A stunning debut novel about the intertwined destinies of two friends brought together by childhood tragedy. A three-million-copy Italian bestseller and winner of that country’s prestigious Premio Strega award. A prime number is inherently a solitary thing: it can only be divided by itself, or by one: it never truly fits with another. Alice and Mattia, too, move on their own axis, alone with their personal tragedies. As a child, Alice’s overbearing father drove her first to a terrible skiing accident, and then to anorexia. When she meets Mattia she recognizes a kindred, tortured spirit, and Mattia reveals to Alice his terrible secret: that as a boy he abandoned his mentally-disabled twin sister in a park to go to a party, and when he returned, she was nowhere to be found. These two irreversible episodes mark Alice and Mattia’s lives for ever, and as they grow into adulthood their destinies seem intertwined: they are divisible only by themselves and each other. But the shadow of the lost twin haunts their relationship, until a chance sighting by Alice of a woman who could be Mattia’s sister forces a lifetime of secret emotion to the surface. A meditation on loneliness and love, The Solitude of Prime Numbers asks, can we ever truly be whole when we’re in love with another? And when Mattia is asked to choose between human love and his professional love — of mathematics — which will make him more complete?
Download and start listening now!
"The book reminded me of the awkwardness and coming of age in The Perks of Being a Wallflower with the starkness and sparsenessof language and imagery of Tinkers combined with the mathematical romance of Flatland. The 4 stars is for the somewhat implausible "damaged history" of the male character."
— Angela (4 out of 5 stars)
" two adolescents forever scarred by self-caused tragedies. this is a poignant book about loneliness, and about trauma, which if not resolved, continues to haunt us. "
— Sally, 2/14/2014" The reason I picked up this book was due to the title. I love prime numbers. I love teaching math and the whole idea behind this book is a math concept. These two people are very different, unique on their own, and are equated to prime numbers. Running through their lives in contrasting pains. There is a subconscious line between them. The writing was very good. I could tell this book was written by a guy or really from a guy's perspective, though it looks at the world through a male and a female character's eyes. There was such compartmentalized viewpoints and fractions of moments not going beyond yourself to finally connect with another human being. The book is a fast read, but left me a little perturbed by the ending. I felt spent from finding out what really makes one a prime number. "
— Tammy, 2/9/2014" La solitudine regna in tutte la pagine.....nere sul bianco! Numeri ,sentimenti , lettere e disagi esistenziali comuni a molti ma che non avranno mai la forza e la voglia d'incontrarsi!! "
— Danyg., 1/13/2014" Decent first novel. Characters seemed a tad two dimensional in terms of their issues and not fully fleshed out. Perhaps it was the translation but for a story about pain and isolation I was not impressed with the prose. Just okay. La "
— Teal, 1/13/2014" This book is well written. However, like it's title suggests, it is about solitude and I am a people person. "
— Jaime, 1/12/2014" very well written, interesting concept, a bit sad. "
— Sherwestonstec, 12/26/2013" Beautifully written. An Italian book translated into English. It follows the painful journey of two people who do not fit into society. A book of lonliness and struggle. "
— Wanda, 11/30/2013" Very well written. I think this is one of those books that leaves you really thinking about how much baggage people carry around with them. Complicated and messy, but I liked the way it ended. "
— Laura, 11/22/2013" Imperdible. No sobra una sola palabra. Recomendable a mil. "
— Rafaela, 8/27/2013" One of the most beautifully and sincerely written pieces of fiction I've come across in ages. It says so much that I was pleasantly surprised at an authentic ending, rather than a kitschy one. "
— Lauren, 8/18/2013" A beautiful, moving look at the desperation of depression and love. I could not put this book down and am eagerly looking forward to reading it again. "
— John, 4/5/2013" Gripping. I finished it in a few days, swallowing pages whenever I had a free moment. It was quite sad and a bit depressing, but the characters were really interesting. "
— Marilin, 12/23/2012" I loved this. I loved the way this author expressed things simply and articulated feeling we all relate to that are rarely expressed. Subtly beautiful and tragic at the same time. "
— Nathalie, 7/26/2012" Good book. Pretty flipping depressing as hell though. "
— Kate, 6/29/2012" Great read. I love Giordano's style. "
— Elizabeth, 5/18/2012" This could have been a great story about the redeeming power of love -- except neither of the protagonists are capable of love. That's hard to root for. "
— Jennifer, 1/19/2012" Fascinante "
— Carolina, 7/16/2011" An excellent book! Very easy to read, entertaining and captivating. The ending though... Oh so frustrating!! "
— Elizabeth, 6/16/2011" This was a nice surprise with two characters that I immediately fell in love with. I hope to see more from Paolo, as this was a remarkable book. "
— James, 5/15/2011" The writing in this book was breathtaking. The two main characters were such a mess that it made me uncomfortable just reading about them. Their loneliness and awkwardness was written about so well you almost felt it for them. Kudos to whomever did the translation of this book. "
— Lorena, 5/12/2011" Very interesting characters, tough subjects. It leaves much food for thought after you've finished it.<br/>I hope that one day I'll be able to read this in the original language (Italian) =P<br/>I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to a play based on it next week! "
— Nina, 5/12/2011" Charming, interesting, sad and beautifully written. I assume it must be a translation in which case it is superbly translated. "
— Fred, 5/6/2011" Stunningly imaginative, and depressing, and heartbreakingly sad. But good, and touching and evocative. This is definitely not a "fluffy" read. "
— Joanne, 5/6/2011" Although this story has a decent plot and is well paced I ultimately found the two main characters to be undeveloped and lacking the nuances needed to successfully carry the story. "
— Crossett, 5/5/2011" Beautiful writing. I was underlining passages like I was reading it for a literature class. Started reading it at 5:30am in an airport and finished it the same day. I wasn't sure if the ending made me sad or not, but it definitely made me think. "
— Jamie, 5/4/2011" A very, very good read - shame about the unspectacular open ending, as I would have liked to have some sort of conclusion. Hence only 4 stars! "
— Nadine, 4/29/2011" Although this story has a decent plot and is well paced I ultimately found the two main characters to be undeveloped and lacking the nuances needed to successfully carry the story. "
— Oceana, 4/28/2011" I loved this book so much that I wanted to carry it around in my hands for the rest of the day after I finished it. "
— Christa, 4/28/2011" I have very mixed feelings about this book. But I had to give it 4 stars because, as uncomfortable as the story was for me to read, I couldn't put it down. "
— Pamela, 4/25/2011Paolo Giordano is the author of the critically acclaimed The Human Body and the international bestseller The Solitude of Prime Numbers, which has been translated into more than forty languages. He is the youngest winner ever of Italy’s prestigious literary award the Premio Strega. Giordano has a PhD in particle physics and is now a full-time writer. He lives in Italy.
Luke Daniels, winner of sixteen AudioFile Earphones Awards and a finalist for the Audie Award for best narration, is a narrator whose many audiobook credits range from action and suspense to young-adult fiction. His background is in classical theater and film, and he has performed at repertory theaters around the country.