The Solitude of Prime Numbers (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Solitude of Prime Numbers (original: La solitudine dei numeri primi) is a novel by Italian writer Paolo Giordano
, published in 2008. It won both the Strega Prize
of that year.
s are outsiders from the other numbers. Both lonely, they befriend each other, forming a special relationship—very close, but never romantic (the relationship is compared to prime pairs; always together, but never touching).
When the gifted Mattia wins a mathematics posting that takes him thousands of miles away, their relationship appears to have run its course. But when Alice sights a woman who could be Mattia's sister, the two are brought back together again. Though they clearly love each other, they are unable to express their emotions. The book ends with both going their separate ways again.
Paolo Giordano
Paolo Giordano is an Italian writer who won the Premio Strega literary award with his first novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers.- Biography :...
, published in 2008. It won both the Strega Prize
Strega Prize
The Strega Prize is the most prestigious Italian literary award. It has been awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose fiction by an Italian author and first published between 1 May of the previous year and 30 April...
of that year.
Plot summary
The novel narrates the childhood and young adult life of a boy, Mattia, and a girl, Alice, both of whom had exposure to traumatic situations very early in life. Alice bears the physical scars of a terrible skiing accident which nearly killed her. Mattia bears the emotional scars of having lost his disabled twin sister, after leaving her alone in a park in order to attend his first and only birthday party. These traumas manifest themselves again physically later in both of their lives, with Alice being anorexic, and Mattia cutting himself. At school, both are outsiders, much as prime numberPrime number
A prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. A natural number greater than 1 that is not a prime number is called a composite number. For example 5 is prime, as only 1 and 5 divide it, whereas 6 is composite, since it has the divisors 2...
s are outsiders from the other numbers. Both lonely, they befriend each other, forming a special relationship—very close, but never romantic (the relationship is compared to prime pairs; always together, but never touching).
When the gifted Mattia wins a mathematics posting that takes him thousands of miles away, their relationship appears to have run its course. But when Alice sights a woman who could be Mattia's sister, the two are brought back together again. Though they clearly love each other, they are unable to express their emotions. The book ends with both going their separate ways again.