Soon after I began working for the Professor, I realized that he talked about numbers whenever he was unsure of what to say or do. Numbers were his way of reaching out to the world. They were safe, a source of comfort. [p.7]
The Housekeeper and the Professor (Hakase no Aishita Suushiki) is a novel by Yoko Ogawa about a single mother who comes to work as a housekeeper for a former mathematics teacher whose short time memory lasts for only 80 minutes — needing multiple post-it notes pinned to his suit to help him remember things. Each day it’s like meeting eachother for the first time; still they grow close.
Names are not relevant in such a situation, basic properties are. So it’s just ‘the Housekeeper’ and her 10 year old son ‘Root’, nicknamed by the Professor because his head is flattened like the square root sign: √. Just like characters of a mathematical puzzle that need to be named to be able to calculate with them.
It’s a charming, heartwarming story about family bonding between people that are not related. I was afraid I would be bored because I’m not particularly interested in mathematics… Nor do I know anything about baseball, which appeared to be another main subject of the book :-o But I had no problem at all enjoying this lovely story. I actually learned something ;) About ‘amicable numbers’ and ‘twin primes’ for example. You can look them up in Wikipedia but it’s much more fun to read this book! It probably explains it better too ;)
Being a museumgrrl I also liked the concept of collecting baseball cards. Though I didn’t learn much about it ;) But something I did come to know more about through the baseball topic, are Devas. I looked them up after reading the following depiction of a famous Japanese baseball player ‘in the field’.
Enatsu on the mound, his fierce stance like a Deva King guarding a temple. [p.81]
Deva king, picture courtesy of Aschaf
Devas are Buddhist deities — those angry looking red giants that you must have seen somewhere, sometime. These temple guardians ward off evil = anything that threatens Buddhism. The biggest museum in The Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum (where Rembrandt’s The Nightwatch is on display), recently acquired two of these statues originating from the 14th century Iwayaji temple in Shimane, that was restored in 1839. Research will determine the exact date of these ‘heavenly generals’ (Niō).* When the Rijksmuseum reopens after many years of building activities — hopefully in 2013 — they will flank the entrance of the new Asian Pavilion.
Although The Housekeeper and the Professor is (obviously) about living in the present, the story is constructed of memories from the housekeeper. She has a gentle way of telling, so when the story unfolds you know something is about to happen, but there’s no real shock effect.
Because of the Professor’s loss of memory and the sticky notes that aid him, this book of course strongly reminds of the fascinating movie Memento. Except in the film Guy Pearce relies on tattoos — and it’s not a kind story like The Housekeeper… But the book also reminded me of another very good movie: Goodbye Lenin, in which a son pretends their hometown East Berlin is still communist when his mother awakens from a long coma in 1990. The Professor’s memory ends in 1975, the year he had his accident, so the Housekeeper and her son often act as if no time has passed as well.
Now, how do you like my bookmark with a Japanese housekeeper on the left? It’s a print from around 1795 by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), called Servant Naniwa O-Hisa carrying a cup of tea and a smoker’s set. Would you like to have one just like it? I bought a duplicate to give away! Just comment on this post telling me if you know of any more GOOD movies about memory, numbers, mathematics or science (you get the picture). The giveaway ends on Friday 5th of February and is open to all!
I read The Housekeeper and the Professor for the Japanese Literature Book Group (discussion post) and as part of the Japanese Literature Challenge and 3rd What’s in a Name challenge (category ‘title’). It was a fine story to begin the year with.
* As far as I’ve been able to figure out, Niō and Deva kings are (almost) the same kind of temple guardians. But I’m open to correction!
20 reacties
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maandag 25 januari 2010 bij 22:11
Amanda
I”m glad you liked the book. I’m so happy to see everyone reviewing it and for the discussion group at In the Spring it is Dawn.
Have you seen Fifty First Dates? It’s a silly movie, but there’s the same basic principle behind it, with a girl whose memory disappears nightly.
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 1]
dinsdag 26 januari 2010 bij 08:38
gnoegnoe
No, I haven’t heard of the movie!
It’s fun indeed to see everyone joining in the ‘review’ discussion for the JapLit Group :)
dinsdag 26 januari 2010 bij 00:27
Harvee (Book Dilettante)
Loved the picture of the Deva King and the explanation and quote from the book.
Re a book on memory, I can only remember an American movie called GroundHog Day about a man who goes to Pennsylvania to witness the annual Groundhog day event, when a groundhog is pulled from its underground den to see if it sees its shadow or not – a precursor of spring. The man however, is caught in a time warp and wakes up to Groundhog Day again and again, for several days in a row, as if each day had never happened.
Not exactly a movie about loss of memory, as he remembers what happens on previous days…
harvee44@yahoo.com
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 2]
dinsdag 26 januari 2010 bij 08:37
gnoegnoe
Groundhog Day, that’s a good movie indeed! And an appropriate association with The Professor as well ;)
dinsdag 26 januari 2010 bij 13:58
rebeccareid
LOVE LOVE LOVE the Deva picture. I can just picture him as a baseball player! And I love the connections you point out: it’s all about the housekeeper’s memories with the professor, huh. I hadn’t thought of that.
Since I’d LOVE to win the pretty bookmark, I had to think of a movie, and Amanda took the memory one I was going to mention! Have you seen/heard of PROOF? It’s a play but the movie is pretty good. It’s about an elderly man who is trying to work on his math proof but he’s actually gone senile. His poor daughter is trying to come to terms with his illness.
