Friday, February 12, 2010

The Housekeeper and The Professor - Yoko Ogawa

Rating: 9/10

Review:
The Housekeeper and The Professor is one of the most touching stories I've read in quite some time now. Simple yet at the same time complex, this tale of a Housekeeper and her son and their relationship with a genius Maths Professor who has only 80 minutes of short-term memory, is beautifully written. 

The storyline is highly original and involves you and makes you care for the characters just 10 pages into the book. I'm someone who cannot do Maths to save my life and I was quite skeptical about how I'd like this book. But I loved it, because after reading this book, nothing about Mathematics or numbers will ever be the same for you! 

For all you Math lovers, this book will become your new epic. The beauty of how the Professor sees life through his numbers is wondrous! There is a lot of formula explanation, number facts and they are all interesting. If only every child was taught Math the way the Professor teaches the housekeeper's son! 

This book is a short yet effective read with amazing characters and I highly recommend it. The emotions, the affection and the love between three unlikely people, makes the book a pleasure to read. 

The Professor, his housekeeper and her son whom he affectionately names 'Root', will stay with me forever. And so will the Mathematics of life. Yoko Ogawa is a gifted creator and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books!

9 comments:

JoAnn said...

I may be the last person to read this book, but I *will* get to it soon. I'm glad to know that you don't have to love math to appreciate it.

Veens said...

Someone please gift me this book LOL!
I love Maths.. and I am sure this is the book for me. I will keep an eye out for this one!

great review!

Astrid (Mrs.B) said...

I really want to read this. Have heard so much about it lately. It sounds wonderful!

Kals said...

JoAnn - Do get to it sometime :) You won't regret reading it!

Veens - Go buy this book. Now. :P If you're a Maths lover you'll worship this book!

Mrs. B - It's one of the most original books I've read in quite a while now. It is wonderful :)

Tanu said...

Awesome review...this book is definitely going to part of my TBR list..

Btw...I think his short-term memory is 80 minutes, not 8... :)

Kals said...

Thanks for pointing out, Tanu! I've edited it now :)

Have fun reading it!

Paperback Reader said...

Kals, apologies but I am very behind in my blog reading...

This was a beautifully moving novel and I am so glad that I read it. Ogawa has a forthcoming novel, Hotel Iris, that sounds completely different from The Housekeeper & the Professor but I will still seek it out.

christa @ mental foodie said...

I keep seeing good reviews about this book but for some reason didn't feel like adding it to TBR until I read your review - perhaps it's because you wrote - "The beauty of how the Professor sees life through his numbers is wondrous! There is a lot of formula explanation, number facts and they are all interesting. If only every child was taught Math the way the Professor teaches the housekeeper's son!"?

While I am not a math whiz or lover, I do love the show Numb3rs, so it seems like this book is something I may be interested :)

Kals said...

Claire - No prob, thanks for dropping by :)

Thanks for mentioning Hotel Iris. I shall definitely add it to my TBR list!

Christa - I'm bad at Math and hate numbers usually, but this book is definitely brilliant. I can't ever look at numbers the same way again :)

I certainly recommend you check it out!

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