The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder (Japan)
My experience with Japanese fiction has been rather hit-and-miss. While I enjoyed the romantic verses from Yosano Akiko and, surrealism and the talking cats in Haruki Murakami’s ‘Kafka on the Shore’ (while also not attempting to read more of his writing) I honestly couldn’t bring myself to finish reading Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’. With a litany of false promises to myself about all the fiction I would eventually explore, when the time was right- I finally started another book by a Japanese author. I attempted to read ‘Kitchen’ by Banana Yoshimoto and since the title of my review is a whole different book- maybe you realize how that went down. (which is that I gave up without even making it to the thirty-page mark if that wasn’t obvious)
(p.s: I have nothing against the books, it was just a case of 'great book-wrong time' for me)
I struck gold when I decided to switch over to Yōko Ogawa’s ‘The Housekeeper and the Professor’. And I am in love with the way this author wrote a rather simple book but in such a beautiful way.
The story takes place in modern-day Japan and revolves around a cast of unnamed characters- a housekeeper, her son, and a mathematician/ professor who happens to be in his sixties. The story is rather simple- a young housekeeper is hired from an agency to take care of an old Professor with an unusual problem- his memory only lasts for eighty minutes. A case of memory loss due to a traumatic head injury that put an end to his normal life and academic career. Now he lives by himself in a small cottage on his sister-in-law’s property with no income to support himself except for the prize money he wins by solving problems from mathematical journals.
The professor is brilliant and compassionate with a self-awareness that stands out because he can barely remember the housekeeper though he sees her every day. And each day, the housekeeper comes to a man who is so lost and helpless and endearing. The character of the housekeeper, who happens to be the narrator, has a child out of wedlock who seems to be the only family member she has. The child who remains unnamed as well is nicknamed Root by the professor after the square-root symbol because of the shape of his head.
The narrative is gentle and evolves in a melancholic almost unhurried manner. It’s a character study of the professor as he goes about his day- not remembering things but not forgetting mathematics and the author explores his love for math in an indulgent way. Her writing style is endearing and poignant as she incorporates the professor’s love for baseball, lost secrets from his past life, and his adoration for children into a stream of well-crafted prose. She’s skilled enough to make you fall deeply in love with her characters and math in the span of under two-hundred pages. Reading this book felt like climbing into a hot bath after a long day of disappointments and reminiscing about comfort and the meaning of life.
My takeaway from this book is its melancholic charm and the enviable skills that the author possesses that aid her in crafting such an elegant novel.
a/n: Am I secretly obsessed with Japan? Yes. Is it because of manga and anime and not due to fancy literary pursuits? Also Yes. But boy, did I enjoy this book.
I struck gold when I decided to switch over to Yōko Ogawa’s ‘The Housekeeper and the Professor’. And I am in love with the way this author wrote a rather simple book but in such a beautiful way.
The story takes place in modern-day Japan and revolves around a cast of unnamed characters- a housekeeper, her son, and a mathematician/ professor who happens to be in his sixties. The story is rather simple- a young housekeeper is hired from an agency to take care of an old Professor with an unusual problem- his memory only lasts for eighty minutes. A case of memory loss due to a traumatic head injury that put an end to his normal life and academic career. Now he lives by himself in a small cottage on his sister-in-law’s property with no income to support himself except for the prize money he wins by solving problems from mathematical journals.
The professor is brilliant and compassionate with a self-awareness that stands out because he can barely remember the housekeeper though he sees her every day. And each day, the housekeeper comes to a man who is so lost and helpless and endearing. The character of the housekeeper, who happens to be the narrator, has a child out of wedlock who seems to be the only family member she has. The child who remains unnamed as well is nicknamed Root by the professor after the square-root symbol because of the shape of his head.
The narrative is gentle and evolves in a melancholic almost unhurried manner. It’s a character study of the professor as he goes about his day- not remembering things but not forgetting mathematics and the author explores his love for math in an indulgent way. Her writing style is endearing and poignant as she incorporates the professor’s love for baseball, lost secrets from his past life, and his adoration for children into a stream of well-crafted prose. She’s skilled enough to make you fall deeply in love with her characters and math in the span of under two-hundred pages. Reading this book felt like climbing into a hot bath after a long day of disappointments and reminiscing about comfort and the meaning of life.
My takeaway from this book is its melancholic charm and the enviable skills that the author possesses that aid her in crafting such an elegant novel.
a/n: Am I secretly obsessed with Japan? Yes. Is it because of manga and anime and not due to fancy literary pursuits? Also Yes. But boy, did I enjoy this book.
that was helpful review
ReplyDelete