The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
A Math Einstein type Professor has his memory reduced to 80 minutes of short term memory after being in an accident. He needs care throughout the day and thus he meets the housekeeper and her son. The relationship and effect that they have on each other revolves around math and the professor's love of children and baseball.
Pacing: medium to quick as it is only 180 pages.
Characterization: The characters are never named except the son of the housekeeper is given a nickname of root because the professor thinks his head resembles a square root sign. Inspite of this you become attached to the characters and their relationship with each other. Rich; fullbodied
Story Line: Psychological in its subject
Language: sparce; clear; relies on inferences;
Setting: The professor's house; occasionally they leave the house but primarily it is set in the house and its location to the master house.
Detail: enough detail to keep the characters real and developing.
Tone: Compassion and Beauty
Learning/ experiencing- the characters all grow as people through the contact with each other. The professor grows the least as his memory is only 80 minutes. One reader states: " imagine being a child greeted with new joy and respect daily.."
This is a book I've read multiple times. I enjoy the math references and challenges as well as the way the characters learn to relate to each other and grow. I would guess there is an intellectual appeal to it as well.
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