Book Review: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

Publication Date: 2003 in Japan, 2009 in US

Synopsis:

He is a brilliant math professor, with a peculiar problem — 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 between them a strange, beautiful relationship blossoms. Though the professor can hold new memories for only eighty minuets, his mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past; and through him, the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the housekeeper and her son. 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 where one before did not exist.

Joshua's Take: 3.5/5☆

Why I picked up the book: because I had heard a lot about Ogawa's work and her Diving Pool collection of novella's sounded right up my alley, but since I couldn't find it, well, I picked up this book instead. It reminded me a bit of one of my favorite books, The Time Travellers Wife.

Okay, so The Housekeeper and the Professor is nothing like Audrey Niffenegger work, but while short, it's an incredible sum of its parts, a world where mathematical equations can express the very essence of the stars and the beauty of a falling cherry blossom. The title directly translates from Japanese as The Professor's Beloved Equation and Mrs. Ogawa's voice here is a breath of fresh air, a first person narrative surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters who are ingeniously never named (I leave it up to you to figure out what that means thematically), from the tragic Professor who only remembers things from before his car accident in 1975, who must awaken anew each day afraid, wondering where he is, to the Housekeeper, a young single mother with her own deep problems, who takes care of the Professor and forms an unlikely friendship that gives her both strength and courage, and of course the Housekeepers son Root, given his name by the professor since the top of his head looks like the square of a root sign, and his own felt inadequacies since he has to grow up rarely seeing his mother or feeling the warmth of a family. All three characters are given so much life in such a short amount of time, all given a reason for being through math, oh and baseball!! Just amazing.

Granted I was a bit turned off that Mrs. Ogawa used actual math problems in the books narrative to mirror whats going on internally within the characters rather than use math in an abstract sense. I've never liked math, much like the Housekeeper remarks when the Professor first gives her math lessons, but I have to admit as the story goes on, I became wholly invested, absorbed in the mathematical problems along with the characters. The author has created something truly amazing, she has created a world where math is the poetry, math is the allegory to the character narrative. As a reader, as I read along, figuring out the problems along with the Housekeeper and her son, I became more invested, cheering along with their triumphs and feeling dismayed with their setbacks. It's truly an amazing thing, an amazing world, Ogawa has created.

In 2006, this book was adapted in to a film with the Japanese translation, The Professor's Beloved Equation and directed by Takashi Koizumi who directed the beautiful 1999 film, After the Rain. I have not seen the adaption, and while I hear its a bit different I also hear it's quite good. As long as it stays close to the original source material I'm sure it's a deeply moving and profound watch, so I look forward to having the chance to see it soon.

The Professor and the Housekeeper is the kind of book that people read because they love books and publishers publish because they too love books. It turned out to be something different than what I was expecting, a fantastic look at what it means to be a family through friendship, and while I only read this book because Mrs. Ogawa's Diving Pool wasn't available, I'm glad I did because it opened up the work of Yoko Ogawa for me, moving and surprising me in many ways and I can not wait to read more from her.

Book Review: All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Publication Date: 2004 in Japan, 2009 in US

Synopsis:

When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his 158th iteration, he gets a message from a mysterious ally--the female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death?

Joshua's take: 3.5/5☆

Why I picked up the book: because I love Japanese science fiction and the book was recently optioned by Warner Brothers for a big budget movie.

Do you like anime? Are you a fan of dystopian science fiction where humanity fights endless waves of killer aliens? Does the idea of a book from Japan that reads like a cross between Groundhog Day and Aliens excite you? If you're like me then you've checked all those marks standing at the bookstore with a stupid grin on your face as you think about the possibilities. Can such an insane book live up to such odd expectations? It's fun to be a geek.

I loved ever minute of this book. Written by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and nominated for the Seiun Awards (the Japanese Nebula awards), All You Need is Kill is a short read (about 200 pages long) and Sakurazaka's writing chews up every sentence as the dialogue bursts rapid fire off the page. There's no wasted writing, no drawn out explanations and exposition. This is just a quick, down and dirty read that will leave you feeling amped, as you move page by page, reliving the same day over and over as Keiji Kiriya does. Not all is perfect of course. I wish there was more background on the alien Mimics, and also how the other parts of the world have fared against the attacks, but some left out information is a small price to pay for a fun and quick read.

What soldier wouldn't give the world to relieve the same day over and over? Sure you would be privy to countless deaths as you witness your friends die over and over. However, while your body may not change, your mind would. You would get more proficient as a soldier, a veteran of countless battles even if no one knows. You go from rookie to veteran in one day. And you can use your knowledge to break the endless loop and hopefully change a losing battle into a winning one. And imagine you meet another person, a stranger, who knows what your going though, but you have to win them over each day since unlike you they don't repeat the same day. You would fall in love with the person, as you first meet them over and over, and they would have no idea. It's like a sci-fi version of 50 First Dates, but with more death and armored powered suits. It's just a fascinating concept, and you can imagine why an American movie studio such as Warner Brothers would be interested in optioning a Japanese book.

All You Need is Kill is released by Viz Media's Haikasoru imprint, and it's honestly one of my favorite book imprints. Haikasoru's mission statement is thus:

With a small, elite list of award-winners, classics, and new work by the hottest young writers, Haikasoru is the first imprint dedicated to bringing Japanese science fiction to America and beyond. Featuring the action of anime and the thoughtfulness of the best speculative fiction, Haikasoru aims to truly be the “high castle” of science fiction and fantasy.

Damn if that doesn't sound fantastic. I would recommend starting with All You Need is Kill and working your way through the rest of their catalogue. The only other book I've read from the imprint was The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa and it was equally awesome. You can find out more information about the book imprint by going: here.

So yeah, check out the book before the Hollywood movie makes it big in 2011. If your a fan of science fiction books touched with a tinge of cool, then you will enjoy All You Need is Kill just as much as I did.