40th out of 386 books
—
1,282 voters
The Housekeeper and the Professor
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 him. And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship bl...more
Paperback, 180 pages
Published
February 3rd 2009
by Picador
(first published 2003)
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I’m not sure on which page I fell in love with the wrinkled, snowy-haired Professor in his rumpled suit with the scrap-paper reminders pinned all over it (the most important one being the note that reads “My memory lasts only eighty minutes”). I just know that about 50 pages from the end of the story, I found myself digging in my heels, wanting to linger over every last word. The Housekeeper and the Professor is a gently written, beautiful musing on the nature of friendship and familial love. An...more
On originally reading a description of this novel I wondered if it was really for me. Did I want to read about a Professor with a memory span of 80 minutes and the Housekeeper who assists him? I'm so glad I decided to read it and I'm happy to have my own copy. This story of memory, math, building a pseudo-family where no relationship has existed before is full of love and compassion. The emotions are mostly expressed in mathematical theorems, cooking and random touch, but it is palpable througho...more
This is a quietly wonderful book. When I was reading it I really liked it. Now that some time has passed I still think of it, and any book that I still remember months after reading is a book that deserves 5 stars. Although there is some advanced math in the story the author doesn't expect the reader to understand all of it. The numbers and math are used more to show the magic of numbers and how math brings an unlikely group of people together to form meaningful relationships.
This is a characte...more
This is a characte...more
What a wonderful little book. How can a book which only shares the given name of one charachter, talks about math theories and problems so far over my head that I see stars AND talks about baseball and I'm not a sports fan at all be such a charming book. It is, it just is. I will not spoil it, just pick it up and give it a try. It's very short in pages but thick in love, caring and touching your heart.
Aug 28, 2011
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by:
Fiona
Shelves:
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The Professor is a brilliant mathematician who suffered some brain damage in an automobile accident years ago. He can remember his entire life up until the accident, but afterwards, he only has a memory of the past 80 minutes. Luckily, his sister-in-law steps in to help care for him. She hires housekeepers to come in to his little cottage and cook his meals. Needless to say, the Professor scares off many of these women. But then The Housekeeper comes along. She's something of a specialist in dif...more
About halfway through. Intriguing. Most of the math I understand, and I've forgotten algebra. My experience of my husband's post stroke cognitive decline, especially abrupt in recent months, makes me aware of short-term memory loss, and as I have become more disabled in the past seven months I know the challenges of caregiving and having to find help. The three main characters are touchingly portrayed.
I finished the book today, and I did enjoy it all the way through and want to read more of Ogam...more
I finished the book today, and I did enjoy it all the way through and want to read more of Ogam...more
A great story, simple yet complex! The Professor has only eighty minutes of short-term memory, but can remember everything from before his car accident in 1975, including all kinds of complicated mathematical theorems and equations. His new housekeeper is a young woman with a ten-year-old son, who manages to see past his memory problems to the brilliant and sweet old man beneath. She soon comes to dote on him like a father. In turn, the Professor adores her son, whom he calls "Root" due to the f...more
“The Housekeeper And The Professor” is a profound and lovely little book. It lacks an impressive plot, but makes up for it in the calmness it exudes, and its interesting characters. The fact that none of the characters have names doesn’t disrupt the plot in the slightest, and you get to know them very well still. The eccentric ex-mathematics professor with his 80-minute memory, his housekeeper, and the housekeeper’s son with a face shaped like a root.
The distinctiveness of this novel can be foun...more
The distinctiveness of this novel can be foun...more
May 09, 2012
SilverRaindrops
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to SilverRaindrops by:
Chrissie
Yoko Ogawas novel "The Housekeeper + The Professor" tells the story of a woman coming to care for an elderly mathematics professor suffering from short-term memory loss.
While she has to introduce herself again every morning, she soons forms an attachment, based on him teaching her about numbers and her seeing his brilliance.
When she mentions her son, the Professor's love for children shines through and he expects her to bring him around after school or during vacations.
The love the professor h...more
While she has to introduce herself again every morning, she soons forms an attachment, based on him teaching her about numbers and her seeing his brilliance.
When she mentions her son, the Professor's love for children shines through and he expects her to bring him around after school or during vacations.
The love the professor h...more
We called him Professor. And he called my son Root, because, he said, the flat top of his head reminded him of the square root sign.
"There's a fine brain in there," the Professor said, mussing my son's hair. Root, who wore a cap to avoid being teased by his friends, gave a wary shrug. "With this one little sign we can come to know an infinite range of numbers, even those we can't see."[pg. 1]
I was about to pay for a couple of books at the counter when The Housekeeper and the Professer caught my...more
How can I possibly put this book into my own words? I can’t begin to imagine I could capture or convey to any of you, how this book made me feel. It took me two days to read and I wish I could have taken more time to read it – but I simply couldn’t put it down. The pages seemed to turn themselves and I didn’t really feel like I was reading at all.
