Book review: The Housekeeper and the Professor

Title: The Housekeeper and the Professor
Author: Yoko Ogawa
Genre: Fiction
Year published: 2003 in Japanese (2009 in English, 2011 in Swedish)
Pages: ca 200
A place to buy it: If you are in Sweden click here to buy the book of Bokus and if that's not case you can click here to buy if of Amazon

8 minutes memory

The professor is a lonely man that lives on his own, the only person he regularly interacts with seems to be his housekeeper. He solves mathematical problems in magazines, wears an old suit filled with small notes that tells him the things he need to remember. The professor's memory only lasts 8 minutes, he also change housekeeper very often.

One day another new housekeeper arrives. She introduces herself to the professor... and re-introduces herself to him eight minutes later. He never gets to know her because he only remember her name that is on one small note on his suite, but she get to know him. The housekeeper has a son and one day she brings her son to work and the professor meets him. A deep friendship grows between the professor, the housekeeper and her son.

A sweet, heartwarming story

I really love this book. Originally I brought the book because of the good reviews and I was not disappointed. The way the professor cares for the housekeepers son and his general love for children is very sweet. At first the professor is pictured like a recluse but when you reach the book's end you will say goodbye to a much deeper character.

This story don't have space aliens invading earth because is doesn't have to. None of the characters are shallow and that makes you fall in love with them. Some authors tend to spend so much time on the characters that the story is put aside but that is not the case with this one. I don't want to give out too much, but I just have to say that I was thrilled during the baseball match.