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Yōko Ogawa

The Housekeeper and the Professor

"The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yōko Ogawa is a touching and poignant novel that explores the relationship between a brilliant mathematician with a damaged memory and the housekeeper who is hired to care for him. The story takes place over the course of a single year, during which the housekeeper, her young son, and the professor form an unlikely bond. The professor, who suffered a head injury in a car accident, can only remember the past 80 minutes at a time. Despite this limitation, he is able to use his mathematical genius to make profound connections with the world around him. The housekeeper, who is initially wary of the professor's eccentricities, comes to appreciate his unique perspective on life and the beauty of mathematics. As the story unfolds, the housekeeper and her son, who is also fascinated by math, learn to understand and communicate with the professor in his own language. They come to see the world through his eyes, and in the process, they discover the power of mathematics to reveal the underlying patterns and structures of the universe. Ogawa's writing is elegant and understated, and she has a knack for capturing the small moments of human connection that make life worth living. The novel is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity, and a testament to the importance of finding meaning and purpose in our lives. "The Housekeeper and the Professor" is a beautifully written and deeply moving novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy literary fiction, as well as those who have an interest in mathematics and the beauty of numbers. It is a story that will stay with readers long after they have turned the final page...