This book moved me. It is a small ripple that travels a long way across calm waters. It is nothing ground shaking, nothing that makes you tumble and di...more
This book moved me. It is a small ripple that travels a long way across calm waters. It is nothing ground shaking, nothing that makes you tumble and di...more
This book is truly original, not your normal run of the mill. I highly recommend it. What is it about? It is about friendship and the beauty of numbers and baseball. And more..... Where should I start? I will start with the numbers. This is sort of the easiest to expalin. This book made me see and feel the beauty of math, of the laws that govern numbers. The world is so complicated. We understand nothing. Everything is always changing, but then you learn of a mathematical formula that is constan...more
The book reads as if the Housekeeper is retelling the story of how she, long with her son, came to work in the Professor's little home and the way the three interacted. The Professor's mind is stuck in 1975, with only a plethora of numbers to keep him occupied, and the housekeeper and her son try not to disturb the professor with the reality of the present day, 1992. The trio connect through mathematics and baseball, and the housekeeper herself soon finds comfort in numbers as the book relays th...more
The Housekeeper and the Professor managed to rekindle my interest in math, and make me wish I'd taken more math classes! The Professor suffers from a short-term memory limit of 80 minutes, and each day when the housekeeper arrives, he must consult a note clamped to his suit to ensure she's the housekeeper. Each day, he asks her some questions such as her birthdate or shoe size, then explains the significance of the numbers to her. When he learns she has a son, he insists she bring her son over e...more
Interesting topic that could have been explored further - was hoping for a more complex story, although the simple and uncluttered story line is probably what garnered it a higher rating than I'm willing. Following an auto accident, a professor of mathematics lives in the present - every 80 minutes his mind recycles, not allowing him to retain his memory. The bond that develops between the professor and the housekeeper and her young son is a touching and caring one as they protectively help the...more
I really liked this book on first reading because the premise intrigued me and reminded me of the movie "Memento" where a man has tattooed himself with things he must not forget because he has no memory. In this case, a math professor can only remember 80 minutes at a time so clips notes to his suit to remind him of this fact and other things he must not forget.
I'm still thinking about the book and processing, but for me, liking a book about math says a lot. Granted, I'm sure for others, the ma...more
I'm still thinking about the book and processing, but for me, liking a book about math says a lot. Granted, I'm sure for others, the ma...more
A sweet story with an interesting premise. This book gave me a very brief flash (oh I get it, oops, now it's gone) of how an individual with true mathematical aptitude must feel about solving math problems. Unfortunately, anything with numbers, or sports (strike two), is guaranteed to cause this reader's eyes to immediately glaze over, so this would be a much better read for those who consider math an adventure instead of a chore.
Cuando empecé a leer este libro en verano, lo dejé por la mitad. El único motivo que tenía para abandonarlo fue el momento. No pude con él, no era mi libro en ese instante. Pero ayer domingo, lo cogí por la mañana y no pude soltarlo hasta que lo acabé a las 11 de la noche. Tiendo a calificar un libro por la sensación que me ha dado cuando lo finalizo. A pesar de que durante la historia, el libro en ocasiones se me hacía pesado, los dos últimos capítulos y el último fragmento me dejaron un sabor...more
Wonderful story. A housekeeper is hired to care for a mathemathics professor who had been in a car accident 18 years previously, and who remembers everything up to the accident but only the most recent 80 minutes since then. Each day the housekeeper introduces herself to him. Shortly after that, the housekeeper's son joins them. It is an amazing examination of how relationships can be built even in such circumstances. A delightful aspect is the daily activities of the professor who relates to li...more
Briljant, elegant, ontroerend... maar pas nu ik het boekje heb dichtgeslagen, begrijp ik de dubbele betekenis van de volgende uitspraak over The housekeeper and the professor: het boek is "what it means to live in the present, and about the curious equations that can create a family where one before did not exist."
De wiskundeprofessor heeft in 1975 een ernstig auto-ongeluk gehad en kan sindsdien alleen nog maar beschikken over zijn herinneringen tot aan het auto-ongeluk en die van de laatste 80...more
De wiskundeprofessor heeft in 1975 een ernstig auto-ongeluk gehad en kan sindsdien alleen nog maar beschikken over zijn herinneringen tot aan het auto-ongeluk en die van de laatste 80...more
I recently read this book so that I could interview the translator, Stephen Snyder, for my radio show, _Translated By_. I read this book and two out of the three novellas in _The Diving Pool_ (also by Yoko Ogawa and translated by Stephen Snyder). I LOVED both books. (The only reason I didn't finish _The Diving Pool_ is that I was under deadline for the show and teaching, and reading two books in two days is tricky business.) I will try to read the final novella in _The Diving Pool_ today.
