The Solitude of Prime Numbers
A Novel
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3.6 • 289 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"Mesmerizing...an exquisite rendering of what one might call feelings at the subatomic level." -The New York Times
From the author of Heaven and Earth, a sensational novel about whether a "prime number" can ever truly connect with someone else
A prime number is a lonely thing. It can only be divided by itself or by one, and it never truly fits with another. Alice and Mattia are both "primes"—misfits haunted by early tragedies. When the two meet as teenagers, they recognize in each other a kindred, damaged spirit. Years later, a chance encounter reunites them and forces a lifetime of concealed emotion to the surface. But can two prime numbers ever find a way to be together? A brilliantly conceived and elegantly written debut novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers is a stunning meditation on loneliness, love, and what it means to be human.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Italian author and mathematician Giordano follows two scarred people whose lives intersect but can't seem to join in his cerebral yet touching debut. Alice and Mattia, both survivors of childhood traumas, are the odd ones out amid the adolescent masses in their high school. Mattia has never recovered from the loss of his sister, while Alice still suffers the effects of a skiing accident that damaged her physically and stunted her ability to trust. Now teenagers, Mattia, also addicted to self-injury, has withdrawn into a world of numbers and math, and Alice gains control through starving herself and photography. When they meet, they recognize something primal in each other, but timing and awkwardness keep their friendship on tenuous ground until, years later, their lives come together one last time. Giordano uses Mattia and Alice's trajectory to ask whether there are some people the prime numbers among us who are destined to be alone, or whether two primes can come together. The novel's bleak subject matter is rendered almost beautiful by Giordano's spare, intense focus on his two characters.
Customer Reviews
The Solitude of Prime Numbers
I was impressed at how the characters remained consistent despite the pull of sentimentality most authors would succumb to.
Captivating story
The characters are perfectly drawn and the arcs of their lives constructed in such a way as to propel the reader with increasing velocity from beginning to end. I felt as though I personally knew these people and found myself identifying with them in many of the defining moments. The prime number metaphor is particularly apt with composite numbers always there but outside of reach and never actually formed.
Intelligent novel
As a psychologist I was impressed with the author's knowledge if the human psyche. Yes, the novel is sad and dark, but nonetheless extremely smart. If you like Remark, you gonna like this book.