Book Thoughts: The Solitude of Prime Numbers

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many books and novels build towards a pivotal moment, a moment that either lifts the reader up and provides a gut punch, a moment that leaves an indelible mark on a reader. In this novel, the opposite seems to happen. The two primary characters, Mattia and Alice, are introduced right at the beginning in harsh, tragic, and haunting ways. Alice suffers an accident while skiing, and only skiing because of the overbearing nature of her father, that leaves her scarred and disabled. Mattia has a twin sister who is developmentally disabled and he ends up leaving her in a park when they are on their way to a birthday party they have both been invited to, and she is never seen again. The incident leaves Mattia a social recluse. As the book progresses and these two horribly broken individuals find each other (Alice suffering from anorexia and Mattia turning to self-mutilation), I think its natural for the reader to hope that these two characters can be recovered, rehabilitated, so to speak.

But Giordano keeps them apart, suggesting that they have been too irretrievably scarred to be together. They are like twin primes (the reference to the title), like 11 and 13, as close as a pair of odd primes can get, but never actually adjacent. As such, reading the book provides no great cathartic or hopeful moment, but the novel feels consistent throughout. The writing is beautiful, but the book isn't for the faint-hearted. To some extent, it seemed like the author was pushing the characters to see how far they can bend without breaking. As such, for anyone who has experienced even a fraction of isolation or emotional pain, the book can be difficult, even painful, to get through.

But, while one of the saddest novels I've read, its a powerful read, one filled with intense, complicated characters, raw emotion, and worthy prose.




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