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Reviews tagging 'Medical content'
The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel by Yōko Ogawa
16 reviews
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A quiet novel about a mathematician and the people who grow to love him.
Ogawa manages to make numbers lyrical, emotive and comforting. The Professor is such a well rounded character, awkward and kind.
The Housekeeper is less endearing*, though patient and considerate. I appreciated the way she supported the professor, altering her behaviours to accommodate for him. Showing an understanding of what he needed.
—————————————————————————
*Struggled with the evident neglect of Root. A large portion of which I understood as she clearly had no other choice (single mother requiring long shifts), but then she passively mentioned intentionally crying to get her child to comfort her - as early as his single digit years. From then on all I could see was parentification.
Ogawa manages to make numbers lyrical, emotive and comforting. The Professor is such a well rounded character, awkward and kind.
The Housekeeper is less endearing*, though patient and considerate. I appreciated the way she supported the professor, altering her behaviours to accommodate for him. Showing an understanding of what he needed.
—————————————————————————
*Struggled with the evident neglect of Root. A large portion of which I understood as she clearly had no other choice (single mother requiring long shifts), but then she passively mentioned intentionally crying to get her child to comfort her - as early as his single digit years. From then on all I could see was parentification.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Abandonment
Minor: Dementia
CW [Minor] for dementia is for occasional similarities between the Professors amnesia and dementia - the latter isn’t actually present
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Dementia
Moderate: Death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh. I’m moved and stirred and saddened and feeling so tender after reading this book.
The relationships between the narrator, the professor, and her son was so lovely. I even respected the widow by the end. The way they loved each other and showed each other their devotion was beautiful.
The parallel metaphors of all the mathematics and numbers were poetic. It also reignited my love of math. I was a terrible math student, but I’ve always loved how math could explain almost everything that needed explaining in the world.
Only thing I can't understand is the 80-minute clock. If I told him something at the 79th minute, shouldn't he still remember it the 81st-minute since the first minute of the 80-minute countdown since a fresh 80-minutes would start with every new minute? Instead, it felt like the clock only worked once a day...maybe I misunderstood the writing, or maybe something got lost in translation. I'm probably overthinking it, because that was certainly not the point of the book. Still, I'm curious how the professor would explain it to me.
My mom always said that the chance to teach someone is a gift and that it was upon the teacher to be infinitely patient. My grandfather had taught her that. For this reason, I kind of see the professor as I would see my grandfather.
I can see why it won so many awards. Every one was well-deserved.
The relationships between the narrator, the professor, and her son was so lovely. I even respected the widow by the end. The way they loved each other and showed each other their devotion was beautiful.
The parallel metaphors of all the mathematics and numbers were poetic. It also reignited my love of math. I was a terrible math student, but I’ve always loved how math could explain almost everything that needed explaining in the world.
Only thing I can't understand is the 80-minute clock. If I told him something at the 79th minute, shouldn't he still remember it the 81st-minute since the first minute of the 80-minute countdown since a fresh 80-minutes would start with every new minute? Instead, it felt like the clock only worked once a day...maybe I misunderstood the writing, or maybe something got lost in translation. I'm probably overthinking it, because that was certainly not the point of the book. Still, I'm curious how the professor would explain it to me.
My mom always said that the chance to teach someone is a gift and that it was upon the teacher to be infinitely patient. My grandfather had taught her that. For this reason, I kind of see the professor as I would see my grandfather.
I can see why it won so many awards. Every one was well-deserved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
If there's one thing that I always love in fiction is found family, just give me disparate people crossing each other's path by chance and forming long-lasting and life-changing relationships and I'll be content. The connection that develops between the housekeeper, her son and the professor is, without a doubt, my favourite aspect of the novel, it's heartwarming.
Maths and baseball are two other central elements and, while I understand how they contribute to and enrich the story, I have to be honest and say that at times it felt a bit too much. But this has a lot to do with me personally, as I am not well versed/knowledgeable or particularly interested in either of these topics.
I really enjoyed the writing style; there were many beautiful and poetic passages, especially descriptions of nature and musings by the main narrator, the housekeeper.
I felt that the story lost itself a bit towards the end. There is a big and quite abrupt temporal jump and then the conclusion approaches in a fast-paced way. Still, I really enjoyed the book overall and I would recommened it to someone looking for a quiet but moving exploration of found family.
Maths and baseball are two other central elements and, while I understand how they contribute to and enrich the story, I have to be honest and say that at times it felt a bit too much. But this has a lot to do with me personally, as I am not well versed/knowledgeable or particularly interested in either of these topics.
I really enjoyed the writing style; there were many beautiful and poetic passages, especially descriptions of nature and musings by the main narrator, the housekeeper.
I felt that the story lost itself a bit towards the end. There is a big and quite abrupt temporal jump and then the conclusion approaches in a fast-paced way. Still, I really enjoyed the book overall and I would recommened it to someone looking for a quiet but moving exploration of found family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness
Moderate: Animal death, Car accident
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Car accident
Moderate: Death
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Stumbled across this book randomly in a local library and glad I did. It was such a heartwarming, touching book. I felt so deeply for the professor and I loved all of the characters in their own way, although they were so different. The math facts throughout actually made me more interested in the subject although I've never been, because I could really see them through the professor's eyes. A beautiful, perfect, sweet, gut wrenching book I would recommend to anyone
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, Dementia
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content
Minor: Car accident
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
this was such an amazing read. the characters are so developed and the writing was exceptional. the connections formed between the characters were so wholesome and i just felt so deeply for these characters and their lives. i would 100% recommend this again and again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The story about the professor whose memory stopped in 1975 and can't go beyond last 80 minutes and the relationships with his housekeeper , her son and his sister-in-law is a touching tale about love, friendship and coping with lack of your own past. It is written in wonderful language that skilfully shows the beuty of mathematics.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Dementia, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Death, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy