Alessandro D'Avenia - Another Brilliant Italian Writer

What's up with the great Italian writers that emerge lately? First, it was Paolo Giordano with his amazing novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers (check my review). Now, the next young and charismatic writer is on his way to enchant the hearts and minds of the passionate readers. I am not exaggerating even a bit - Alessandro d'Avenia's White as Milk, Red as Blood (the original Italian title is Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue is childly simple but highly philosophical and influential. You would miss a lot if this novel is not in your library.

Alessandro d'Avenia is an Italian teacher of Classical Languages. His debut novel, understandably, is devoted to the problems that all growing up teenagers face - boring school, mean teachers, unrequited love,  arguments with friends, rivalry. Leo is a 16-years old boy, who loves his guitar, his football team,his motorbike, music, and Beatrice. When Beatrice gets sick from leucemia, Leo is forced to grow up very quickly. He starts questioning the meaning of life and the importance of dreams. His teacher, whom he calls the Dreamer, helps him discover his dreams by asking the right questions. The novel tracks Leo's development from a small, naive, and pretentious little boy to a more mature, independent, and understanding individual. His relationship with his family, his best friend Silvia, and even his teachers evolve reflecting the dramatic change in his character. Leo stays with Beatrice throughout her sickness, seeing her slowly fade away and finally deciding to live not only for himself, but for her as well.


White as Milk, Red as Blood refers to the way the boy perceives his beloved. In the beginning, Leo is afraid from the white color; he connects it to loneliness, void, and lack of purpose. Red, on the other hand, is the color of love, passion, and dreams. Throughout the novel Leo stops fearing everything that is white; he understands the complexity and unfairness of life; he understand he has to live for the moment and to appreciate each and every one of his relationships for the way they are.

The novel is very easy to read; it is not an exaggeration to say that it reads by itself. Do not be fooled by the simple language, because the ideas the author implies are highly philosophical. D'Avania uses a trivial, very recognizable story but he manages to turn it into a novel that cannot leave the reader indifferent. What I absolutely adored is his unique style; the author talks about a simple thing as riding the motorbike or buying shoes; yet at the next moment he strikes the reader with a provocative question about the meaning of life. I literally felt that unconsciously kept underestimating the novel because of the simplicity of the plot and the language. In a minute, though I started re-reading some passages, trying to understand and interpret them; trying to relate them to my life and to extract the moral.

It took me exactly two days to read White as Milk, Red as Blood. Once I put my hands on it, I just couldn't let go. And now it is finished, I feel a little nostalgie for each and everyone of the characters. Because I loved seeing them change and grow - first doubt life and God, then question morality and justice, and finally accept life for the way it is - white, red, silver, black, blue - whatever you want to see it.

Can I Write a Novel?

Several months ago a strange idea popped into my head - I decided that I want to write a novel. I tried to push that idea away - after all I have always been bad at writing. I am a math person - I enjoy logical subjects, where the problem has one and only one solution. No other roots to take, no alternative ways to measure. Simple. Black and white. Writing, on the other hand, is much more different. There is no right or wrong answer. You can write the most amazing story and still some people will love it, while others will hate it.

I follow the maxima The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it in almost everything I do. From that boy I liked over at the disco, through that dress I want so much but I can't afford right now, and finally to the novel I want to write. I resisted the temptation mainly due to the response I met from people around me. Most of them, to be honest, decided this was one of my crazy ideas, which will keep me excited for a few months and then will fade away. Like the time I decided I wanted a dog. Or when I said I was only going to work and study this summer. Or when I was almost ready to give up university and come back home.

However, this time it is different. Writing my own blog devoted to reading has been one of my biggest pleasures lately. I even started opening Read with Style even before Facebook (imagine that). I got excited when someone has been reading or commenting on my posts. So, this time my temptation is for real. And I am going to yield to it.

After all, let's take for example Paolo Giordano. A brilliant physicist, doing a PhD on elementary particles. Nothing to do with literature whatsoever. Still, his novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers (check my review) is indeed very good and inspirational. And what about Jordan Belfort. A Wall Street genius, a fraud, or a junkie, he wrote his autobiographie. Both The Wolf of Wall Street and Catching the Wolf of Wall Street (again reviewed in my blog) became a huge success and even inspired Martin Scorsese and Leo DiCaprio to film it. So, I figured, if a physicist and a financier can write a novel, so can a slightly neurotic, highly ambitious, and cutely weird girl.

