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La Formula Del Professore (2008)

by Yōko Ogawa(Favorite Author)

3.94 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

8856501899 (ISBN13: 9788856501896)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

il Saggiatore

review 1: I don't know what to say. This is one of the most touching books I have read in a long time. It is right up there with Kabloona and just a few other books that I would give five stars. It is a book about memory and mathematics, but mostly about relationships. It is about true friendship and family, and how those don't have to be genetic. I had a tear in my eye when I finished it, but it wasn't sadness.
review 2: I enjoyed this book; I read it for my book group. The writing is spare, as one reviewer said, but that makes it accessible and sort of poetic. On the surface, it's a very simple story about a housekeeper who works for a brilliant mathematician who is pretty much helpless in all other areas of life, due to a severe brain injury which leaves him no more... more than 80 minutes of memory at any given time. He pins notes to his jacket to try to keep up, but it's difficult. (Reminds me of the movie "Memento." I think that's the name.)The housekeeper, who is the narrator, has a son the professor nicknames "Root" for his flat-top head (looks like the square root symbol). The child adds an element of humanity, guilelessness and openness that the adults cannot quite display. The professor brings affection, caring and generosity to the child, reaching him in a way he cannot with others.And then there is the math. Not being a math person, I have never understood when people described numbers or operations as elegant, or beautiful. If nothing else, this book gave me a bit of a sense of what that means. Clearly, Ogawa has a great love and respect for math. Math becomes a kind of character in the book.There is also the cultural piece: I've read few books by Japanese authors set in Japan. I enjoyed all the references (taking shoes off indoors, even at the dentist's office!; the great love of baseball and many others). I was a bit surprised by how western the food seemed, though. As our narrator is a housekeeper, she describes a lot through cooking and eating. Do the Japanese eat roasts, meatloaf, mashed potatoes on a regular basis? Did they in 1994, when the story is set?Overall, it's a fast read, a short book and an easy one, but leaves you with many questions to ponder after you've finished. I'm sure our book group discussion will be a good one. less

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