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The Housekeeper And The Professor
192 pages, 2009
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 have introduced to each other anew, 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.
In The Housekeeper and The Professor, Yōko Ogawa explores the deep bond that forms between the Professor, the Housekeeper, and her son. Despite the Professor's memory loss, they find a common language in mathematics and baseball, showing us that connection can be found in the most unexpected places.
The book invites us to see the world of numbers in a new light. The Professor's passion for mathematics is contagious, and you might find yourself fascinated by the elegance and beauty of numbers, just like the Housekeeper and her son.
The Professor's 80-minute memory span is a central theme in the book. It's a poignant reminder of the fragility of memory, but also of the human capacity to adapt and find joy in the present moment.
The Housekeeper's kindness towards the Professor is a key element in the story. Her patience and understanding towards his condition is a lesson in empathy and compassion that we can all learn from.
Baseball is more than just a game in this book. It's a bridge between the characters, a source of joy, and a metaphor for life's unpredictability. If you're a fan of the sport, you'll love how it's woven into the story.
