The Housekeeper and the Professor (2005) by Yōko Ogawa #WITMonth #20BooksofSummer2025

🔢 In 1975, a brilliant Professor of Mathematics had a car accident, which caused a severe head injury, with a peculiar side effect. His memory of events before the accident is intact, but after 1975, the Professor lives with short-term memory of only eighty minutes. It means that after eighty minutes, his memory would be completely erased, except for that of 1975 and before. "In the simplest terms, it's as if he has a single, eighty-minute videotape inside his head, and when he records anything new, he has to record over the existing memories."

🔢 A housekeeper who works for an agency, was hired by the Professor's widowed sister-in-law, to keep house for the Professor, who is now on his sixties. He lives in a small cottage, adjunct to the sister-in-law's house. Eight other housekeepers had been hired and left, and so this one (we never get to know her name) was a little apprehensive when she arrived at the first day. The Professor is quite peculiar in appearance; his suit was worn, and several scraps of notepaper with his handwriting were pinned on it. It was his way of remembering important things. The most important one seems to be the one with "my memory lasts for eighty minutes", but after the arrival of the new housekeeper, he has a new one that says: "the new housekeeper" with a sketch of a woman's face. And that appears to be the beginning of a deep friendship.

🔢 The Professor is fond of numbers. His first greeting to the new housekeeper was: "What's your shoe number"? It's an odd way to say to a new acquaintance, but it's his way to cover his nervousness or awkwardness. After one produces him any number (shoe, telephone, birthdate, and so on), he would give you a theorem of prime numbers or factorial numbers. But the story gets much more interesting when the housekeeper's son came into the scene. He was nicknamed "Root" by the Professor, as the top of his head is flat, just like the square root symbol. Apparently the Professor cares so much for the boy, and since then, an intimate friendship wrought itself between the three unlikely persons. Either around the dinner table, or the baseball stadium, they were always happy in each other's company.

🔢 I think the biggest question that the author, Yōko Ogawa, wanted us to reflect is, whether it is possible to have an intimate relationship when one does not have memory. How can you have a deep affection to someone whom you completely forgot you've ever met before? That is something I have never thought before. Is our relationships built from things we enjoyed in the past? And if we're get rid of that; if we see the other as a stranger each time, will we recognize the bond, even if we don't understand why or how? Interesting isn't it?

🔢 On the whole, this is a thought provoking story. You'll enjoy it more, perhaps, if you love Math and/or baseball. I don't both, but I still enjoy the trio's deep relationship.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025
hosted by Annabel and Emma

The Healing Season of Pottery (2023) by Yeon Somin #WITMonth #20BooksofSummer2025

🏺 My first interest of this book was pottery. I always admire people who are passionate about something - either hobby or career; and you rarely read about pottery. Add "healing" with that, and an image of a cat sitting near the potteries - well, it sold me instantly! And I think it would be a good choice for this year's #WITMonth. A feel-good story with a tinge of slow-burning romance, set in an Asian country.

🏺 Jungmin has just quitted her job as broadcasting writer, and is now living as a recluse at her apartment in Chestnut Burr Village (what a name for a village!). After days of holing-up, without ever once going out, Jungmin suddenly emerged. She wanted to find a cafe, but stumbled instead upon a quiet pottery studio. The owner invited her in, and what with a cup of coffee and fresh smell of clay, Jungmin felt calm and composed for the very first time after a long while. And so, it's not a wonder that Jungmin started to learn about pottery.

🏺 As the story unfurls, we get to know more of the other members of Soyo Workshop, and most importantly what Jungmin had had experienced to shape her like that. I loved the interaction of the owner, Johee, and the other members: Jihye, Gisik, Jun, and Hyoseok. They all had a troubled past, and were struggling to build a future. Working the pottery wheel seems to be what everyone needs to shake off the past, while shaping a way to better future. In short, pottery was portrait here, not only as a hobby or pastime, but a way to embrace life.

“Whether it’s pottery or life, it takes more than one attempt for them to come out right. And all that effort makes the end product more valuable, too.”

