FICTION
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Archimedes Thoughtful
by Fetti (1620)
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An infinitude of
prime numbers exists, as demonstrated by Euclid (ca 300 BC) |
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The Solitude of Prime Numbers
by Paolo Giodano
Alice and Mattia each
seem alone, isolated from others by the inner pain that quietly eats
away at them. The loss of his twin, a loss for which he feels
responsible, puts Mattia at odds with the world outside himself.
Before the loss of his twin, Mattia was gifted mathematically, but now
numbers become his refuge as well. Alice dreads the skiing, a
sport her father encourages. Each trip, she prepares herself with
a ritual so that she will not be embarrassed in front of the other
kids, but one day her embarrassment causes her to escape the group
rather than rely on them. While fleeing the group, Alice has a
skiing accident that leaves her with permanent scars. Both Mattia
and Alice live in worlds alienated from their teenage peers but their
shared isolation brings them together. When Mattia accepts a
research position, the two become separated. Mattia later
returns, but will their friendship connect them like it once did?
Time changes friendship, alienation and the inner solitude, yet the
essential elements, though transformed, remain.
In his brilliant debut novel THE
SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS, Paolo Giodino captures the pain and
alienation of adolescence. Although most individual readers
probably have not experienced the exact circumstances or psychological
manifestations of the characters, Paolo Giodino creates characters with
whom readers can relate in the initial pages with his vivid
descriptions of the adolescent social structure and the insecurities of
those that do not fit within the popular group. As the novel
progresses, revealing the depth of their solitude and pain, one
experiences their pain and isolation from an insider's point of view
rather than as someone looking in from the outside. One wants
them to succeed. One wants them to break through their isolation
and find wholeness and yet we, as readers, like Alice and Mattia, can
never truly be the insider into another. "A prime number can only
be divided by itself or by one --- it never truly fits with
another." Will these lost, troubled souls ever truly connect?
THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME
NUMBERS is a stunning, unforgettable novel with unforgettable
characters that uses mathematical language to create a poetic view of
solitude and friendship, of isolation and human closeness. Paolo
Giodino draws the reader into the pain and tragedy experienced by his
characters, not with psychological buzzwords and diagnosis deatails
about anorexia or any of the other manifestations but
rather by making the reader feel the psychological and poetic truth
within his characters. If you are looking for a happy, feel-good
novel, look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you are looking for
a novel that will make you feel, see and think in new ways, THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS is a
novel that stands out among many for its vision of the misfit's inner
pain, alienation, closeness and solitude. Despite the tragic
events and emotions surrounding the characters, THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS has a
poetic beauty about it that lives on long after the last page.
Publisher:
Pamela Dorman Books (March 18, 2010)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
Review Courtesy of Amazon Vine
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