The Solitude of Prime Numbers

I feel a sense of unease whenever a young author wins a prestigious award. How often are we going to hear the name of this author after this event? I get the feeling that such people are set up to astound the world once and then dissolve into the air.

After reading The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano, I realized that there are exceptions to these rules. I will anticipate his next book with impatience.

This story is dedicated to two people. Strange people, who are lonely not only in a crowd of people, but also in their own minds. As Mark Twain said, “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”

The two main characters are a girl suffering from anorexia and a guy who happens to be a math genius. This is the story of their lives and their meetings.

“Do you like your new school" Alice asked, for the sake of saying something.

"Yes"

"They say you're a genius"

Mattia sucked in his cheeks and bit into them till he felt the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth.

"Do you really like studying?'

Mattia nodded.

"Why?"

"It's the only thing I know how to do, "he said shortly. He wanted to tell her that he liked studying because you can do it alone, because all the things you study are already dead, cold, and chewed over. He wanted to  tell her that the pages of the school books were all the same temperature, that they left you time to choose, that they never hurt you and you couldn't hurt them either. But he said nothing. 

With this book, you get the sense that you are reading it from within. For me, this is usually the case with books like Madame Bovary or Anna Karenina. It’s not that you sympathize with the people on the pages; you are just become both of them for a short period of time.

A few of my photos.