I haven’t read the play, but like I said, I enjoyed the movie! That reminds me, I should go find the play and read it…
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 3]
woensdag 27 januari 2010 bij 14:34
gnoegnoe
Oh yes, Proof is a heartwarming movie! There’s another great movie called Proof too (Australian, 1990) about a blind Photographer.
dinsdag 26 januari 2010 bij 23:22
maaike
Great book review, again. I happened to read it just after I finished watching the film The Notebook, which is about a woman who has Alzheimer’s and has forgotten all about her past, but now and then is made to remember it all again when her husband reads her the story of their life. I read the book as well, but I think I liked the film better. Might be because I was really in the mood for a soppy movie tonight. ;-)
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 4]
woensdag 27 januari 2010 bij 14:35
gnoegnoe
TNX for the tip, I seem to be in the mood for sentimental stuff at the moment too… :\
woensdag 27 januari 2010 bij 12:58
Beth F
Oh my — I can’t believe I’ve let this one sit around the house for these past months. Now I really need to read it. Great review.
woensdag 27 januari 2010 bij 14:35
gnoegnoe
You should! :))
zondag 31 januari 2010 bij 17:09
Velvet
yes, a good book. loved the how it was math friendly to those of us who have math anxiety (ahem). as for media recommendations on memory, math, science, etc here a few…
for music video:
cibo matto’s sugar water video directed by michael gondry
like memento it leaves you with HUH? and then you’ll want to watch it again to figure out the mystery. it is filmed in split screen, one side moving forward and the other side backward and then they meet in the middle and then… WATCH IT!
for movie:
a beautiful mind (2001) starring russell crowe and jennifer connelly based on the book by sylvia nasar on the life of john forbes nash jr.
you’ll get a dose of a math mind.
for book:
the story of forgetting by stefan merrill block
i picked this one up the same time i bought the prof and housekeeper. in my tbr pile. however, it has an interesting premise…
description from the amazon:
Abel Haggard is an elderly hunchback who haunts the remnants of his family’s farm in the encroaching shadow of the Dallas suburbs, adrift in recollections of those he loved and lost long ago. Hundreds of miles to the south, in Austin, Seth Waller is a teenage “Master of Nothingness”—a prime specimen of that gangly breed of adolescent that vanishes in a puff of sarcasm at the slightest threat of human contact. When his mother is diagnosed with a rare disease, Seth sets out on a quest to find her lost relatives and uncover the truth of her genetic history. Though neither knows of the other’s existence, Abel and Seth are linked by a dual legacy: the disease that destroys the memories of those they love, and the story of Isidora—a land without memory where nothing is ever possessed, so nothing can be lost.
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 5]
vrijdag 5 februari 2010 bij 12:52
gnoegnoe
Yay, so many tips, thanks! I like Michael Gondry’s work, I like Cibo Matto, I like music, I like film, I like reading… hey is there anything not to like? ;P
maandag 1 februari 2010 bij 22:44
stacybuckeye
I loved this one and I don’t like math or baseball either! It was one of my favorites last year.
woensdag 3 februari 2010 bij 14:44
yvonnep
This seems a book I have to read. I will write down the title to buy it first time I will be in Waterstones. Love the story and your pictures (and all the enthusiastic reactions of all the others).
woensdag 3 februari 2010 bij 18:57
gnoegnoe
Does anyone know if ‘root’ and ‘carrot’ kan be traced back to one Japanese ‘word’? In Dutch they are both called wortel!
ETA: According to the Japanese tweep @gekopnederland they’re not the same, nor are the Chinese characters. She can speak Dutch btw! Her tweet reply was: carrot “ninjin” en root “kon” in het Japans. Beide woorden van de Chinese caracters zijn ook helemaal anders.
donderdag 4 februari 2010 bij 12:30
rineke
Ik had een paar filmsuggesties over wiskunde, naar aanleiding van je recensie over “The professor and his housekeeper”. In de volgende films klopt de wiskunde echt, en verder zijn ze nog goed ook:
-Breaking the code – about Alan Turing
-Good Will Hunting
-Copenhagen (Heisenberg, Bohr, atomic bomb and ethics)
-Proof (Vader en dochter, beiden wiskundigen, vader psychiatrisch)
En wist je dat er van het boek over The professor ook een film gemaakt is? Zie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498505/ (Ik heb noch het boek gelezen, noch de film gezien.)
[ETA by Gnoe: contestant 6]
vrijdag 5 februari 2010 bij 12:54
gnoegnoe
Dank voor het aanvullen van mijn dvd-theeklijstje :)
Ik had inderdaad gehoord dat er een film van het boek is, maar hij is alleen in Japan en Z-Korea uitgebracht. Geen Engelse ondertiteling, denk ik ;)
donderdag 11 februari 2010 bij 14:34
tanabata
Thank you for taking part in the JLit discussion of this book, and I’m sorry for not getting back to comment earlier. Lovely review! I’m not into math or baseball either so I think the author did a wondeful job to make even a non-math person like me appreciate the beauty of it!
I don’t know if you subscribed to receive follow-up comments but I added to the discussion post. And I just have to say that I love Goodbye, Lenin. Such a fun film! :)
zaterdag 29 mei 2010 bij 01:44
Mel u
Great review-I just completed this book yesterday and liked it as everyone does-I enjoyed and recommend her collection of three short novels, The Diving Pool
zondag 30 mei 2010 bij 15:43
gnoegnoe
Thanks for the recommendation! And I’m checking out your review *now* :))