mary_yankulova's review against another edition
2.0
Не открих нищо от това, което ме зашемети в “Самотата на простите числа” ... просто не е моята история.
biancarunswild's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lucysig's review against another edition
3.0
Free book from New York publisher. About marriage and pregnancy, so difficult for me to engage with.
etienne02's review against another edition
4.0
4,5/5. Nice little discovery here! A book and an author I knew nothing about and definitely something that will stay with me and an author I will reread for sure. A very well written, the English translation was really good, slow pace, emotional, reflexive. What is a family? The author take us on a journey, a small one, the book is only 150 pages long, where we think about family, love, human relationship and it provides me a bunch of nice quotes that I wrote down in my notebook. Sure it's light and it doesn't really bring anything new, but it's the own personal way that the author write and bring the subject that makes the book relevant and that's also what's the difference between an author and a good author!
fictionophile's review against another edition
5.0
This story is scarcely more than novella length and so skillfully written that I can only guess it loses nothing in its translation from the original Italian.
A young, dual-career couple living in Turin, Italy are expecting their first child. When the wife is put on complete bed rest the husband hires a widowed housekeeper (Mrs. A.) to run their small household and serve as company for his wife. When the child, a boy named Emanuele is born, the woman stays on and serves the couple in the capacity of housekeeper/nanny/cook. Though she is utilitarian and unemotional she becomes an integral and indispensable part of their family. They affectionately call Mrs. A. "Babette". Her love of routine and her reliability become the fulcrum around which their family revolves. It is only when she becomes terminally ill that their relationship is put under scrutiny. This in turn puts their own relationship under scrutiny and it would appear to be found wanting... Without the glue that Babette provided there seems to be no cohesion left. They are like a rudderless ship in a storm - with no captain.
There is no overt drama in "Like Family", other than the drama inherent in ordinary human life and death, but the characters with all their flaws and problems are portrayed in such a believable manner that the reader completely understands their emotional bond.
The author, though quite young, has a deep and insightful understanding of human nature. He portrays the self absorption and petulance, the longings and the sadness, the frustrations and the losses in such a way that they are palpable. "Like Family" proves the point that strangers can sometimes become closer to us than our blood relatives. Who we choose to love makes them - as the title suggests "Like Family".
I've been waffling about how to rate this novella, and after much soul-searching have decided that it can be no less than a five. This is due to the exemplary writing more than any other factor. I am now eager to read his award-winning first novel entitled "The Solitude of Prime Numbers".
This review was originally published on my blog: Fictionophile
A young, dual-career couple living in Turin, Italy are expecting their first child. When the wife is put on complete bed rest the husband hires a widowed housekeeper (Mrs. A.) to run their small household and serve as company for his wife. When the child, a boy named Emanuele is born, the woman stays on and serves the couple in the capacity of housekeeper/nanny/cook. Though she is utilitarian and unemotional she becomes an integral and indispensable part of their family. They affectionately call Mrs. A. "Babette". Her love of routine and her reliability become the fulcrum around which their family revolves. It is only when she becomes terminally ill that their relationship is put under scrutiny. This in turn puts their own relationship under scrutiny and it would appear to be found wanting... Without the glue that Babette provided there seems to be no cohesion left. They are like a rudderless ship in a storm - with no captain.
There is no overt drama in "Like Family", other than the drama inherent in ordinary human life and death, but the characters with all their flaws and problems are portrayed in such a believable manner that the reader completely understands their emotional bond.
The author, though quite young, has a deep and insightful understanding of human nature. He portrays the self absorption and petulance, the longings and the sadness, the frustrations and the losses in such a way that they are palpable. "Like Family" proves the point that strangers can sometimes become closer to us than our blood relatives. Who we choose to love makes them - as the title suggests "Like Family".
I've been waffling about how to rate this novella, and after much soul-searching have decided that it can be no less than a five. This is due to the exemplary writing more than any other factor. I am now eager to read his award-winning first novel entitled "The Solitude of Prime Numbers".
This review was originally published on my blog: Fictionophile
catebutler's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 Stars*
At a mere 146 pages, this book has a powerful message about life, love and those you call family. Although none of the characters endeared themselves to me, I did feel for them when tragedy strikes and they must learn the importance of living in the moment.
The narrator of the story is a physicist who struggles to focus on anything but his work. After marrying, he and his wife Nora, hire a woman who they endearingly call Babette or Mrs. A to nurse Nora after her pregnancy and then stays on as their housekeeper and nanny to their son, Emanuele. Mrs. A quickly takes over their household and becomes the key character in this novel.
The book opens with Mrs. A's death, then transitions back to the year and a half before her death as she battles cancer, goes through chemotherapy, and her daily role working for the couple and ultimately becoming part of the family...to an extent. The narrator and his wife although they become absolutely reliant on her, "she was a steady element, a haven, an ancient tree with a trunk so massive that even three pairs of arms could not encircle it" and reminisce about what they'll miss most about her upon her death, "in the long run, every love needs someone to witness and acknowledge it, to validate it, or it may turn out to be just a mirage. Without her gaze we felt at risk." seems shallow and meaningless to the reader especially after Mrs. A's funeral, when he states, "death realigns roles according to a formal order of importance, instantly mending the sentimental rules that one allowed oneself to break in life, and it didn't matter much that Emanuele was the closest thing to a grandson that Mrs. A had known or that she'd liked to consider us, Nora and me, her adoptive children. We were not." Considered their cheerleader and the catalyst that held them together, their opinion of her and selfish behavior towards her, once she is no longer part of their life makes them even less like-able in my opinion.
