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The Solitude of Prime Numbers

sketch book
It has been some time since I have been able to read and enjoy a book sufficiently enough to actually finish it. I have been getting bored and easily distracted when reading books, and have often stopped midway through. I decided to give it another shot though, because I wanted to read a book while being out of work after my surgery.

The book I picked up at the library was The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano. It was translated into English from Italian, but it didn’t feel awkward to read for me at all. In fact, I thought it was very easy to read and the chapters were nice and short as well. 

The main characters are Alice and Mattia, who are antisocial and both dysfunctional in their own special way. Alice and Mattia have a special friendship because they understand each other, and they each had a traumatic childhood experience that shaped the way they interact with others throughout the rest of their lives. Their personalities are so damaged however, that they can’t function properly, and even though they are attracted to each other, neither one of them knows how to “close the sale.”

To be honest, I found this book to be depressing even though the reviews were really good. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is lonely or depressed. Also, I really couldn’t stand Alice’s character, who struggles with anorexia. She just made no sense to me, and she wasn’t very likeable. I probably should have picked a book that was more upbeat. I made the mistake of reading this book and watching The Mill on the Floss on the same day!

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