🏺 As is in most Japanese feel-good novel, the pace is quite slow. I enjoyed it every time they work on the pottery; I could almost see the end products. It's pretty satisfying when they sold out all the vases, dishes, and bowls during a bazaar. And I agree, that a handmade pottery product, no matter how imperfect it was, is a perfect gift to someone who means a lot to us - it's private and unique; especially when the dish or vase had been made with that person always on the maker's mind.

🏺 As a feel-good novel, this is actually a bit dark. What Jungmin had experienced is deeper than what I had thought at first); it's a layered psychological problems that I think need more than pottery to heal. But on the whole, it's a slow-paced heartwarming read. I loved the end!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

Comet in Moominland (1946) by Tove Jansson #MoominWeek #WITMonth #20booksofsummer24

"You must go on a long journey before you can really find out how wonderful home is."

☄ That is the essence of this book, the second one - in term of publication date - to the Moomin series created by the inimitable Tove Jansson, and translated from Swedish by Elizabeth Portch. Moomintroll feels the urge to take on a journey far away from home, to see the world, to take on challenges, to do good things for others. But when he has had all these, the one thing he was longing most were... home and family. Isn't that what we all experience?

☄ This book picked up where we left in the first book: The Moomins and the Great Flood. The Moomins family had decided to stay on the valley where the house Moominpappa had built up ended during the flood. Now the family are settling in Moominvalley, with the addition of Sniff (the little creature they encountered in first book) who is living with them now. Sniff finds a beautiful cave while he and Moomintroll are following a path in the forest, and Moomintroll goes pearl-fishing in the sea. The next day they find the pearls, which they have hidden inside the cave, now are arranged in the shape of a star with a tail. The Muskrat, a philosopher who's also living with the Moomins, tells them they are shaped like a comet. So Moomintroll and Sniff are taking a journey to the Faraway Lonely Mountains, where the Professors at the Observatory will tell them more about it.

☄ Long story short, after a long and challenging journey, the Professors tell them exactly when a huge comet would hit the earth, in a few days. Now Moomintroll and Sniff need to go back home ASAP to.... well, they don't know exactly what to do, but Moominmamma would surely know what to do then. If only they could arrive just in time. Can they do that? Will the comet destroy their beloved Moominvalley?

☄ Along the adventure, some new characters were added to spice up the story up. We were introduced first to Snufkin, a nomad who loves playing music with his harmonica, and defies rules and authority. Then there's the Hermulen, who is an avid stamp collector, and ignorant of anything elese. One particular character gives Moomintroll a distraction from his mission - a beautiful Snork Maiden whom Moomintrol had saved from poisonous bush. This made me reflect on Moomintroll's actual age. He seemed to be of earlier age of five or seven years old back in the first book (where Moominmamma told him to wear dry sock after he wetted his feet in the swamp) but here he's having a crush - albeit a childish one - on Snork Maiden. Maybe the Moomins are ageless?

☄ Overall, Comet in Moominland is much more entertaining and complex than its predecessor. What I love most about it is the level of trust showed from Moomintroll and his parents, particularly Moominmamma. Even when the danger was near, Moominmamma and Moominpappa refused to evacuate with hteir neighbors, because they believe Moomintroll would come home. They never considered the possibility of their son going somewhere safer without them. No, they just knew that Moomintroll was coming home. Likewise for Moomintroll, he repeated many times to his friends that Moominmamma would know what to do. He never thought his parents would have evacuated with their neighbors. No, he just had to get home, and everything would be okay. That's a huge amount of confidence and a strong bond of love. I am so lucky to have the same kind of family! We were able to get through hardship and sorrow because we did it in love and trust of each other. This is a book with a fun adventure, that will warm you heart through.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Moomin Week #MoominWeek

hosted by Mallika @ Literary Potpourri & Chris @ Calmgrove

Women in Translation Month #WITMonth
hosted by womenintranslation.org

20 Books of Summer 2024 #20booksofsummer24
hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books

The Black Lake (Oeroeg) by Hella S. Haasse (1948) #WITMonth

🖤 The Black Lake was first published anonymously in 1948 as Oeroeg. It was the Dutch author Hella Haasse's first novel, and was translated to English by Ina Rilke. Set in Indonesia during Dutch colonialism in 1940s, Oeroeg is a story about childhood friendship gone sour over political and ideological differences.