I am realistic and I know that it will take me a while to write the novel. But unlike all other aspects of my life, towards which I am highly impatient, surprisingly I do not rush the novel. I write when I want to write and when I feel I want to say something. I do not have a time frame or a dedicated slot of the day when I have to write. Maybe that is how I differ from a real writer, who spends every day pouring his thoughts on a sheet of a paper.

To prepare myself for this task I even started reading some insights on how to become a good writer. I discussed the novel-to-be with a friend of mine, who studies Creative Writing. She gave me one of the best advice - do not try to tell everything you want to. It is simply impossible. Instead choose a topic and stick to it.

Understandingly, we come to the topic. It is still a secret and only a few people know what it is going to be about. I prefer it that way until I have a clear image of what and how I want to write. I just know what my first sentence is going to be. Quite a beginning but I am optimistic. Of course, I do not intend to be the next Carry Bradshaw or some bullshit of that sort. I just want to share some thoughts with the rest of the world. And if I am very lucky, at least one person will take the moral and benefit from my experience. And isn't that why every writer writes? At least, this is a big part of my motivation.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers - Paolo Giordano

Whoever believed physics and literature cannot coexist together is proven wrong by the Italian physicist and future successful writer Paolo Giordano. His first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers is the shaking story of two confused and lost souls, two suffering creatures trying to find their place in the world.

Surprisingly, Giordano's profession is as far from literature as one can imagine. Born in 1982, the young writer is a certificated physicist, working on a PhD in elementary particles. Despite the dry and purely scientific matter of his studies, his imagination, style of writing, and use of language are vivid, empowering, and inspiring. Of course, you can easily tell that this is his first literary work. I must admit, though, that the young Italian has a potential to delight us with some masterpiece in the near future. 

The Solitude of Prime Numbers is about Aliche and Matia - two lonely people deeply connected by the dramatic events that shaped their life. While skiing in the mountain Aliche falls and badly hurts her foot. As a result, she becomes lame for life. The girl expresses her insecurity and depression in anorexie; she hides her feelings behind the photo camera and isolates from the surrounding world. Matia is ashamed of his retarded twin sister and leaves her alone in the park. After she disappears, Matia starts cutting himself with sharp objects and dives into mathematics. Aliche and Matia meet in high school and immediately find a powerful connection between each other. Both of them have experienced tragic events; both have found an unhealthy way to deal with their guilt and insecurities; both of them are like prime numbers - they are only divisible by 1 and by themselves. Yet, some prime numbers are twins - they are separated by 2: 3 and 5; 11 and 13; 17 and 19. In the same way Matia and Aliche are twins, destined to be close to each other, yet never really be together. 

If I start explaining how much I enjoyed and loved the book, this whole blog wouldn't be enough. As a story, the plot might seem trivial to you. I will controvert this argument by pointing out - the novel is not about the plot; it is about the feelings and expressions of two lost souls; about their endless, sometimes desperate search of a place in the world; about the rock bottom they hit before managing to get up and keep walking. All people experience shaking and tragic moments in their lives. I call them defining and changing. Defining - because the hardest times reveal the kind of person one really is; changing - because if one is to survive, one has to change and adapt.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers is real and inspiring. It is hardly a positive and light novel. However, do not be tempted by her easy language to call it an easy read. If you look closely between the lines, you will find (at least I did) a deep and profound understanding of the human nature and feelings. Giordano creates a novel about depression, guilt, and insecurity. However, The Solitude of Prime Numbers for me is highly optimistic as it proves that whatever one passes through, one can always find the right way (or the right person) to continue fighting. Aliche and Matia are those people for each other. Their story is inspiring and after finishing the novel I didn't feel depressed or low. Instead, I felt a powerful feeling slowly spreading through my body. A feeling that I can beat everything. 

PS: If this hasn't convinced you to buy the book, try looking at the picture of the author. So cute isn't he? And smart!