Everyone In This Story is Probably a Decent Human Being

Stopped by casual poet library to have a browse. It's conveniently located, and it's fun to check out other people's reading preferences and recommendations and the titles on offer to borrow in their shelves. 

I don't actually know what I will borrow or how often I will go, but I signed up for a membership in support of the library's ideals and vision; hopefully they will do okay for as long as their shop lease lasts.  

Ahhh... hard copies. What a luxury to hold a physical book in hand for a flip. I came across Yoko Ogawa's 'The Housekeeper and the Professor' (published in Japanese in 2003) / 小川洋子『博士の愛した数式』, translated into English by Stephen Snyder and that was published in 2009.

I always read the author's short stories published in magazines or a compilation of them. I like her writing, but I don't seek out all of her books. I prefer to come across them one by one and depending on the year and the mood, I'll read whichever titles that pop up. This book is a novella. One story. 

I watched the film though. It was very slow. -_-  It was titled『博士の愛した数式』/ 'The Professor's Beloved Equation'. That was released in 2006, directed by Takashi Koizumi. While the film's script largely remains faithful to the book, the film adopts a different narrative. It tells the story as a series of flashbacks from a now 29-year-old Root who is a mathematics teacher at junior high school. 

There're only three main characters in the book — the Professor, who's a mathematician, the Housekeeper and her 10-year-old son Root. And the Professor's widowed sister-in-law who's referred to as the Widow. Also, typical of a lot of Japanese authors, nobody has a name in the story. They're just characters. 

The Housekeeper narrates the story. She has been dispatched to the Professor's house by her housekeeping agency. He needs help since he was in an accident, and although recovered, he can't retain new memories for more than 80 minutes. Eventually, that is also lost and with that, his independence and ability to live alone with housekeeping help. For better and thorough care, he moved to a long-term care facility. 

The Professor is fond of Root. It's hilarious because Root is nicknamed as such by way of how his head looks like a square root. Sure, whatever. Heh. He also acquires a love for math and some skills through the daily interactions with the Professor. 

There's also the Professor's sister-in-law in the picture. She didn't welcome the Housekeeper breaking the rules of staying past assigned hours and bringing a child into her client's house. It's obvious that the sister-in-law thinks what everyone would assume — that the Housekeeper is trying to weedle extra pay or scam her client. 

"Actually, we've been planning it for some time. We were just waiting for a bed to open up at the hospital," she said.

"I realize we stayed past working hours the other night. This wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?"

"No," she said, quite calmly. "I'm not upset about that at all. I knew it would be his last evening with you. But I'm sure you must have noticed what was happening." I wasn't sure what to say. "His eighty-minute tape is broken. His memory no longer goes beyond 1975, not even for a minute."

"I'd be happy to go to the hospital to look after him."

"That won't be necessary. They'll take good care of him... Besides," she said, "I'll be there. You see, my brother-on-law can never remember you, but he can never forget me."

But we are shown how respectful all the characters are, and how the Housekeeper viewed Professor as a father figure, and she appreciated his kindness shown to her and her son. Root also view him as a dependable older male figure in his life. After Root's eleventh birthday party that they all spent together, the Professor moved to the long-term care facility. They visited him often on Sunday mornings till Root is 22 years old, and the Professor passed.

There's nothing dubious or shady about the whole thing. Luckily the author isn't writing for Netflix, which would have turned it into a sordid tale of lust, seduction, a con and abandonment with maybe redemption much later. As good as the story or writing is, I'm not quite a fan of these books. It's too much a look into their lives. Too many details. It makes me feel very invested in them although I don't have to be. The author intended this story to move steadily with all its characters being respectable and have it end well. It's a 'feel good' kind of story.