🖤 The narrator (his name was never revealed) is a white boy, son of a Dutch Indies plantation manager in Sukabumi, West Java. He was born in Indonesia, and being an only child, his only playmate is Oeroeg. Oeroeg is a native boy, the same age as the narrator's. He's the son of the plantation's mandor (leader of the workers). Despite of their totally different backgrounds, the two boys spent their childhood together and were quite inseparable.

🖤 Then an accident happened, triggered by the drunken and irresponsible white men led by the narrator's father, whose reckless amusement on board of a inadequate raft on the Black Lake, caused the raft fell apart. Oeroeg's father died while saving the narrator's life from drowning. Because of that, the narrator's father sent Oeroeg to the same school and boarding house as his son. The seeds of disruption began at this point.

🖤 Oeroeg began to realize his inferiority from other students. He began to try imitating the white's style and seemed to be ashamed to be a native. Despite all that, the two students still studied and hang around together, though not as closely as before. The consciousness of the gap laid between them has finally dawn upon these adolescents.

🖤 Graduated from secondary school, the narrator was sent by his father to study in Dutch. This was the last straw of their friendship. While he's away, huge things happened. Indonesian youths began their resistance movement against Dutch colonialism; the narrator joined the army during World War II; and Oeroeg joined the Indonesian nationalist to fight for the nation's independence. When the narrator happened to return with the Dutch army to Sukabumi, everything has changed so drastically. He no longer found it the home he used to be rooted to, and most of all, he lost his best friend Oeroeg....

🖤 I found this novella quite thought-provoking. Growing up often means restricting our heart to so many rules and ideologies, that we often forget the human being underneath these thoughts. My heart ached over Oeroeg and the narrator's last scene. I understand Oeroeg's hatred towards the nation that had caused sorrows to his people. But how could he forget the one friend that at one time had shared his happiness?

🖤 I'm also wondering the roots of Indonesians' inferiority complex towards Western people. Is it a characteristic that is attached to our people? And made us so easy to be colonized by the European for centuries? Or is this character the result of centuries of colonialism? After more than 70 years of our independence, Oeroeg's behaviors still reflect on our modern people - trying to be identified as European, but also hating the Western.

🖤 All in all, this is an intriguing bildungsroman of friendship and identity searching, set in a turmoil era of colonialism, and loosely based on the author's experience of growing up in West Java during the same era.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Women in Translation Month #WITMonth
hosted by womenintranslation.org

The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945) by Tove Jansson #MoominWeek #WITMonth #20booksofsummer24

👜 The Moomins are tiny creatures created from the Finnish author Tove Jansson's imagination. The Moomins and the Great Flood is the first book in the series, and the one that introduces us to the main characters: the Moomins family. We learn here that Moomins are house trolls who used to live behind kitchen stoves. It was translated by David McDuff from Swedish, its original title is Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen.

👜 Moominmamma and her only son Moomintroll are on a journey to find Moominpappa. He has been travelling with the Hattifatteners to look for a place to build a house. Hattifatteners are white tiny creatures who are always on the move and usually traveling through the sea in groups.

👜 The Moomins' journey is quite eventful, and they get to meet some new friends. "The Little Creature" is the one they first meet - a helpless, whinny creature who likes sparkling gems. Later on he will be named Sniff. Then they also meet Tulippa, a pretty young girl with shining blue hair who's been staying inside a tulip. She saves the Moomins and the little creature from a giant serpent while crossing a swamp. The four of them then continue their journey together.

👜 Later on they are joining a group of Hattifatteners who are crossing the sea by boat. But a storm strikes, and a sea troll helps them to navigate safely to an island, where they meet a boy who has seen Moominpappa. They are on the right track, then!