Ogawa h...more
Ogawa h...more
The Housekeeper and the Professor has an intriguing plot line unlike any book I have read before. The professor lives in his sister in-laws small guest home. He was in a car accident that changed his life; it changed his memory so that he can only remember eighty minutes. The professor has many new housekeepers but the difference in this story is that this housekeeper stayed. The professor is very intelligent and has a love for numbers. His knowledge is the only topic he completely remembers. Th...more
4.5 stars. What an engrossing but completely different book this was, about a housekeeper sent to care for a man only referred to as "the professor". Years ago, an accident left him with only an 80-minute memory, and he has no recollection of anything that happened after 1975 with the exception of the previous 80 minutes. Despite his memory loss, he's a brilliant man and professor of mathematics, and he and the housekeeper strike up a friendship, one that's probably as deep as it can be on both...more
Opening paragraph of Yoko Ogawa‘s short story:
“What is your shoe size?”
“How much did you weigh when you were born?”
“What is your height?”
“When is your birthday?
These were some of the questions the housekeeper encountered every morning from the professor whom she cared for. He asked because he loved mathematics and because he could not remember her. They were introduced anew every morning. The answers to these questions, all of which she happily returned every single time, comforted the professor...more
“What is your shoe size?”
“How much did you weigh when you were born?”
“What is your height?”
“When is your birthday?
These were some of the questions the housekeeper encountered every morning from the professor whom she cared for. He asked because he loved mathematics and because he could not remember her. They were introduced anew every morning. The answers to these questions, all of which she happily returned every single time, comforted the professor...more
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I really enjoyed Ogawa's trio of novellas, The Diving Pool, a couple of weeks ago, so I was eager to check her novel. It didn't disappoint. The Housekeeper and the Professor is a beautiful book. It tells of the friendship that grows between the a housekeeper, her son, and her client (the titular professor).
The story is slight: don't expect a great deal of plot here. The beauty of the novel is in the telling - and, remarkably, it survives the translation very well, to the point that I didn't feel...more
The story is slight: don't expect a great deal of plot here. The beauty of the novel is in the telling - and, remarkably, it survives the translation very well, to the point that I didn't feel...more
When I first read the introduction initially, I was thinking "Shit, are the remaining chapters going to be all about formulas and mathematics? Urgh!". However, as I continued reading it, I was thrilled by the turn of events when the housekeeper went to the professor's house for the first time.
The way the professor treats Root truly amazes me as I have always thought that since he could not remember much, he must be a heartless creature locked in his own world. However ,I thought wrong. In fact,...more
The way the professor treats Root truly amazes me as I have always thought that since he could not remember much, he must be a heartless creature locked in his own world. However ,I thought wrong. In fact,...more
I read this book for book club. I gave this book 3 stars. It was a nice story & easy read, but I fear that I may have missed the point somewhere along the way. It left a lot to interpretation.
Here are my "positives" and "interesting" things for the book:
It looks at the importance of "Living in the Moment" (the Professor could only remember the last 80 minutes)and it made me think how important that is.
I found it interesting that there were no actual names used in the book.
The ability of The...more
Here are my "positives" and "interesting" things for the book:
It looks at the importance of "Living in the Moment" (the Professor could only remember the last 80 minutes)and it made me think how important that is.
I found it interesting that there were no actual names used in the book.
The ability of The...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound Together: Housekeeper & Professor discussion | 50 | 106 | Jan 20, 2013 05:22pm | |
| Around the World ...: Chrissie recommends: The Housekeeper and the Professor | 8 | 20 | Sep 07, 2011 02:27am |
Yoko Ogawa (alternate spelling Yôko Ogawa; Japanese: 小川 洋子) was born in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, graduated from Waseda University, and lives in Ashiya with her husband and son. Since 1988, she has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novel The Professor and his Beloved Equation has been made into a movie. In 2006 she co-authored "An Introduction to the World's Most E...more
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“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”
—
16 people liked it
“Solving a problem for which you know there’s an answer is like climbing a mountain with a guide, along a trail someone else has laid. In mathematics, the truth is somewhere out there in a place no one knows, beyond all the beaten paths. And it’s not always at the top of the mountain. It might be in a crack on the smoothest cliff or somewhere deep in the valley.”
—
14 people liked it
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