injury sustained in an auto accident almost 20 years ago, the professor, who is just referred to as 'the professor' thru-out the whole story, has a memory that lasts only 80 minutes. The Housekeeper is the woman the professors sister-in-law has hired to take care of him. And every morning when the housekeeper reports for work, they reintroduce themselves and start anew. The professors mind is still alive with the equations of his past and lives his life by sharing his love of mathematics wiht the housekeeper and her 10 year old son, Root, who the professor call Root because his head is flat like the square root symbol.
Simple numbers like the housekeeper's birthday of Feb. 20th become a lesson in natural numbers... "220 ( 2 - 20 ) is divisible by 1 and 220, with nothing left over, so 1 and 220 are factors of 220. And Natural Numbers always have 1 and itself as factors..." Or the professors favorite baseball player's number is the number 28 - a perfect number! (what's a perfect number? you'll have to read the book to find out...)
But the beauty of this story is it's simplicity. The characters have no names, except for root which is really a nickname, and the majority of the story takes place within the walls of a run down cottage that the professor lives in. The Housekeeper's empathy towards the professor slowly transforms him from a lonely 2 dimensional hermit, to a character with a bit of flash & blood, with feelings and thoughts that you believe he's finally being able to express out loud because of the love a a hired housekeeper and her fatherless son.
Simply a charming book. Each sentence is like a whisper of a thought, hardly detectable, but slowly builds into a touching & memorable story. At 180 pages it becomes a perfect afternoon read.
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LibraryThing member gaskella
When I spotted this book, with its quote from my literary hero Paul Auster on the cover, I was hooked. Having read it, I'm delighted I chanced upon it, for I loved this gentle tale of the Professor, his Housekeeper and her son.
A young housekeeper is sent to work for an old mathematics professor.
"At the end of my first day, I noticed a new note on the cuff of his jacket. "The new housekeeper," it said. The words were written in tiny, delicate characters, and above them was a sketch of a woman's face. It looked like the workof a small child - short hair, round cheeks, and a mole next to the mouth - but I knew instantly that it was a portrait of me. I imagined the Professor hurrying to draw this likeness before the memory had vanished. The note was proof of something, that he had interrupted his thinking for my sake."
The Housekeeper and the Professor strike up a sort of friendship. Although she has to reintroduce herself every day, they settle into a routine. When he's not working on maths problems, he tells her about the beauty of prime numbers, won't eat his carrots, and is every inch an absent-minded Professor. When she tells him about her son, he insists that he comes to the house after school rather than be at home on his own until she finishes work. The Professor calls him 'Root' because his flat head reminds him of the flat top of a square root sign (√). They have a shared love of baseball; unfortunately the Professor's memories end in 1985 and his favourite player is no long gone from the game, but they devise ways of getting round this. The Professor also helps Root with his maths homework, setting extra problems that get them both (and me), thinking. They make a lovely threesome, the Professor is good and patient with children and Root makes him happy. The Housekeeper begins to see herself as a friend rather than employee, and arranges an outing to a baseball game ...
Please don't let the maths in this book put you off. It's mostly a discussion of primes - those magical numbers that can only be divided by themselves and one. Numbers are the Professor's comfort zone; he's an excellent teacher and the discussion is easy to follow - indeed I learned quite a lot and found it fascinating. The language of baseball is less my cup of tea normally, but I couldn't help but get caught up in their enthusiasm.
I loved this book, it was gentle, beguiling and quirky, yet utterly serene in that Japanese sort of way.
A young housekeeper is sent to work for an old mathematics professor.
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She'll be ninth to have this job as he can be difficult - the Professor's brain was injured in an accident and now he has only eighty minutes of short-term memory. The Professor asks her questions - what is her shoe size? her telephone number? This happens each morning when they meet as if for the first time for him. The Professor clips notes onto his suit to help him with vital information..."At the end of my first day, I noticed a new note on the cuff of his jacket. "The new housekeeper," it said. The words were written in tiny, delicate characters, and above them was a sketch of a woman's face. It looked like the workof a small child - short hair, round cheeks, and a mole next to the mouth - but I knew instantly that it was a portrait of me. I imagined the Professor hurrying to draw this likeness before the memory had vanished. The note was proof of something, that he had interrupted his thinking for my sake."
