Paolo Giordano at Giffoni: From Physics to Fiction

At the Giffoni Film Festival, writer Paolo Giordano discussed his transition from physics to literature, his novel 'La solitudine dei numeri primi', and its 2010 film adaptation directed by Saverio Costanzo, starring Alba Rohrwacher and Luca Marinelli, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Giordano, winner of the Strega Prize in 2008, has published three novels: 'La solitudine dei numeri primi' (Mondadori, 2008), 'Il corpo umano' (Mondadori, 2012), and 'Il nero e l'argento' (Einaudi, 2014). He is currently working on a fourth novel. Giordano explained that his shift from studying physics to writing stemmed from a need for human connection after years of working with lifeless particles. He described seeing the film adaptation for the first time in a provisional edit during a rainstorm, feeling moved by the characters in a way he hadn't while writing. He cited David Foster Wallace, Michel Houellebecq, and Michael Cunningham as influences. The festival runs from July 14 to 22.