--- product_id: 3584944 title: "The Housekeeper and the Professor" price: "HK$415" currency: HKD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.hk/products/3584944-the-housekeeper-and-the-professor store_origin: HK region: Hong Kong --- # Heartwarming narrative 200+ pages Intellectual themes The Housekeeper and the Professor **Price:** HK$415 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 📖 Unlock the beauty of numbers and relationships! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Housekeeper and the Professor - **How much does it cost?** HK$415 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hk](https://www.desertcart.hk/products/3584944-the-housekeeper-and-the-professor) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Timeless Themes:** Reflect on friendship, memory, and the essence of human connection. - • **Cultural Insight:** Gain a glimpse into Japanese culture through a unique lens. - • **A Profound Connection:** Explore the bond between a housekeeper and a math genius. - • **Mathematical Elegance:** Delve into the beauty of numbers and their impact on life. - • **Heartfelt Storytelling:** Experience a narrative that intertwines intellect and emotion. ## Overview The Housekeeper and the Professor is a captivating novel that tells the story of a brilliant mathematician with a memory that lasts only 80 minutes and his relationship with his housekeeper. Through their interactions, the book explores profound themes of friendship, love, and the elegance of mathematics, all set against the backdrop of Japanese culture. ## Description Yoko Ogawa’s The Housekeeper and the Professor is an enchanting story about what it means to live in the present, and about the curious equations that can create a family. He is a brilliant math professor with a peculiar problem―ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory. She is an astute young housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him. And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them. Though he cannot hold memories for long (his brain is like a tape that begins to erase itself every eighty minutes), the Professor’s mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. And the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son. The Professor is capable of discovering connections between the simplest of quantities―like the Housekeeper’s shoe size―and the universe at large, drawing their lives ever closer and more profoundly together, even as his memory slips away. Review: "A truly remarkable human interest tale" - "The Housekeeper and the Professor" was written by Yoko Ogawa and translated into its English addition by Stephen Snyder. Mrs. Ogawa is a resident of Japan where she lives with her husband and son. She is credited with a number of literary works, both fiction and non-fiction and several of her works incorporate a distinct appreciation of mathematics, not the least of which is the subject title. The Novel would be classified as literary fiction of the human drama genre. The writing is variously comprised of richly structured text that provides an almost poetic flow, especially pleasing in its dichotomy of complex human experience and simple grammatical statements. The electronic version appears to be well edited and unlike many of its kind seems to be mostly free of spelling and grammatical errors, enhancing the reading experience. The human nature development of the novel incorporates the mores and attitudes of the Japanese people and culture, many of which are decidedly different than those experienced in American culture. In regard to this difference, certain levels of appreciation of the novels subtle delving into subjects of the culture are best appreciated without comparison. In my opinion, certainly some of the most vocal critics of the work failed to recognize the distinction. This is a story about a beginning and an end and an examination of the meaning of memory. To develop the theme, Ogawa constructs a plot around a professor of mathematics who suffers a traumatic brain injury leaving him with limited short term memory (an ending), and a young boy of 10 years old who has not yet developed any long term past memories (a beginning). The subtle prompting of the story is provided by the boy's mother who is employed as a housekeeper for the professor and who sees the remarkable significance of the experiences shared between her son and the professor. Ogawa uses mathematics and baseball as the binding between the boy and the professor. Each loves his interest in a genuinely fascinating way and they share their experiences with each other as one memory fades and the other grows; developing a remarkable bond between them. As a support structure to her story, Ogawa introduces human aspects to her characters that bring them to life through their cultural experience; for instance the housekeeper is an unwed mother, a child of her unwed mother, a status that is not reviled in the culture but one that evokes certain empathy for the plight of the individual and the children and one that draws the reader to contemplate the relationship born between the professor and the boy absent a father. It further draws contemplation of the seemly benign relationship between the housekeeper and the professor as she perceives the effects of a missing husband on her existence as well. Finally, we find a small almost insignificant revelation regarding the professor and his sister in law who manages his care after the accident; an unacknowledged love that lingers, unassuming but unexplained. While Ogawa manages to bring her characters to vivid life through this technique she does it as though viewed through a one way glass - for none of her characters have names, but the reader feels personally attached to them in spite of it, quite an amazing experience. I really liked this novel a lot. It was very different and surprising in its effect. There is a fair amount of mathematics incorporated in the composition as well as unfamiliar baseball players, however, neither detracted appreciably from the work. In fact I rather had a different appreciation of the some of the math afterwards as I caught the author's vision of its significance to the story. Anyway, I thought this was