The Housekeeper and the Professor strike up a sort of friendship. Although she has to reintroduce herself every day, they settle into a routine. When he's not working on maths problems, he tells her about the beauty of prime numbers, won't eat his carrots, and is every inch an absent-minded Professor. When she tells him about her son, he insists that he comes to the house after school rather than be at home on his own until she finishes work. The Professor calls him 'Root' because his flat head reminds him of the flat top of a square root sign (√). They have a shared love of baseball; unfortunately the Professor's memories end in 1985 and his favourite player is no long gone from the game, but they devise ways of getting round this. The Professor also helps Root with his maths homework, setting extra problems that get them both (and me), thinking. They make a lovely threesome, the Professor is good and patient with children and Root makes him happy. The Housekeeper begins to see herself as a friend rather than employee, and arranges an outing to a baseball game ...
Please don't let the maths in this book put you off. It's mostly a discussion of primes - those magical numbers that can only be divided by themselves and one. Numbers are the Professor's comfort zone; he's an excellent teacher and the discussion is easy to follow - indeed I learned quite a lot and found it fascinating. The language of baseball is less my cup of tea normally, but I couldn't help but get caught up in their enthusiasm.
I loved this book, it was gentle, beguiling and quirky, yet utterly serene in that Japanese sort of way.
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LibraryThing member Alirambles
The nameless Housekeeper learns to delight in math as she becomes friends with the professor she keeps house for. Math has become a constant companion for the Professor, since a car accident thirty-five years ago that caused his short-term memory to re-set itself every eighty minutes. Needless to
Stephen Snyder's translation from author Yoko Ogawa's Japanese flows beautifully, while maintaining a Japanese flavor. (See Worducopia for more)
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say, this can be a barrier to making new friends. He has to write down "the new Housekeeper," with a little sketch, on a slip of paper he pins to his suit coat so he'll understand who the Housekeeper is when she arrives each morning. And each afternoon when her son arrives from school, the Professor dubs him with the same nickname, day after day.Stephen Snyder's translation from author Yoko Ogawa's Japanese flows beautifully, while maintaining a Japanese flavor. (See Worducopia for more)
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LibraryThing member jwhenderson
This short novel is narrated by the housekeeper of the title, a single mother employed by an agency, who is assigned a new client. He lives in a dingy two-room apartment, and his suit jacket is covered with reminder notes he scribbles to himself. This is the Professor, a brilliant mathematician who
What the professor can remember is mathematics. It is this mathematics that is presented in an almost poetic form, but also as a dialogue between the professor and his housekeeper, and with her son as well. The characters remain nameless, except the son who is nicknamed Root by the professor, yielding an allegorical feeling and you read the story. Yet it is also an intimate tale of a family that goes beyond that through an exploration of the experience of memory and the beauty of mathematics.
How do you form a relationship with a person who cannot remember you from day to day? The attempts to overcome the difficulties posed by this situation sometimes seem insurmountable for the dedicated housekeeper. Both she and her son grow and change during the story while the professor seems stuck in a stagnant loop due to his faulty memory. In spite of this he is able to relate well to Root in his own unique way:
“He treated Root exactly as he treated prime numbers. For him, primes were the base on which all other natural numbers relied; and children were the foundation of everything worthwhile in the adult world”
Eventually it is the housekeeper's dedication that leads to an unforeseen change in her relationship with the professor and provides a moment of suspense in an otherwise very straightforward story. The juxtaposition of mathematics with the personal relationships and situations created by the Professor's memory loss provide a unique metaphorical approach to what would otherwise be a mundane narrative.
This is a surprisingly poignant and emotionally uplifting narrative whose straightforward and lucid presentation masks a much more complex and meaningful tale. The book as a whole is an exercise in delicate understatement, of the careful arrangement into a surprisingly strong structure. The pure mountain air of number theory wafts gently through all its pages leading to pure enjoyment for this reader.
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suffered brain damage in a car accident in 1975, and since then cannot remember anything for more than an hour and 20 minutes at a time. "It's as if he has a single, 80-minute videotape inside his head," the narrator explains, "and when he records anything new, he has to record over the existing memories."What the professor can remember is mathematics. It is this mathematics that is presented in an almost poetic form, but also as a dialogue between the professor and his housekeeper, and with her son as well. The characters remain nameless, except the son who is nicknamed Root by the professor, yielding an allegorical feeling and you read the story. Yet it is also an intimate tale of a family that goes beyond that through an exploration of the experience of memory and the beauty of mathematics.
