The Human Body: A Novel
By Paolo Giordano
Translated by Anne Milano Appel
Read by Edoardo Ballerini
10.30 Hours
• Unabridged
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1 Format: Digital Download
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$17.50or 1 Credit
ISBN: 9780698180123
From the author of Heaven and Earth, a searing novel of the journey from youth into manhood A heartrending, at times darkly comic but ultimately redemptive novel, Paolo Giordano’s The Human Body is an exploration of brotherhood and family, of modern war and the wars we wage within ourselves. It is a novel that reminds us of what it means to be human. A platoon of young men and a single woman leave Italy for one of the most dangerous places on earth. At their forward operating base in Afghanistan—an exposed sandpit scorched by inescapable sunlight and mortar fire—this band of inexperienced soldiers navigates the irreversible journey from youth to adulthood. But when a much-debated mission goes devastatingly awry, their lives are changed in an instant. And on their return home, they will confront the most difficult challenge of all: to create a life worth living.
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Summary
Summary
From the author of Heaven and Earth, a searing novel of the journey from youth into manhoodA heartrending, at times darkly comic but ultimately redemptive novel, Paolo Giordano’s The Human Body is an exploration of brotherhood and family, of modern war and the wars we wage within ourselves. It is a novel that reminds us of what it means to be human.
A platoon of young men and a single woman leave Italy for one of the most dangerous places on earth. At their forward operating base in Afghanistan—an exposed sandpit scorched by inescapable sunlight and mortar fire—this band of inexperienced soldiers navigates the irreversible journey from youth to adulthood. But when a much-debated mission goes devastatingly awry, their lives are changed in an instant. And on their return home, they will confront the most difficult challenge of all: to create a life worth living.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
“Full of sensitivity and intelligence. The Human Body is a brilliant addition to the literature of our modern wars.” —Kevin Powers, New York Times bestselling author
“Giordano has magnificently captured the surreal existence of the modern soldier….with an authenticity and appreciation of the absurd that very few novelists writing about men stumbling about the business of war have achieved.” —Scott Anderson, New York Times bestselling author
“A stunning exploration of war. Giordano makes the tedium of combat fascinating with his well-drawn characters…The fact that the mission runs off the rails is almost secondary to the beauty, texture, and acuity with which Giordano captures the day-to-day routines of the soldiers and their efforts to make sense of both their lives in Italy and their military assignment.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Despite the tragic events, this is a very entertaining novel, with the characters’ innate and passionate sense of the absurdity of their situation, and of life itself, evident in every scene. The fast-paced, present-tense narrative seems to have been translated accurately to capture the nuances of emotion and drama conveyed by the highly intelligent and perceptive Giordano.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“The Human Body is a memorable entry in the literature of the Afghan war, the characters crisply drawn and the writing full of telling details.” —Booklist
“Giordano’s unorthodox Afghanistan war novel is short on action but rich in psychological insight…As the title suggests, the book is less about military heroism than the devastating human impact of combat. Well observed and compassionate, this is a memorable look at imperfect people in extreme circumstances.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The boredom, horror, and hope of war come together beautifully in Edoardo Ballerini’s performance. Not one moment of the suffering of Italian soldiers sent to Afghanistan or their families is lost to Ballerini. Their emotional distress is as poignant as the moments of dark comedy…In other hands, these shifts from tragedy to humor (dark though it is) might be confusing or even lost on listeners, but Ballerini is able to relate a strange idea hinted at throughout the story: Tragedy and levity are sometimes the same thing. This novel is by no means a comedy, but Ballerini is justified in acknowledging the farcical moments that appear throughout the story.” —AudioFile
The Human Body is a great novel of life in wartime: a chronicle of war's multifarious crimes against the body and soul, and a heartfelt meditation on how men, together and collectively, repair the burdens of their fate. —Joshua Ferris, author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
Paolo Giordano's new novel, like his last, is full of sensitivity and intelligence. The Human Body is a brilliant addition to the literature of our modern wars. —Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds
With an extraordinarily keen eye and a pitch-perfect ear, Giordano has magnificently captured the surreal existence of the modern soldier. By turn poignant and gripping – when not downright hilarious – every page of The Human Body rings with an authenticity and appreciation of the absurd that very few novelists writing about men stumbling about the business of war have achieved. Very few indeed; think of O’Brien’s Going After Cacciato or Heller’s Catch-22, because Giordano is just that good. —Scott Anderson, author of Lawrence in Arabia
Paolo Giordano has written his generation’s war novel. Tender, cruel, beautiful, heartless, a brilliant story of desire and youth and death in Afghanistan. Readers of Kevin Powers have been searching for another modern classic, and The Human Body is it. —Andrew Sean Greer, author of The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
Giordano follows THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS with a stunning exploration of war. Giordano makes the tedium of combat fascinating with his well-drawn characters. The first page indicates that the platoon’s experience was particularly horrible... but the fact that the mission runs off the rails is almost secondary to the beauty, texture, and acuity with which Giordano captures the day-to-day routines of the soldiers, and their efforts to make sense of both their lives in Italy and their military assignment. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Human Body is a memorable entry in the literature of the Afghan war, the characters crisply drawn and the writing full of telling details. —Booklist
Despite the tragic events, this is a very entertaining novel, with the characters’ innate and passionate sense of the absurdity of their situation, and of life itself, evident in every scene. The fast-paced, present-tense narrative seems to have been translated accurately to capture the nuances of emotion and drama conveyed by the highly intelligent and perceptive Giordano. —Library Journal (starred review)
Giordano’s (The Solitude of Prime Numbers, 2010) unorthodox Afghanistan war novel is short on action but rich in psychological insight.... As the title suggests, the book is less about military heroism than the devastating human impact of combat. Well-observed and compassionate, this is a memorable look at imperfect people in extreme circumstances. —Kirkus
Mesmerizing . . . [Giordano] works with piercing subtlety. An exquisite rendering of what one might call feelings at the subatomic level. —The New York Times
The story—the explanation, really—of how two people come to find solitude more comforting than companionship is the subtle work of Giordano’s haunting novel, a finely tuned machine powered by the perverse mechanics of need. —The New York Times Book Review
Seductive and unnerving. —Entertainment Weekly
The elegant and fiercely intelligent debut novel by 27-year-old physicist Paolo Giordano, The Solitude of Prime Numbers revolves around Mattia and Alice, friends since high school—‘twin primes, alone and lost, close but not close enough to really touch each other,’ wherein resides the seductive enchantment of this singular love story. —Elle
Giordano’s passionate evocation of being young and in despair will resonate strongly with readers. —USA Today
Elegant. —Los Angeles Times
Author
Author Bio: Paolo Giordano
Paolo Giordano is the author of the critically acclaimed international bestseller The Solitude of Prime Numbers, which has been translated into more than forty languages. He is the youngest person ever to win Italy’s prestigious literary award, the Premio Strega. Giordano has a PhD in particle physics and is now a full time writer. He lives in Italy.
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Details
Details
| Available Formats : | Digital Download |
| Category: | Fiction/War & Military |
| Runtime: | 10.30 |
| Audience: | Adult |
| Language: | English |
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