By Kanae Takagi

This book was published last summer and was chosen in the first "National Bookseller's most recommend book grand prix" for 2004.

The author, Yoko Ogawa, was born in 1962 in Okayama and graduated from Waseda university. She received the Kaien Literature Award in 1988 and the Akutagawa Award in 1991.

This story describes the good of human beings through contact with an aging mathematician. "I" is his daily helper and her son is called "Root." The mathematician gave him this nickname because his flat head looks like the Root sign "√. "

"I" began to work as a daily helper for the old man. Owing to a traffic accident, he can only remember the last 80 minutes at any given time. He lives in the detached building of his sister-in-law's house. He ignores the helper because he doesn't want to be concern with her. "I" nourished a feeling of wariness. When he learned that "I" had a son, his attitude suddenly changed, and he told her to bring her son over to his house. Their life was fully satisfying. They often talked about baseball while they were having dinner. They also had a daily routine of listening to a radio broadcast commentary on baseball games after supper because the old mathematician and Root are Hanshin Tigers fans. They also talked about mathematics. "I" went to watch a Hanshin vs Hiroshima baseball game with the old mathematician and Root because the mathematician knew of baseball only through the sports pages of newspapers and baseball cards, and she never had time to take Root anywhere. However, that night, "I" cared for the old man all night because he had a fever. Therefore, his sister-in-law misunderstood the relationship between them. "I" was fired by his sister-in-law, but "I" reconciled with her and worked there again. However, Root's eleventh birthday party was the last day for them together because the mathematician's sister-in-law could no longer care for him. He entered an institution and their relationship continued as his memory capacity declined.

The scene where the mathematician showed her "Euler's formula" is very important. We should not think of this scene in terms of language, because the formula doesn't represent language. It is important to be able to see the great beauty of the mathematical formula. It mentions that a numerical formula is beautiful because it is wonderful beyond description.

We can't help feeling agony for the mathematician because he can only remember the last 80 minutes. "I" and Root are impressive because they come in contact with him as if he were a non-handicapped person. The mathematician, "I" and Root gradually became more like a family than real their real families.

Human beings are defective and their creation is also imperfect. However, mathematics is perfect. The mathematician describes it as "peeping at God's notebook." Humility makes a person beautiful and wonderful. The visible world isn't the only one. We should recognize the invisible world around us.

As has been mentioned, the mathematician can only remember 80 minutes, and "I" is his helper who is a single mother and Root is her son. At first sight, their daily lives seem inharmonious. However, this is a very human and interesting story. Therefore, we can understand how people connect with each other and it show's the goodness of human beings. This book is typical of Yoko Ogawa's work. She has since published a new novel,

"Brahman's Burial," in April of this year. It's a story about death.