Stack of Spines

Some books are a love letter to reading.  Some a love letter to literature or history.

The Housekeeper and the Professor is a love letter to mathematics and a simple yet elegant look at the human condition.  It examines what it means to be a family and is such a non-traditional novel – a breath of fresh air to my stack of spines.

Like The Professor, the book itself is dainty and fragile, and as a self proclaimed book purist who can’t imagine ever owning a kindle, I relished the feel of this book in my hands.  I enjoyed every page and not a word felt like a translation from the original Japanese.  I consider that a feat in and of itself.

None of the characters have names in this novel, and yet they are rich and colorful and full of personality, especially The Professor, who has only an 80 minute memory.  The math is elegant and as much a character as the family that is created as the novel goes on.

One of my favorite quotations that struck me:

“Math has proven the existence of God because it is absolute and without contradiction; but the devil cannot exist as well because we cannot prove it”

I’m still unraveling some of the symbolism of the mathematics and significant events, and yet some elements seem just as simple and random as equations may be at first glance.

The Housekeeper and the Professor was easy and pure joy to read, and prompted a colorful book club discussion.  I am so glad this book came across my path.