63 pages • 2 hours read
The Housekeeper and the Professor
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Book Brief
192
Novel • Fiction
Japan • Contemporary
2003
Adult
15+ years
940L
Super Short Summary
In The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, a housekeeper is assigned to care for a former mathematics professor who suffers from a memory condition that limits his recall to 80-minute intervals. As she and her young son develop a bond with him, they share moments of mathematical discovery and baseball, creating a profound and touching friendship despite the professor's condition.
Contemplative
Bittersweet
Emotional
Melancholic
Reviews & Readership
85,216 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
Review Roundup
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa is widely praised for its elegant prose and poignant exploration of memory, mathematics, and human connections. Some critics find the pacing slow, but the book's strengths lie in its emotional depth and the tender relationships it depicts. Overall, it is a beautifully crafted and intellectually engaging novel.
Who Should Read The Housekeeper and the Professor?
The ideal reader for The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa enjoys heartwarming tales of unlikely friendships, appreciates the beauty of mathematics, and revels in quiet, introspective narratives. Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief will find similar emotional depth and poignancy.
85,216 ratings
Loved it
Mixed feelings
Not a fan
The Professor
The Professor
An elderly mathematics genius with a short-term memory condition that limits his ability to remember new information beyond 80 minutes. He forms a close bond with both the housekeeper and her son, Root.
Root
Root
The housekeeper’s 10-year-old son, who matures quickly due to his circumstances and shares an interest in baseball with the Professor. He builds a significant relationship with the Professor, which influences his future.
The Widow
The Widow
The Professor’s sister-in-law, who oversees his care and lives nearby in a house converted from their family's textile business. Initially distant, her true relationship with the Professor is intricate and somewhat mysterious.
192
Novel • Fiction
Japan • Contemporary
2003
Adult
15+ years
940L
Continue your reading experience
Subscribe now to unlock the rest of this Study Guide plus our full library, which features expert-written summaries and analyses of 8,000+ additional titles.