"The Solitude of Prime Numbers" - Paolo Giordano

BOOK 40!!!!

Published in 2008, originally in Italian

The stories of Alice and Mattia intertwine in this novel, beginning as children when they both endure traumatic accidents and they learn to live with the scars they have from them.  Alice uses anorexia, while Mattia cuts himself, the two are always alone but they are alone together.  Much like twin primes, separated by just one other number.

While they occasionally try to have romances, they generally fail and both revert to their solitary state.

I started this at 10pm and read it straight through.  Very engrossing.

Rating: ***

Quotes:
"choices are made in brief seconds and paid for in the time that remains"

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" - Garth Stein

Published in 2008 by Bright White Light LLC

Movies have never been able to make me reach an emotional level where I need to cry for he characters.  But books, books get me bad sometimes.  Especially when they are about animals.  This is a book narrated by a dog who loves Formula One racing and driving in the rain.  He loves Aynton Senna, and He loves Denny (his owner).

This novel is about Enzo, a wonderful dog who helps his family through hard times and good and his final choice to help them by letting him go.  I read it in 2 days (well one day and then night time until 2am) and although it may not have been the best literature written ever, it was a moving story.  Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, Garth Stein took a dog and gave him a human soul.

Quotes:
"Monkeys have thumbs.  Practically the dumbest species on the planet, next to the duck-billed-platypus, who make their dens underwater even though they breathe the air.  The platypus is horribly stupid, but it is only slightly dumber than a monkey.  Yet monkeys have thumbs.  Those monkey-thumbs were meant for dogs.  Give me my thumbs, you fucking monkeys! (I love the Al Pacino remake of Scarface, very much, though it doesn't compare to the Godfather movies, which are excellent.)"

"To live everyday as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live."

Rating: ***

"Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Aspergers" - John Elder Robison

Published in 2008 (paperback) by Random House, Inc

The memoir of John Elder Robison proved much more interesting than I had originally anticipated.  I picked up this book as part of one of Barnes & Nobles buy two, get one free promotions and figured it looked like a nice distraction from my usual reading.  His is the story of growing up with undiagnosed asperger's and how he managed to make it through the rough patches thrown his way by society and his family.

John Elder Robison is the brother of well known author Augusten Burroughs, entertainingly, both of them use similar writing devices and seem to prefer a compilation of short stories instead of one long autobiography.  Through Robison's writing it is possible to see inside the workings of the mind of a person who has aspergers, and it is truly a revelation.

The stories he tells help to show his point that however "robotic we Aspergians might seem, we do have deep emotions."  He tells the reader about growing up in a home where his parents were in the process of breaking down both physically and emotionally, his quirky younger brother, trouble with names, working with KISS and other bands, and basically the process of growing up and realizing he didn't fit in even when he tried his hardest.

His writing is at times a little jarring, but for the most part it is beautifully written with both funny and moving stories.  Robison writes that both he and his brother got their storytelling abilities from their mother, and it is all too sad that she had a mental collapse before she could write her own memoirs.

Overall, a great read.  Both insightful and intriguing while maintaining a hint of excitement with every page turn.

Rating:
***