The Read Around The World Book Club discussion
This topic is about
The Housekeeper and the Professor
August 2017 - Japan
>
Chapter 1 - 4
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Melanie
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Jul 31, 2017 09:24AM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Mod
I was terrible at math but I truly enjoyed this book - def not a subject for a plot that I dreamt I could enjoy, much less thoroughly enjoy at that. It made math exciting which I'd never thought I would say. lol I think his suit covered with post its was most interesting and liked how he wanted to remember her and made himself the note. What a clever way to describe his nature all the more.
This book is so endearing!!! I also am not a math fan but boy do I wish I had had the Professor as my math teacher. It is an interesting premise Ogawa presents with the memory issue but something quite special as well in terms of living your life in the now and how The Professor deals with this hurdle. The trio of characters really are forming quite the unit - all aiding each other where needed without even realizing it!
Mod
Yes the suit covered in notes, I did wonder how he came up with that. I mean surely, he would just forget that he forgets???
Mod
Yes, it is nice to have a story where a bond is formed rather than bonds being broken. Makes me realise how rare those stories are.
Mod
I think in Japan, people have a lot of respect for each other anyway, but in particular from a "master and servant" point of view.
Such a quiet gentle book about friendship, bonding and love all expressed through the pure, magical connections of numbers. Really beautiful.
I am enjoying this book more than I thought I would, I was dreading the math parts as I hate math but I actually enjoy it in the story and feel like it adds an extra element. I love the professor and think his post it note suit is so quirky! I love all three of our main characters too. Hope this book keeps it up!
Mod
So glad you are enjoying it Linda :)
Mod
Glad to hear it :)
This is a re-read for me, and although I still have some troubles with the very 'stiff' German translation, I do enjoy the math-parts (admittedly, I always loved math). The sports-stuff is a bit lost on me, though. The housekeeper seems very cold to me, especially towards her son & I feel really sad for Root, he is such a lonely little boy.
I am finding this to be an enjoyable read, and I am interested to note that I am finding my response to the writing style to be similar to how I feel when I read Haruki Murakami. It is hard to put it into words, but I find his writing to be dreamy and slightly detached but at the same time, the narrator is very directly speaking to the reader. I always found it to be unique to Murakami (at least in an English translation) but I am finding I am having a similar feeling to Yoko Ogawa's prose as well. Interesting, I wonder if it less to do with writing style and more the feelings and impressions expressed of modern-day Japan? Or if it is to do with the translation from Japanese to English?I am enjoying the use of mathematics as a crutch or coping mechanism for the Professor, it is a novel way to express the idea that we all have quirks or mannerisms that assist us through challenging times. I do find the character of the housekeeper to be slightly wooden, perhaps it is due to her role as narrator, and I would be interested to learn more about her and her son.
I am interested to read the rest!
Mod
This is an interesting point and I think you hit the nail on what made the book a bit sad for me, that lack of relationship and care between mother and son.
What a beautiful book so far :) I too was dreading the maths content as I have always struggled to engage with anything maths based- I often think that logical thinking is my nemesis! But the maths language in this book is so lyrical, personal and compelling. I love that right at the beginning on page 2, mistakes are celebrated for opening new doors of enquiry. I absolutely love the quirky professor with his attached notes, who manages to make maths a language to express his emotions, who nurtures so deeply and unconsciously.
The relationship between the Professor, the Housekeeper and Root is already so tender and honest- I think kindred spirits have found each other. I love how the isolated Professor comes alive through Root, how the Housekeeper is already growing in self belief and how Root is thriving. I felt the inherent loneliness of all three characters deeply.
Having my fair share of social anxiety, I also identified with the professor's struggle with the outside world, how hard he has to work to get himself out of the house in the first place but then also the struggle to be part of an alienating world. I thought the introduction of the radio and its baseball games, was a beautifully gentle way for the Professor to have some contact with the outside world, even if that world does stay captured in 1975.
I also like how the characters don't have names. I thought this would make them harder to engage with, I worried that they would be types but I am already seeing that the point is that we human beings are so much more than individual names.
Melanie wrote: "Britta wrote: "This is a re-read for me, and although I still have some troubles with the very 'stiff' German translation, I do enjoy the math-parts (admittedly, I always loved math). The sports-st..."Absolutely agree - I didn't feel any connection with mother and son.
Loving it so far! The story is so beautiful and moving. It's so easy for memory loss stories to be cliche or tired, but that's definitely not the case here! I love how Yoko Ogawa can make me feel so much just by explaining the professor's facial expression or change in posture. I also love how well she incorporates the math!
