I just finished my favorite book this year. Even though this book is short, only 180 pages, the prose is rich and sparse with nothing wasted. It took me longer than usual to read this book. I had to stop and savor what I had read, to digest it, to find all that was not written but felt deeply. Yoko Ogawa has brilliantly both written and not written exactly what was needed to tell this quiet, haunting story. If you have not read this yet, I recommend you pick it up. And give it to your sons and husbands too. It will touch you all.

I loved this book for its spare and loving language deep with meaning. The 3 characters were so authentic and full of compassion. The story really moved at a great pace -- I never wanted to stop reading and finished it in 2 sittings. The professor's life had to be so difficult with his short term memory, but his mind was so beautiful. I loved the math discussions and even found myself in the internet looking up more math details. Only a remarkable book would have made that happen. A great question that comes out of this book for discussions - "What is more important - current experiences or past memories?". I will read this book again and recommend to all my book loving friends.

What a beautiful tale of devotion - love given and returned. The story shows how one who shares an absolute love of a subject with others, in this case the subject is math, in all of its elegance, can spread that enthusiasm and pull others into that sphere of love. The book is brimming with compassion and understanding.

I picked this book up, and didn't stop reading until I was all done! It was a wonderful, gentle story with great characters. An unlikely relationship between a brilliant professor and his housekeeper and her son leads to a beautiful friendship. The math references added to the story, and really didn't distract. A completely enjoyable read.

I wasn't sure I would enjoy this book until I picked it up and then I couldn't put it down. The characters came alive and I was suddenly drawn in and didn't want to put the book down until the end. The math discussions were intriguing and were interesting though I know nothing about math. But the honesty of the relationship is what drew me in. It was a lovely read and I would highly recommend it.

This is an absolutely wonderful book...Pick it up and ENJOY!! It will be greatly appreciated even by those who thought they had an aversion to Maths!

I think I fell asleep at least 10 times while reading this.

The book has high ambitions (explain the role of memory in love, or such) resting on odd plot devices (math professor with memory loss, uneducated housekeeper and 10 year-old son getting to love professor through their fascination with numbers theory). While the sentences are written in beautiful prose, the whole of the book to me does not add up to much substance.