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Solitude Of Prime Numbers, The (2008)

by Paolo Giordano(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1441836713 (ISBN13: 9781441836717)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Brilliance Audio

review 1: La soledad de los números primos es de aquellas historias que son pura soledad y dolor. Nos demuestra que la vida no es un cuento de hadas y que el amor muchas veces no es visible a los ojos de los enamorados. La vida esta plagada de obstáculos que hay que superarlos y más si nos traen mucho dolor. Paolo tiene una escritura ESPECTACULAR y también me demostro que los textos italianos son uno de mis preferidos. Lo unico que voy a criticar como malo es que lleva demasiado la tragedia y es como "Ya entendimos que la vida puede ser tragica pero algo bueno debe tener la vida".He sentido mucha pena de parte de Mattia y Alice a lo largo de toda la historia, y me siento totalmente culpable. Espero que en la mente del escritor estos dos puedan encontrar la luz...PD: Les juro que... more me voy a ir al estilo de Bajo la misma estrella a conocer al escritor porque NO PUEDE DEJAR ESE FINAL ABIERTO, ME DAN GANAS DE AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!;)
review 2: This was another one of my picks for the #AntiBullyReads Readathon this week, and I gotta say, I'm kinda bummed that this book doesn't seem to be more well known in the United States, but maybe I can help remedy that :-) Elsewhere in the world, this book has been translated into 39 languages and in 2008 won its Italian author, Paolo Giordano, Italy's most prestigious literary award, the Premio Strega. This story follows the lives of Alice Della Rocca and Mattia Balossino, introducing them as children in 1985, closing the story in their adulthood in 2007. Early on in their lives, both suffer traumatic experiences that affect and form them for the rest of their lives. Young Alice is pushed by her father to pursue an athletic career in skiing, but she can't find a way to get him to see that she has no inclination or natural talent for the sport, and all he can see is future Olympics. Her inexperience leads her into a skiing accident which ends up leaving her permanently crippled, though the weaker leg gets somewhat easier to hide as she gets older. What she doesn't hide is her emotional pain from the disconnect she and her parents can't seem to overcome. Her mother seems to be terminally ill with something, her father always focused on either work or his wife. Alice seems to be constantly pressed with this home atmosphere of "You could be better". At school, Alice yearns for the acceptance of popular girl / school bully Viola Bai, who requires a "test of loyalty" from all who want to be in her circle. The test she offers Alice proves to be permanently emotionally scarring to Alice. So between the teasing and looks at school about her leg and the loneliness she continues to feel at home, Alice develops anorexia... something else that follows her well into adulthood.Then there's Mattia's story. Mattia is one half of a set of twins. While Mattia quickly proves to be highly intelligent and gifted in math and sciences, his sister Michela is severely mentally handicapped, not even able to form full sentences even by grade-school age. Mattia and Michela stick close together, but part of Mattia resents how much attention Michela requires from everyone. At times he feels "held back" by her condition, socially stifled by being associated with her. When an opportunity comes up for Mattia to attend a classmate's party, both Mattia and Michela are invited but while walking to the classmate's house, Mattia makes the spur decision to leave Michela in a nearby park while he attends the party, instructing her to stay put on a bench until he comes back. Mattia loses track of time at the party and when he comes back Michela is nowhere to be found. A search party is quickly put together, but Michela is never found. It's assumed that she fell into the nearby river and her body drifted off, never to be discovered. Mattia carries the guilt of his sister's disappearance for the rest of his life, causing him to become a "cutter" (compulsively making cuts in his skin whenever the pain gets overwhelming). As Mattia grows into his teen years, his parents seem to find him increasingly weird and creepy ... the way he is super smart but never wants to talk and seems to have no friends. So, like Alice, even his home life is isolating.Alice and Mattia end up at the same school, both finding themselves being taunted, bullied, and / or whispered about for their traumas. Alice is instantly intrigued by Mattia, but Viola deems him a "psychopath". Alice and Mattia develop a friendship through their shared ostracism, though many aspects of the friendship prove difficult for both. They struggle to easily speak to each other and at times Alice's brusque way of speaking to Mattia comes off as borderline bullying, but there seems to be an unspoken deep bond. There lies the natural understanding, free of judgement, between them that makes the friendship so true and necessary. Whatever is said (or not said that needs to be..), they have a way of being each other's anchor in a world where no one else seems to understand them. At least until graduation day hits and life takes its natural course, which sometimes means people have to part. Mattia is offered a spot at a university in Spain and when he goes to tell Alice, she lashes out at him, saying horrible, hurtful things. We always hurt the ones we love the most, eh? Well, Mattia swallows the hurt, burying himself in work. The argument causes a silence between him and Alice for years, but then the moment she calls for him, like the true friend he comes running. It's during these later adult years that a moment comes up which forces Alice to face her past demons. What she decides to do ... I didn't 100% agree with. I was with her through a lot of it, but that last little decision I felt went too far. Karma doesn't need to be that big a bitch. Sometimes you just gotta be the better person and let it go. Along with Alice and Mattia, there's also the side stories of Denis and Soledad. Denis is perhaps the one other friend Mattia has through most of his school days, but their friendship is strained as well because Denis is in love with Mattia, Mattia is aware of it but doesn't want to encourage Denis. The story then sheds light on Denis' struggles with becoming comfortable in his homosexuality, eventually getting to a place where he and Mattia can honestly be just friends. Soledad is the housekeeper in Alice's home as well as Alice's unofficial nanny-figure. Alice is sometimes seen bullying Soledad into giving her what she wants, even if it might cost Soledad her job. Soledad also has a backstory of a husband who walked out on her, but to hide / avoid the shame of it all, she creates a story which makes her a grieving widow for a beloved husband, allowing her to have social respectability rather than shaming. While this story doesn't solely focus on easily identifiable bullies, I liked how it brought to light all the subtle ways people, children and adults alike, can be bullied, and how it can affect them for the rest of their lives. It doesn't always have to be physical. In fact, I'd say emotional abuse tends to last a hell of a lot longer than the temporary pain of being physically slammed into or up against something. This novel also addresses the crime of parents who never really get to know their children as individuals, embracing their uniqueness or allowing them to just be who they are suppose to be, instead forcing agendas and the unlived dreams of the parents onto them. It's just tragic.This book is so beautifully written, it'll be on my suggestions list from now on! less

