A book should absorb a reader in its first 20%, imo. If it doesn’t, better to keep it aside without any regret. After all we are a human being, we are not bound to read all that were published.

But can a book swallow a reader in its first page itself and swirl him into the fantasy world cooked by the author? Can. If you suspect, read this novel.

Yoko Ogawa’s “The Housekeeper and the Professor” (2006) – the story is about a Professor, a mathematician who can remember his new memories for only 80 minutes. His long term memories were stuck with 1970s due to a road accident.

House keepers could not work for him. So they are keep on changing. Finally the narrator, another house keeper, reaches the house of the Professor. The housekeeper understands that the whole world is mathematics for him.

One day, he understands that she got a 10-year-old son. He insists that she should not keep her son waiting home alone until late at night every day. He become furious and tells the housekeeper to bring her son come to his home directly from school from the next day. The Professor nicknames him “Root”, that resembles his flat hair style. From then on, the story revolves between 4 persons – The professor, the narrator, her son and professor’s sister-in-law.

The story starts here in a quiet tone. there is no great adventure or dramatic twists. It just flew as the stream find its own way. Numbers connects every scene in this novel. Number fascinates the professor. It resonates the housekeeper and her son too. She starts going behind numbers and starts weaving her own aura of numbers around her.

Author make the reader to visualize the numbers, as if someone starts weaving from a faraway horizon, like a lace, which spread through the universe in its pattern and colours. Each mathematicians try to emit their own rays into those endless lace. There is a mention about invention of Indian mathematician Aryabhata. The way of connecting the Greek math and Indian math, to emphasize how 0 influenced the way of doing mathematics, is nicely written.

I liked many places in this novel, notably –

• when the professor pick a stick and scribbled Artin’s conjecture on the dirt of park on their way from barber shop
• when he stared at helper’s hand during cooking or making dumplings. I used to sit and watch my mother while cutting vegetables or stirring sambar 🙂 Is that a perfection? Or the rhythm? what makes that interesting
• last but not least – The way the Professor ends the confrontation of his sister-in-law with the housekeeper by leaving a note with Euler’s identity formula touch the reader deeply. While the mathematical connection remains a mystery, it speaks volumes about the value he places on their relationship.

It was such an elegant language, without bombarding with words, the story line mesmerizes the user.

My recommendation: Recommended.

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Reco by: ReadingnationSg to celebrate Sakura / cherry blossoms of Japan.

I’m participating in the #TBRChallenge 2024 by Blogchatter