Unable to escape, at least cut his Internet connection and ignore the press paraliterary. Through a highly effective marketing plan, the Italian bestseller "The loneliness of the primes" of Paolo Giordano invaded the canvas, preceded by a rumor that more flattering. The novel, described by his publisher as "phenomenal bestseller" sold "over one million copies in Italy " has received several awards including the prestigious Strega (equivalent to our Goncourt).
Everything tam-tam some readers may arouse some prejudices, nourished by the unpleasant impression that you want to force their hand. Especially since, often, the books make noise for reasons that are not all literary. It's a safe bet that if the author was not a good Italian in just 30 years, double transalpine Florian Zeller (and therefore a source of pretty pictures in magazines), "The loneliness of the numbers first "would have joined the stalls of booksellers in its absolute discretion.
Never mind a few moments to consider the rumor the book, and him alone. It the story of two lonely teenagers and evil in their skin, Alice and Mattia which have in common that they suffered in their childhood a drama that will mark their lives: Alice victim of an accident Skiing has retained a slight limp and Mattia is responsible for the disappearance of his sister lingered. Both bully their body-anorexia for Alice and scarification for Mattia - and locked into a deadly solipsism .
Mattia, who takes refuge in the consoling abstraction of mathematics, noted that prime numbers (numbers that have only two divisors, 1 and itself) are sometimes found in pairs, they have a near twin, separated only by an even number: the cases of 17 and 19 for example. Mattia senses that her destiny is linked to that of Alice as that of two twin primes. Throughout their lives, Alice and Mattia meet, become friends, but will they to escape their loneliness and to burst the bubble that insulates them?
So literary event or commercial phenomenon? The truth is perhaps between the two. Paolo Giordano demonstrated mastery narrative quite rare for a first novel. Paolo Giordano knows how to find the words simple and effective, to tell the more tortured bodies near the torments of those beings dangerously disconnected. The novel impresses with its almost mathematical precision and keen sense of detail. But comparisons with " Ada " of Nabokov or "The Lovely Bones" to Alice Sebold that one could read in the writings of some critics are excessive because the book is more interesting for his well-crafted story that his contribution to the narrative construction.
"The loneliness of the primes" of Paolo Giordano , Editions du Seuil, 2009, 329 p., 21 euros.
Everything tam-tam some readers may arouse some prejudices, nourished by the unpleasant impression that you want to force their hand. Especially since, often, the books make noise for reasons that are not all literary. It's a safe bet that if the author was not a good Italian in just 30 years, double transalpine Florian Zeller (and therefore a source of pretty pictures in magazines), "The loneliness of the numbers first "would have joined the stalls of booksellers in its absolute discretion.
Never mind a few moments to consider the rumor the book, and him alone. It the story of two lonely teenagers and evil in their skin, Alice and Mattia which have in common that they suffered in their childhood a drama that will mark their lives: Alice victim of an accident Skiing has retained a slight limp and Mattia is responsible for the disappearance of his sister lingered. Both bully their body-anorexia for Alice and scarification for Mattia - and locked into a deadly solipsism .
Mattia, who takes refuge in the consoling abstraction of mathematics, noted that prime numbers (numbers that have only two divisors, 1 and itself) are sometimes found in pairs, they have a near twin, separated only by an even number: the cases of 17 and 19 for example. Mattia senses that her destiny is linked to that of Alice as that of two twin primes. Throughout their lives, Alice and Mattia meet, become friends, but will they to escape their loneliness and to burst the bubble that insulates them?
So literary event or commercial phenomenon? The truth is perhaps between the two. Paolo Giordano demonstrated mastery narrative quite rare for a first novel. Paolo Giordano knows how to find the words simple and effective, to tell the more tortured bodies near the torments of those beings dangerously disconnected. The novel impresses with its almost mathematical precision and keen sense of detail. But comparisons with " Ada " of Nabokov or "The Lovely Bones" to Alice Sebold that one could read in the writings of some critics are excessive because the book is more interesting for his well-crafted story that his contribution to the narrative construction.
"The loneliness of the primes" of Paolo Giordano , Editions du Seuil, 2009, 329 p., 21 euros.