👜 A rainstorm seems to check their progress, but during the flood they find a message in the bottle floating their direction from Moominpappa, and by the help of a stork, they finally find him - safe and sound! Not only that, they later on find the house Moominpappa has built, which the flood has been floating intact to a valley, and where they finally decide to live.

👜 Considering this novella is the first of a series, it is quite an interesting introduction, although there isn't much 'substance' in the story if you read it as standalone. My favorite character is Moominmamma, she is just a typical wonder mom who always knows what her children need, and is always prepare for everything. I loved how, when Moomintroll's feet became wet from the swamp, she just takes a pair of dry socks out of her handbag for him. This handback is actually becomes a trademark for Moominmamma, as she always brings it everywhere she goes. To me it's also a symbol of a loving and caring mother (hence, the handbag emojis I use in this post ;)).

👜 The story is not overly fantastic, but it gets better on the next one (I have moved on to Comet in the Moominland, which I loved - review's following! 😉)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

Moomin Week

hosted by Mallika @ Literary Potpourri & Chris @ Calmgrove

Women In Translation Month 2024 #WITMonth
hosted by womenintranslation.org

20 Books of Summer 2024
hosted by Cathy @ 746 Books

#WITMonth 2024: Books I've Enjoyed & Some Possible Reads

This would be my first participation for #WITMonth, an event of reading Women in Translation during August. Before coming to my list of possible reads, I would like to share some WIT books I have enjoyed so far in 2024 (click link in the title to read my review).

Cigarette Girl (Gadis Kretek) by Ratih Kumala

translated from Indonesian by Annie Tucker

Cigarette making had been an important and inseparable part of Indonesian history and culture. This historical fiction highlights the Dutch and Japanese colonialism of Indonesia from 1940s to 1960s. The story opens on the dying bed of an old rich cigarette business owner, Soeraja. He murmured an unfamiliar name of a woman "Jeng Yah" (Jeng=Madam). His three sons then began a long journey to a small town in Central Java to uncover the buried past of a long rivalry of two young men, their cigarette businesses, and an unrequited love.

I crowned this as the best Indonesian novel I've ever read so far. Kumala brilliantly captured the bygone era of Indonesia, and wove it around the historical background of colonialism. No one is overpowering the other, resulting in a very balanced story, packed with action and wonderful plot, and rich with cultural spice. No wonder it's been adapted to a Netflix serial!

The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura

translated from Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter

The life of foresters in a secluded little village are beautifully captured by Shion Miura in this novel, told from high school boy Yuki Hirano's eyes. He was enrolled by his parents to try forester as a career, of which he's reluctant at first, but relenting in the end, after the charm of Kamusari village won him over. A tranquil, insightful read that will bring you closer with nature.

The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury

translated from French by Ros Schwartz

A book about people who love books, and how books influence and change people - that's the appropriate summary of this book. Besides her love for reading, Juliette, the protagonist, loves to imagine the lives of her fellow métro passengers, through books they read every day. One day she met an extraordinary book seller, and recruited as a passeur, whose job is passing particular books to match the readers, using their imagination. And Juliette's dull existence changed abruptly.

It's a sweet, tranquil book that transported you to the more tranquil side of Paris, while enjoying its métro rides.

And now, some possible reads for #WITMonth. Since I will be joining Moomin Week, brought by Mallika and Chris, two of my #WITMonth reads would be Tove Jansson's: The Moomins and the Great Flood (Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen) and Finn Family Moomintroll (Trollkarlens hatt). They are respectively the first and third in Moomins books (translated from Swedish), a children literature about a family of trolls who live in Moominvalley.

I also plan to read Hella Haasse's The Black Lake (Oeroeg), a bildungsroman which has been a staple in literary education for Dutch schoolchildren. It is set in a plantation in West Java, Indonesia, during Dutch colonialism. The story told by a little Dutch boy who grew up in the plantation and befriended a native boy. But the political changes estranged him from his friend until his return after WWII. What would he find? Would everything be the same as before? I have longed to read this book (translated from Ducth, of course, and really hope I can still squeeze it into this month). Fingers crossed!

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Will you participate in #WITMonth? What will you read?