How do you form a relationship with a person who cannot remember you from day to day? The attempts to overcome the difficulties posed by this situation sometimes seem insurmountable for the dedicated housekeeper. Both she and her son grow and change during the story while the professor seems stuck in a stagnant loop due to his faulty memory. In spite of this he is able to relate well to Root in his own unique way:
“He treated Root exactly as he treated prime numbers. For him, primes were the base on which all other natural numbers relied; and children were the foundation of everything worthwhile in the adult world”
Eventually it is the housekeeper's dedication that leads to an unforeseen change in her relationship with the professor and provides a moment of suspense in an otherwise very straightforward story. The juxtaposition of mathematics with the personal relationships and situations created by the Professor's memory loss provide a unique metaphorical approach to what would otherwise be a mundane narrative.
This is a surprisingly poignant and emotionally uplifting narrative whose straightforward and lucid presentation masks a much more complex and meaningful tale. The book as a whole is an exercise in delicate understatement, of the careful arrangement into a surprisingly strong structure. The pure mountain air of number theory wafts gently through all its pages leading to pure enjoyment for this reader.
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LibraryThing member MusicMom41
This is a beautiful, luminous story about a young single mother who becomes the housekeeper for a brilliant mathematician who, because of a brain injury, has a short term memory of only eighty minutes. I read some wonderful reviews on LT about this book so I ordered it from my Valley Cat library
This book resonated with me on many levels. My father was a mathematician, so is my older son and I have always been fascinated by math. I was care giver for my father for several years because he suffered from short term memory loss. I love baseball and there is a lot of baseball in this book—the major league in Japan. And underlying all this are the implied themes of love and family, especially in ways that make you reexamine what it means to be a family and what makes a family.
The math in the book is not only easy to follow, it also becomes something that revelatory about life and the universe. As the housekeeper learns to perceive these relationships it changes her life. This is my favorite quote from the book: “Math has proven the existence of God, because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil must exist as well, because we cannot prove it.”
I’m going to want to buy this book because it is one I will definitely read again—and compel my friends to read it. Highly recommended
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system. I had to wait more than two months, but it was worth the wait. This book resonated with me on many levels. My father was a mathematician, so is my older son and I have always been fascinated by math. I was care giver for my father for several years because he suffered from short term memory loss. I love baseball and there is a lot of baseball in this book—the major league in Japan. And underlying all this are the implied themes of love and family, especially in ways that make you reexamine what it means to be a family and what makes a family.
The math in the book is not only easy to follow, it also becomes something that revelatory about life and the universe. As the housekeeper learns to perceive these relationships it changes her life. This is my favorite quote from the book: “Math has proven the existence of God, because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil must exist as well, because we cannot prove it.”
I’m going to want to buy this book because it is one I will definitely read again—and compel my friends to read it. Highly recommended
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LibraryThing member SylviaC
Such a nice book. Very quiet and low key. It is the story of the friendship of a housekeeper and her son with a former math professor who has a memory span of only 80 minutes. A lot of the book is like number poetry. I have always wished that my brain had the same ability to feel numbers the way
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that it feels words. The ability to see patterns and equations in my mind, and manipulate and juggle with numbers, and not have to struggle through digit by digit. This book gives me a glimpse of the beauty that I know exists in numbers, but can never quite grasp. And the human story is good, too. Show Less
LibraryThing member Limelite
Elegant, serene, and spare novel about how kindness and accommodation make a family out of three lonely people in modern Japan. Ogawa puts words on a page with nary a misstep as naturally as walkers put one foot in front of the other. This reader felt only a sense of regret when I closed the book
Ogawa seamlessly melds number theory, relationships, and baseball into a story of encompassing love that shelters a math genius left with only 80 minutes of short term memory, his tireless and generous housekeeper, and her Japan Tigers-loving son. In assured straight-forward prose, the author soon has three characters with seemingly nothing in common discovering that their lives mesh. Each of them have gifts of understanding and compassion, of pupil and teacher, of caregiver and recipient that make them stronger individually and as a "family." Together they embody the beauty of triangular numbers.
After all, Fermat's Theorem, in part, says that every positive integer is the sum of at most three triangular numbers. And at least, they are arranged most positively in this novel.
