The solitude of prime numbers

the solitude of prime numbers is a story of two young people who spend their lives trying not to exist in effort to appease the trauma's of their respective childhoods. separately, they create inhospitable spaces for themselves that no matter how much affinity they feel for each other, cannot exist in close proximity.

the writing is well executed and engaging but what i like most about this story is the updating of a once commonplace idea that we do not see much anymore: the idea that you do not have to be in close physical or emotional contact with people to still recognize them as valuable to you. it is still too common for writers to be unimaginative in this respect. they either give the reader what they want in the form of a fairy book ending or they eschew that for the opposite ending, whatever that may be, which is equally hackneyed for being he desired ending's opposite. this book displays a nice bit of creative realism in that sense.

though the subject matter of the solitude of prime numbers is the untenable relationships of broken people, i can still honestly say that i found it mostly delightful. i'm not sure if that is a reflection of me or of giordano's book; most likely it is a mingled puddle of both, but then again, aren't most things?