I finished the book a couple weeks ago and it was heartwarming. It’s translated from Japanese but it didn’t feel like too much was lost in the translation. Something about the story telling was very soothing — it had several interesting facts about mathematics, but none of it was boring or overwhelming. The way he relates math to life is very nice.
Personally, I find the concept of short term memory loss intriguing — the professor in this story can’t remember beyond 80 minutes. It’s great to see the way he functions, and the fact that his personality remains the same every 80 minutes, even though he literally JUST found out his memory is lost is fascinating.
I’m sure I would’ve enjoyed the book more if I understood baseball. We don’t play it in our country, so it was hard for to me get any of the references.
And oh, I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t the least bit disappointed when the story ended. I think I expected more — some explanation of the soft side of the professor when it concerned the little boy (especially the paranoia when the boy got hurt), or a peek into his life before his accident.
One thing I really love about the book, however, is that it leaves situations to our interpretation. The housekeeper is merely telling us what happened — she doesn’t talk too much about how it’s supposed to make us feel. I think this makes it so much more powerful, for it encourages us to think and understand what the professor could’ve meant in a certain situation. Many other books I’ve read recently have the characters showing too much thought and emotion, trying to make us see and feel exactly what they see and feel — but I’m glad the author didn’t do it here, because that’s what made it really stand out. Simple, crisp, powerful.
I think this is one of those books that don’t make you go WOW when you finally put it down, but it simmers in your brain for a while, and then you start to slowly reminisce and appreciate the book much more.
by saime9hana