Title: The Housekeeper and the Professor

Author: Yoko Ogawa

Comments:

“My memory lasts only eighty minutes.”

This is the most promintent scrap of paper among those pinned to the professor’s suit by binder clips (Post-its were not the rage in those days). This novel explores the special relationship between a housekeeper, her 10-year old son nicknamed Root and the Math professor she works for. There are a lot of elements that I liked about this book.

1. THE MATH: Ogawa includes real Math problems in the novel. Concepts like prime numbers, amicable numbers, deficient and abundant numbers are mentioned in the novel. She also included Euler’s Formula, Artin’s Conjecture, and Fermat’s Last Theorem. It was very interesting how she incorporated Math with ease into the story without inducing sleep from me .

2. THE CHARACTERS: There are some plot-driven novels and there are stories where the characters are the only reason to keep turning the page. All of the major characters are well-developed. From the Math professor whose memory doesn’t go beyond 1975, the single mother Housekeeper who has gone through a lot and even her son. They are believeable characters. I liked how the Professor’s character was so developed. Like how he answers difficult Math problems from Math journals and winning the prize money for most of them. And his talents are awesome too, like how he can find the first sigh of the evening star in the afternoon or how he can instantly revers the syllables in a phrase and repeat them backward, how he devised the perfect phrase for Root’s homework, “I prefer Pi”.

3. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS: If this was a drama, they would call it chemistry, the way the characters grow closer to each other is so sweet, it’s in the mundane things, the ordinary ways that they form a bond, that even the loss of memory can’t break. How the Professor asks the Housekeeper every monrning her shoe size because he doesn’t remember her, and he talks about Math whenever he feels unsure on what to do. And how he connects seeming random numbers like the Housekeeper’s birthday and his watch. When the Housekeeper cooks for the Professor she tries to sneak in carrots or camouflage them so that the Professor will eat it. The time that she convinced the Professor to get a haircut. How both the Housekeeper and Root agreed not to upset the Professor by not saying anything about current events, respecting his memory loss. The most striking thing is the relationship between the aging Professor and Root – the Professor gave him the nickname Root because the flat top of his head resembles the square root. When Root comes to the Professor’s house he takes of his hat at the door and points to the note on the Professor’s suit where he drew the Housekeeper and “her son, Root ” and then the Professor will rub Root’s head.Their love for baseball especially the Hanshin Tigers. The time that Root cut his hand and the Professor hoisted him on his back and carried him all the way to the clinic despite his own apprehension at being out in public. The Professor helping Root with his homework while the Housekeeper cooks dinner. I like those rituals they had.

4. THE EVENTS THAT PUSHED THE STORY FORWARD: Eventhough the Professor hated crowds he still went with them to a baseball game, his crush on the girl selling food and drinks was just adorable. The way he protected Root from the ball, how he blabbed about Math and Baseball even though no one was really listening to him. The last time they were together when they celebrated the Professor taking first prize again for solving a math problem and Root’s eleventh birthday. The agony that the Housekeeper and Root went through to find the perfect Enatsu baseball card to add to the Professor’s collection. And the Professor remembering the date and giving Root a Little League certified baseball glove. How the Professor stood up for Root when his sister-in-law accused them of going after his money.

This is a heartwarming, beautiful story, the pace is just right and the characters are lovable. It shows us that family doesn’t really mean that you have to be related by blood, and also the power of human bonds despite of illness.