If I really had to choose, I'd go for Tasmania. The island has abundant freshwater supplies, is democratically governed, and harbors no natural enemies of humans. It's large enough yet easy to defend, because it's an island. Because that defense will be necessary, believe me.
"Tasmania" is a novel about the future: the future we fear and long for, the future we may not experience, but can change and build. In this time, fear and surprise at losing control reign supreme, and Paolo Giordano conveys these feelings like no other with his warm narrative voice. We all recognize ourselves in this sensitive, lively, contemporary novel. Everyone is searching for their own Tasmania: a place where they can simply survive.
There are moments when everything changes. Something happens, something clicks, and the river we've always stood on suddenly flows in a different direction. That's what we call a crisis. The protagonist of this novel is an observant and lively young man who thought science would provide all the answers, but now finds himself face to face with a wall of questions. Alongside him are characters like Lorenza, who can wait patiently, Novelli, who studies the shapes of clouds, Karol, who found God where he wasn't looking, Curzia, who is restless, and Giulio, who doesn't know how to talk to his son. The crisis in this novel isn't just about a couple; perhaps it's the crisis of a generation, or even of the world we know—and our planet.
The magic of "Tasmania" lies in the natural interplay between what happens outside and inside us. Even the specter of the atomic bomb, which the protagonist studies and reconstructs, transforms into a kind of incantation: the apocalypse resides in our resistance and in the capricious movements of our hearts. Continuing the legacy of great twentieth-century scientific writers, Paolo Giordano explores the most fascinating realms of the contemporary European novel, creating a world of his own, from a place of lightness, in which he plays with the revelation and concealment of himself, comes to terms with his demons, and conquers his fears.