an intriguing story, beautifully written and very emotional in its contemplation. I highly recommend this novel and rate it memorable. Review: professor, his housekeeper, and her son - This lovely little book is about relationships among three people: the professor, his housekeeper, and her ten-year old son. There are no other characters of significance except, somewhat mysteriously, the professor's sister-in-law. The story is very focused--told from the perspective of just the housekeeper and dealing little with the characters' lives outside their relationships. It could have been a bigger book if some side stories, such as the professor's relationship with his sister-in-law, had been developed; in fact, I found the inconsistencies in her behavior at the beginning and the end of the book disconcerting. But the three main characters and their relationships are developed very well. My initial reluctance to read a book in which mathematics and baseball play major roles was quickly forgotten as the story became real. Readers who are into mathematics or baseball would really like this story, but I came to care about the topics like the housekeeper did; she came to appreciate these topics because they were passions of people she cared for and because they shared their passions so well. All of the characters are good, kind people who are generally patient with each other. The tension in the story is provided by the professor's lack of short-term memory, the housekeeper's need to make independent decisions about how best to deal with everyday emergencies and how to help him lead a "normal" life, and the unpredictability of a young boy. Besides the professor's passion for and past knowledge of mathematics, his deep concern for children also provides continuities that bridge his memory gaps. On one level, this book raises haunting questions about how each of us would deal with such a devastating disability or help a loved one do so. On another level, it is a more universal story about how caring people brought together by circumstances can be a family. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #156,941 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #854 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction #1,592 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 6,070 Reviews | ## Images ![The Housekeeper and the Professor - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71vCoXAxhjL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A truly remarkable human interest tale" *by M***D on February 19, 2012* "The Housekeeper and the Professor" was written by Yoko Ogawa and translated into its English addition by Stephen Snyder. Mrs. Ogawa is a resident of Japan where she lives with her husband and son. She is credited with a number of literary works, both fiction and non-fiction and several of her works incorporate a distinct appreciation of mathematics, not the least of which is the subject title. The Novel would be classified as literary fiction of the human drama genre. The writing is variously comprised of richly structured text that provides an almost poetic flow, especially pleasing in its dichotomy of complex human experience and simple grammatical statements. The electronic version appears to be well edited and unlike many of its kind seems to be mostly free of spelling and grammatical errors, enhancing the reading experience. The human nature development of the novel incorporates the mores and attitudes of the Japanese people and culture, many of which are decidedly different than those experienced in American culture. In regard to this difference, certain levels of appreciation of the novels subtle delving into subjects of the culture are best appreciated without comparison. In my opinion, certainly some of the most vocal critics of the work failed to recognize the distinction. This is a story about a beginning and an end and an examination of the meaning of memory. To develop the theme, Ogawa constructs a plot around a professor of mathematics who suffers a traumatic brain injury leaving him with limited short term memory (an ending), and a young boy of 10 years old who has not yet developed any long term past memories (a beginning). The subtle prompting of the story is provided by the boy's mother who is employed as a housekeeper for the professor and who sees the remarkable significance of the experiences shared between her son and the professor. Ogawa uses mathematics and baseball as the binding between the boy and the professor. Each loves his interest in a genuinely fascinating way and they share their experiences with each other as one memory fades and the other grows; developing a remarkable bond between them. As a support structure to her story, Ogawa introduces human aspects to her characters that bring them to life through their cultural experience; for instance the housekeeper is an unwed mother, a child of her unwed mother, a status that is not reviled in the culture but one that evokes certain empathy for the plight of the individual and the children and one that draws the reader to contemplate the relationship born between the professor and the boy absent a father. It further draws contemplation of the seemly benign relationship between the housekeeper and the professor as she perceives the effects of a missing husband on her existence as well. Finally, we find a small almost insignificant revelation regarding the professor and his sister in law who manages his care after the accident; an unacknowledged love that lingers, unassuming but unexplained. While Ogawa manages to bring her characters to vivid life through this technique she does it as though viewed through a one way glass - for none of her characters have names, but the reader feels personally attached to them in spite of it, quite an amazing experience. I really liked this novel a lot. It was very different and surprising in its effect. There is a fair amount of mathematics incorporated in the composition as well as unfamiliar baseball players, however, neither detracted appreciably from the work. In fact I rather had a different appreciation of the some of the math afterwards as I caught the author's vision of its significance to the story. Anyway, I thought this was an intriguing story, beautifully written and very emotional in its contemplation. I highly recommend this novel and rate it memorable. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ professor, his housekeeper, and her son *by B***T on May 1, 2013* This lovely little book is about relationships among three people: the professor, his housekeeper, and her ten-year old son. There are no other characters of significance except, somewhat mysteriously, the professor's sister-in-law. The story is very focused--told from the perspective of just the housekeeper and dealing little with the characters' lives outside their relationships. It could have been a bigger book if some side stories, such as the professor's relationship with his sister-in-law, had been developed; in fact, I found the inconsistencies in her behavior at the beginning and the end of the book disconcerting. But the three main characters and their relationships are developed very well. My initial reluctance to read a book in which mathematics and baseball play major roles was quickly forgotten as the story became real. Readers who are into mathematics or baseball would really like this story, but I came to care about the topics like the housekeeper did; she came to appreciate these topics because they were passions of people she cared for and because they shared their passions so well. All of the characters are good, kind people who are generally patient with each other. The tension in the story is provided by the professor's lack of short-term memory, the housekeeper's need to make independent decisions about how best to deal with everyday emergencies and how to help him lead a "normal" life, and the unpredictability of a young boy. Besides the professor's passion for and past knowledge of mathematics, his deep concern for children also provides continuities that bridge his memory gaps. On one level, this book raises haunting questions about how each of us would deal with such a devastating disability or help a loved one do so. On another level, it is a more universal story about how caring people brought together by circumstances can be a family. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mathematics, Imagination, And Memory *by R***N on November 3, 2018* Yoko Ogawa's "The Housekeeper and the Professor" (2007) is a short novel that combines broad themes of reason and poetry with an exploration of the intimacy of family. Set in contemporary Japan, the book features three nameless characters and their relationships. The growing personal relationship among the characters is threaded in with the broader, eternal relationships that pervade reality, as seen in this novel, through mathematics. A young woman in her thirties narrates the story. With little education, she has a humble job as a housekeeper which enables her to support herself and her ten-year old son. The housekeeper is given the assignment to work for a mathematician, 64, a former professor who lives in a small cottage near the much larger home of his sister-in-law. As a result of an automobile accident some 17 years earlier, the professor's short-term memory is limited to 80 minutes. After that time, his short-term memory is erased and begins from scratch all over again. The professor's deep, long-term memory of mathematics remains intact and unscathed by his loss of short-term memory. The story shows the developing relationship that begins when the housekeeper is hired to provide care required by the professor's limitations of memory. The housekeeper is to provide simple cleaning and cooking, no more no less. Gradually a close familial relationship develops among the housekeeper, professor, and boy and expands to include the professor's sister-in-law. One of the keys to the developing relationship is mathematics. The professor introduces both the housekeeper and the son to the intricacies of mathematics involving square roots (the young boy is given the nickname "Root"), factors, and imaginary numbers. The professor is especially enamored of prime numbers and their properties. The mathematical discussions of the book culminate in a way that manages to be novelistically effective with a consideration of Euler's theorem. The intricacies of this difficult theory are used in the book to suggest the underlying unity of all reality as well as the unity of human relationships. The professor is a gifted teacher who allows his companions to discover and to appreciate mathematical truths for themselves, as Socrates does with the young boy in Plato's dialogue "Meno". There are indeed strong Platonic overtones in this short novel. Mathematics also plays a role in this family story in the love that both the professor and Root share for baseball, probably the most statistically driven of sports. Baseball is loved in Japan, the United States, and many other countries. This book includes moving scenes of the little family growing closer through love of the game. For all his knowledge of the statistics of the game, the professor attends a baseball game for the first time in an important scene of this book. He learns something of the world of fact beyond the extensive statistical lore of baseball. Mathematics is shown in this book as both reason and poetry. The book suggests that mathematics is an underlying key to reality and to truth beyond the world of appearances and differences -- a highly Platonic, spiritual, and controversial view. Reason and imagination are also shown as the unifying factors that unite people and that help to create love. This book has a great deal of depth for a short novel. It is also enchanting and deceptively simple to read. I learned a great deal from several of the reader reviews which brought me to this work. "The Housekeeper and the Professor" will appeal to readers with a strong philosophical bent. Robin Friedman ## Frequently Bought Together - The Housekeeper and the Professor - The Memory Police: A Novel - The Glen Rock Book of the Dead --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.hk/products/3584944-the-housekeeper-and-the-professor](https://www.desertcart.hk/products/3584944-the-housekeeper-and-the-professor) --- *Product available on Desertcart Hong Kong* *Store origin: HK* *Last updated: 2026-09-20*