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Reviews (see all)

Abs

Hay algo fascinante en esta hermosa y melancólica primera novela de Paolo Giordano (2008). Alice y Mattia, a quienes el lector puede acompañar desde una experiencia decisiva que cada uno de ellos ha tenido durante su infancia, parecen haberse quedado pegados al camino del sufrimiento. Alice se siente rechazada por sus padres y por sus compañeros y Mattia, por su parte, ha decidido aislarse del resto del mundo. Sus vidas se cruzan en el colegio y allí establecen una especie de amistad, que es en realidad una relación bastante precaria en la que ambos se refugian de la soledad. Como los números primos gemelos, Alice y Mattia, aunque estén siempre próximos, no llegarán a unirse nunca.El tema central del libro es la soledad y está tan bien tratado que el lector puede sentir el dolor de sus protagonistas casi corporalmente. Las descripciones son muchas veces inusuales pero a la vez comprensibles como cuando utiliza imágenes cotidianas para explicar lo que va sucediendo en el alma de sus personajes. Los diferentes conflictos de las figuras están descritos de forma igualmente gráfica y comprensible, sin perder por ello la sobriedad y austeridad que caracterizan el relato. La estructura clara de la novela que combina muy bien con el planteo del tema, el estilo de fácil lectura y la insistencia con la cual describe la vida sentimental de los protagonistas son los logros de este impresionante debut. Lo que me pareció un toque flojo fue el final porque, a diferencia del resto del libro, parece escrito a las apuradas. A pesar de esto, me apunto a los otros dos libros que desde entonces ha publicado Giordano.

kitkatkate13

I thought this book was going to bridge each character's social abnormalities and transcend what makes them "awkward", but was instead given stereotypical caricatures of pariahs. These characters are placed into an unforgiving world that isn't palpable. The parents also have no personalities and just become side notes. This story has been told before because these scenarios strike a chord with anyone who has felt awkward or lonely growing up, and therefore is bound to have enough appeal to become a movie in the near future. Feel free to disagree with me, but not much in this story stood out from the other teen/young adult angst tales that readers are being fed by the mother load.

7082575149

Otro libro que se me queda cojo por el final, aún así me ha encantado.

Dannyby777

el final me decepcionó :(

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