The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

“Because he had been- and in many ways still was- such a brilliant man, he no doubt understood the nature of his memory problem. It wasn't pride that prevented him from asking for help but a deep aversion to causing more trouble than necessary for those of us who lived in the normal world.”

I honestly am having trouble putting words together. This was another book my mom told me to read, and once more I am sitting her wondering why my own mother would put me through such feelings.

Stats:

Genre: Adult fiction
Feelings: So many of many types
Happiness: YES
Cuteness: YES
Fast pacing: NO
Series: NO
Read if you like: Math baseball sad characters happy characters.
Content: Nothing.
In one sentence... The heartwarming story of a houskeeper, her son, and a man whose memory only lasts 60 minutes
Thoughts: Scribbled on note papers clipped to a suit

Overall:

Rating: 5/5 stars

This review is SPOILER FREE


The Lovely Bits:

Writing.

Characters.

It all was a completely lovely book. The writing was really well worded without being overly eloquent that caused many eye rolls. It was a out-there plot but didn't seem too contrived. Right away you meet these characters and you never quite fully get into their heads, and yet you care for them.

That is something I've noticed now that I am reading more adult fiction. They both take emotion differently. Many of the well written Young Adult novels I have read really get into the head of the characters. The adult novels I have read, tend to almost write from a distance, even if it's first person like this one was. As a result sometimes I find myself not being able to relate to the characters as much. That may also be because I am a teen and young adult books tend to have more emotions that I can relate to,

Still, adult books I have read manage to make you feel all sorts of feeling for characters you still don't get into the heads of.

That whole ramble aside, this book really managed to make you care about the characters. In a few slow paced pages you already felt wrapped up in the world.

The Less Lovely Bits:

The mathy bits got a little bit old after a while. I kinda skimmed all the descriptions of formals solely because I did not understand it.

The end was a tad rushed and there really was no climax. Still, it was pulled off well. I think there were a lot of concepts and writing things in this story that easily could have made the book less enjoyable, but they were all pulled off pretty well.


Overall I am very happy I read this book. Also sad because I am now sad. In a good way. A must read for lovers of math.