63 pages 2 hours read

Yoko Ogawa

The Housekeeper and the Professor

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003

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Before You Read

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Super Short Summary

In The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, a housekeeper is assigned to care for a former mathematics professor who suffers from a memory condition that limits his recall to 80-minute intervals. As she and her young son develop a bond with him, they share moments of mathematical discovery and baseball, creating a profound and touching friendship despite the professor's condition.

Reviews & Readership

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Review Roundup

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa is widely praised for its elegant prose and poignant exploration of memory, mathematics, and human connections. Some critics find the pacing slow, but the book's strengths lie in its emotional depth and the tender relationships it depicts. Overall, it is a beautifully crafted and intellectually engaging novel.

Who should read this

Who Should Read The Housekeeper and the Professor?

The ideal reader for The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa enjoys heartwarming tales of unlikely friendships, appreciates the beauty of mathematics, and revels in quiet, introspective narratives. Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief will find similar emotional depth and poignancy.

Recommended

Reading Age

15+years

Lexile Level

940L

Book Details

Genre

Psychological Fiction

Realistic Fiction

Topics

Disability

Education

Science / Nature

Themes

Identity: Disability

Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Relationships: Family