We quickly see though, that the main issue is not Mrs. A leaving them in the lurch, but the realization of the narrator that there are holes in his marriage and relationship with his wife. "Nora and I are always so busy, so distracted, so tired...if these are our best years I'm not satisfied with how we're using them."
This strain comes to a head when Nora believes she is pregnant and let's her husband know she is contemplating not keeping the child, mainly because things aren't going that well between them. Comparing their marriage to the ravishes of cancer, he realizes that Mrs. A's cancer "had called attention to our separateness. We were, in spite of our hopes, insoluble in one another". Their fate seems quite bleak at this point in the novel and yet Giordano offers a message of hope in the last few pages of the book; a melting of the narrator's heart takes place towards his wife, and the author shows the importance of choosing to live our lives, and how the subtle decisions to love and live do matter.
ARC provided by the publisher, Viking Books.
At a mere 146 pages, this book has a powerful message about life, love and those you call family. Although none of the characters endeared themselves to me, I did feel for them when tragedy strikes and they must learn the importance of living in the moment.
The narrator of the story is a physicist who struggles to focus on anything but his work. After marrying, he and his wife Nora, hire a woman who they endearingly call Babette or Mrs. A to nurse Nora after her pregnancy and then stays on as their housekeeper and nanny to their son, Emanuele. Mrs. A quickly takes over their household and becomes the key character in this novel.
The book opens with Mrs. A's death, then transitions back to the year and a half before her death as she battles cancer, goes through chemotherapy, and her daily role working for the couple and ultimately becoming part of the family...to an extent. The narrator and his wife although they become absolutely reliant on her, "she was a steady element, a haven, an ancient tree with a trunk so massive that even three pairs of arms could not encircle it" and reminisce about what they'll miss most about her upon her death, "in the long run, every love needs someone to witness and acknowledge it, to validate it, or it may turn out to be just a mirage. Without her gaze we felt at risk." seems shallow and meaningless to the reader especially after Mrs. A's funeral, when he states, "death realigns roles according to a formal order of importance, instantly mending the sentimental rules that one allowed oneself to break in life, and it didn't matter much that Emanuele was the closest thing to a grandson that Mrs. A had known or that she'd liked to consider us, Nora and me, her adoptive children. We were not." Considered their cheerleader and the catalyst that held them together, their opinion of her and selfish behavior towards her, once she is no longer part of their life makes them even less like-able in my opinion.
We quickly see though, that the main issue is not Mrs. A leaving them in the lurch, but the realization of the narrator that there are holes in his marriage and relationship with his wife. "Nora and I are always so busy, so distracted, so tired...if these are our best years I'm not satisfied with how we're using them."
This strain comes to a head when Nora believes she is pregnant and let's her husband know she is contemplating not keeping the child, mainly because things aren't going that well between them. Comparing their marriage to the ravishes of cancer, he realizes that Mrs. A's cancer "had called attention to our separateness. We were, in spite of our hopes, insoluble in one another". Their fate seems quite bleak at this point in the novel and yet Giordano offers a message of hope in the last few pages of the book; a melting of the narrator's heart takes place towards his wife, and the author shows the importance of choosing to live our lives, and how the subtle decisions to love and live do matter.
ARC provided by the publisher, Viking Books.
incessantbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Such a beautiful tribute to a woman who meant more to a small family than they ever thought possible. I could feel the power of family beyond blood-relation – recounting the moments of clarity through challenges of early marriage and difficult childbirth and rearing. The wisdom and perspective from a selfless caretaker won me over immediately as I was drawn into the compassion and connecting with every emotion the family experienced – love, loss, and frustration.
Thinking about modern families lately, I feel that the term ‘family’ has become more inclusive of people who aid the biological immediate members. This story is quintessential to what a family nowadays looks like AND feels like. Mrs. A. is the kind of woman who says not what you want to hear but what you need to hear – and you cannot help but love her for what she is doing for you and the ones you love. The roles reverse when Mrs. A. becomes sick herself – that is where we see the power of love and family in action – something I wish we would see more often. I feel that in America, some families are quick to send those who are sick or reaching an older age to a home or facility – although yes they can be with others in similar situations, I still believe it may feel lonely. The main family in this story know that they want to do and be more for Mrs. A. That’s a love we all should know and believe in. Giordano presents to us readers a simple, short story that is bigger than those quick pages.
Read Like Family if you like the themes of:
Family
Love
Life/Living
Thinking about modern families lately, I feel that the term ‘family’ has become more inclusive of people who aid the biological immediate members. This story is quintessential to what a family nowadays looks like AND feels like. Mrs. A. is the kind of woman who says not what you want to hear but what you need to hear – and you cannot help but love her for what she is doing for you and the ones you love. The roles reverse when Mrs. A. becomes sick herself – that is where we see the power of love and family in action – something I wish we would see more often. I feel that in America, some families are quick to send those who are sick or reaching an older age to a home or facility – although yes they can be with others in similar situations, I still believe it may feel lonely. The main family in this story know that they want to do and be more for Mrs. A. That’s a love we all should know and believe in. Giordano presents to us readers a simple, short story that is bigger than those quick pages.
Read Like Family if you like the themes of:
Family
Love
Life/Living
canadianbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
http://cdnbookworm.blogspot.ca/2017/09/like-family.html
perri's review against another edition
3.0
This was a strange book to me-not sure of its message. Maybe, as the author states in the intro, just an homage to a woman who was important in his life? I do think Giordano did a great job of examining the intricacies of family relationships.