The Housekeeper and the Professor in The Read Around The World Book Club

Dec 25, 2021 Yoshay Lindblom rated it it was amazing

Shelves: goodread, just-brilliant, favourite, enjoyed-it, audible

The Housekeeper and the professor is loosely based on The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, a biography of the mathematician Paul Erdös. Using the biography, Ogawa brilliantly constructs this poignant story that carefully elucidates the nature of impermanence and interdependence that surrounds us all but we either refuse to acknowledge it or pretend it doesn’t exist. Impermanence, death and resurrection are the themes Ogawa subtly uses to tell this story. After every eighty minutes, the professor is r ...more

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Jan 28, 2021 Kavitha rated it really liked it

Shelves: general-fiction

Book#3 for #januaryinjapan

The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa, Translated by Stephen Snyder

Do you know that 28 is called a perfect number in the mathematical world because the sum of all of it’s factors add up to 28? The next perfect number in the sequence of perfect numbers is nowhere close to 28 in case you were wondering about this. “A problem isn't finished just because you've found the right answer.”

If you are interested in exploring the magic of poetry of numbers, then this boo Book#3 for #januaryinjapan

The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa, Translated by Stephen Snyder

Do you know that 28 is called a perfect number in the mathematical world because the sum of all of it’s factors add up to 28? The next perfect number in the sequence of perfect numbers is nowhere close to 28 in case you were wondering about this. “A problem isn't finished just because you've found the right answer.”

If you are interested in exploring the magic of poetry of numbers, then this book is for you. It’s a simple story of 3 nameless characters - (1) The Professor, who is a mathematical genius, whose memory resets every 80 mins; (2) A Housekeeper, who is a single mother, often lonely as she severed ties with her family and doesn’t have any friends; (3) The Housekeeper’s 10 year old son, whom the professor fondly calls “Root” - “The square root sign is a sturdy one. It shelters all the numbers.” The universe brings these 3 people together. A special platonic friendship develops between them and they find themselves tied together in inexplicably strong bonds of love and together-ness. They become a family. Euler’s Formula: eiπ + 1 = 0 (e = 2.71828182845904523536028...). “π has descended from somewhere to join hands with e. There they rested, slumped against each other, and it only remained for a human being to add 1, and the world suddenly changed. Everything resolved into nothing, zero.”

This is my 2nd Ogawa book and I loved it even more than the 1st one. It is charming, thought provoking, unpretentious, mysterious and filled with fascinating mathematical facts. Ogawa invites the readers to learn Math by presenting actual math problems. And I really enjoyed solving them while pondering on the philosophy of Mathematics & Existentialism.

What is a family? How important is it to have long term memories to be able to love another human being? How often are people like The Professor (genius & warm-hearted, but with poor social skills) misjudged & misunderstood by the world? “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.” Is Ogawa talking about Math or Memory or Life here?

4.5⭐’s ...more

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Sep 24, 2018 Eileen added it

Probably my favourite read of 2018. Sweet but never saccharine. A single mother housekeeper and her son form a special bond with their client, a math professor with memory problems. Even the math stuff was interesting - I'd never considered that you could love numbers for themselves. Short, balanced and very charming. ...more

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Aug 31, 2019 Kristin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 5000-2019, literary-fiction, 2000-2009, book-club-rec, translated-works, own-nook

This was a delightful charming book that focuses on themes of family, memory, mathematics and baseball. I appreciated the humor as well as the characters that were wonderfully simple and yet complex at the same time. The relationships were touching and left me with a fleeting feeling of sadness. I wanted to stay in their lives longer as a reader.

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