Ogawa is a gem of a writer and I look forward to reading more of her fiction.
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and left the peace, humanity, and grace that I'd shared living beside the Housekeeper, the Professor, and 10-year-old Root.Ogawa seamlessly melds number theory, relationships, and baseball into a story of encompassing love that shelters a math genius left with only 80 minutes of short term memory, his tireless and generous housekeeper, and her Japan Tigers-loving son. In assured straight-forward prose, the author soon has three characters with seemingly nothing in common discovering that their lives mesh. Each of them have gifts of understanding and compassion, of pupil and teacher, of caregiver and recipient that make them stronger individually and as a "family." Together they embody the beauty of triangular numbers.
After all, Fermat's Theorem, in part, says that every positive integer is the sum of at most three triangular numbers. And at least, they are arranged most positively in this novel.
Ogawa is a gem of a writer and I look forward to reading more of her fiction.
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LibraryThing member TheBookJunky
A perfect little novel. A housekeeper goes to work for a math professor who, due to a previous head injury, can only remember things for 80 minutes. He can remember everything up to his head injury, but everything that happens after that can be remembered only for 80 minutes, and then it disappears
Despite the content, the story is never heavy or cumbersome. It always remains airy, evenly paced and quiet, very "Japanese".
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as if it had never happened. He covers his clothes in post-it notes that serve as reminders for him. The most important one says "my memory is only eighty minutes long" and he wears this on his sleeve so that he always knows the reason why he is confused. He is a brilliant mathematician, and that brilliance is still preserved. He has an autistic-like familiarity with numbers and their relationships, and he imbues them with life and personality, and conveys this enthusiasm to his housekeeper and her young 10 year old son Root (nicknamed by the professor, for the square flat top of his head). Every time the housekeeper comes to work, she has to introduce herself to the professor. But they come to form a warm and generous friendship. She accepts his disability and works with it, and doesn't regard him in a lesser light for it. He opens up to her a new world of mathematics and shows her the beauty of it. The book is peppered with complex mathematical theories and yet they don't intrude. The author has presented them to us in the same way as the professor, so in a way she has become the professor, and we the housekeeper.Despite the content, the story is never heavy or cumbersome. It always remains airy, evenly paced and quiet, very "Japanese".
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
This story of a mathematics professor and his housekeeper is a quiet, thoughtful book about friendship and family ties. The professor was severely injured in an automobile accident 20 years earlier, erasing much of his memory. He can recall events before 1975 with precision, but in the short term,
The novel begins on the housekeeper's first day of work in his home. The professor has gone through a series of housekeepers, so she expects a challenging client. And he is, in a way: he's a bit of a curmudgeon, set in his ways. But he also introduces her to his world by teaching her about prime numbers, amicable numbers, and mathematical theorems. The professor fills a void in the housekeeper's life, and she in his. The professor and Root discover a shared love of baseball, and he helps Root with his homework. Although they don't live together, they are very much a family.
The story of their relationship is simple, dealing with everyday life and events. And yet there's so much meaning in the fine details, and the mathematical and baseball metaphors. A fine read.
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can only remember the last 80 minutes. As his sister-in-law put it, "it's as if he has a single, eighty-minute videotape inside his head, and when he records anything new, he has to record over the existing memories." This presents a number of challenges for his new housekeeper, not the least of which is that he cannot remember her from one day to the next. To overcome this difficulty he pins notes to his suit, including a drawing of the housekeeper and her son, who he has nicknamed "Root" because his flat head reminds him of the square root symbol.The novel begins on the housekeeper's first day of work in his home. The professor has gone through a series of housekeepers, so she expects a challenging client. And he is, in a way: he's a bit of a curmudgeon, set in his ways. But he also introduces her to his world by teaching her about prime numbers, amicable numbers, and mathematical theorems. The professor fills a void in the housekeeper's life, and she in his. The professor and Root discover a shared love of baseball, and he helps Root with his homework. Although they don't live together, they are very much a family.
The story of their relationship is simple, dealing with everyday life and events. And yet there's so much meaning in the fine details, and the mathematical and baseball metaphors. A fine read.
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LibraryThing member gbill
A housekeeper and her son tend to an aging mathematician who, because of a car accident, can only remember things before 1975, and the last 80 minutes of the present. Heartfelt, pure, and often as elegant as the mathematical “glimpses of God’s notebook” that the Professor gives us. Lots of
Quotes:
On knowledge:
“Among the many things that made the Professor an excellent teacher was the fact that he wasn’t afraid to say ‘we don’t know.’ For the Professor, there was no shame in admitting you didn’t have the answer, it was a necessary step towards the truth. It was as important to teach us about the unknown or the unknowable as it was to teach us what had already been safely proven.”
On math:
“The professor reached out to complete the long equation. The numbers unfolded in a simple, straight line, polished and clean. The subtle formula for the Artin conjecture and the plain line of factors for the number 28 blended seamlessly, surrounding us where we sat on the bench. The figures became stitches in the elaborate pattern woven in the dirt. I sat utterly still, afraid I might accidentally erase part of the design. It seemed as though the secret of the universe had miraculously appeared right here at our feet, as though God’s notebook had opened under our bench.”
“In my imagination, I saw the creator of the universe sitting in some distant corner of the sky, weaving a pattern of delicate lace so fine that even the faintest light would shine through it. The lace stretches out infinitely in every direction, billowing gently in the cosmic breeze. You want desperately to touch it, hold it up to the light, rub it against your cheek. And all we ask is to be able to re-create the pattern, weave it again with numbers, somehow, in our own language; to make even the tiniest fragment our own, to bring it back to earth.”
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feeling in this one, and some baseball as well.Quotes:
On knowledge:
“Among the many things that made the Professor an excellent teacher was the fact that he wasn’t afraid to say ‘we don’t know.’ For the Professor, there was no shame in admitting you didn’t have the answer, it was a necessary step towards the truth. It was as important to teach us about the unknown or the unknowable as it was to teach us what had already been safely proven.”
On math:
“The professor reached out to complete the long equation. The numbers unfolded in a simple, straight line, polished and clean. The subtle formula for the Artin conjecture and the plain line of factors for the number 28 blended seamlessly, surrounding us where we sat on the bench. The figures became stitches in the elaborate pattern woven in the dirt. I sat utterly still, afraid I might accidentally erase part of the design. It seemed as though the secret of the universe had miraculously appeared right here at our feet, as though God’s notebook had opened under our bench.”
“In my imagination, I saw the creator of the universe sitting in some distant corner of the sky, weaving a pattern of delicate lace so fine that even the faintest light would shine through it. The lace stretches out infinitely in every direction, billowing gently in the cosmic breeze. You want desperately to touch it, hold it up to the light, rub it against your cheek. And all we ask is to be able to re-create the pattern, weave it again with numbers, somehow, in our own language; to make even the tiniest fragment our own, to bring it back to earth.”
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LibraryThing member AMQS
Oh, I loved this gentle little book, and could hardly put it down. A young single mother goes to work as a housekeeper for a professor who has gone through nine other housekeepers before her. The professor is a brilliant mathematician, but since a traumatic brain injury years ago, retains only 80
The book is sweet, touching, and lovely. Junot Diaz writes in a cover blurb "I've been telling everyone about this book. It's a story about love, which is quite different from a love story. It's one of the most beautiful novels." It is so beautiful. A loving examination of love and family and math. Highly recommended.
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minutes of new memory. The professor's daily life is bewildering and frightening. His suit is covered with notes he has written to himself of things he will need to remember, the most important of which is "My memory only lasts 80 minutes." The housekeeper is determined to care for him, despite the unusual circumstances. Uncomfortable with anyone new (which is everyone he has met since his accident), he relates to people through numbers (What is your birthday? Your phone number? Your weight at birth?), and shares elegant and fascinating information about the math of those numbers. The housekeeper, who dropped out of high school to have her son, is daunted by the math until she realizes that the professor's greatest joy is sharing his knowledge and his patient teaching. When the professor discovers that she has a young son, he insists he come there after school. He becomes the boy's champion and teacher, and the boy becomes his greatest and only friend.The book is sweet, touching, and lovely. Junot Diaz writes in a cover blurb "I've been telling everyone about this book. It's a story about love, which is quite different from a love story. It's one of the most beautiful novels." It is so beautiful. A loving examination of love and family and math. Highly recommended.
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Awards
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (Longlist — 2010)
Yomiuri Prize for Literature (2003)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2009)
Language
Original language
Japanese