Reviews - Piranesi | The StoryGraph

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53.9k reviews for:

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

4.3 AVERAGE

sarosen's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

nate93's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious reflective sad

marcus_bines's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A very peculiar reading experience. Starting in a strange and fantastical second world - a labyrinth made up of halls, vestibules and tidal seas that is hard to make sense of initially - Piranesi expects you to go with it despite the unfamiliar environment and unusual descriptions. I found that I had to push through up to about halfway and then the story started to unlock. When it did, and Clarke began to reveal the story behind the story, I found it engaging and fascinating. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoilers, but for readers of more esoteric and unusual fare, this is very enjoyable.

rishisreading's review against another edition

4.0

I read this book feverishly. The philosophy was fine. The descriptions of statuary have convinced me (a person who has had a lifelong ambivalence towards statues) to visit a museum ASAP. The mystery sucked me in.

leslie_c's review against another edition

4.25

mysterious

jawbugs's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kcin_point's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous hopeful mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This breezy novel is widely celebrated and loved for its marriage of engrossing mystery in an intriguing world of magical realism occupied by one curious POV protagonist. Unfortunately, though I appreciated many of its features in isolation and overall construction, I only mildly enjoyed how it all came together. I never felt or thought deeply outside the pull of its mysteries, which heavy carried through a lot of "things happening" that didn't interest much otherwise. But the mysterious elements, and necessity of seeing if my theories were to be validated, did keep me reading.

The mystery itself is impressively well planned out and reveals satisfyingly enough, but I just wasn't that enamored with what it all amounted to in the end, it having little greater value beyond a cleverly constructed plot with characters that felt cartoonish caricatures or undeveloped sketches.

So that mystery, which was the main draw all along, actually ended up the most disappointing part of the book for me, while philosophical underpinnings to the nature of the mysterious world, all endless halls of statues and tides, and the protag's relationship to it became more appreciated by the end. A real switcheroo. But even that ultimately felt somewhat underexplored and not deep enough in what was. Maybe if the book was longer.

All negatives aside, the book's prose is nice and length light, making it a quick read. And the main character, despite being intelligent, often comes across as childlike and so simple to follow, making it also an easy read. And so probably worth the quick and easy plunge through something most have adored and many call a modern classic. I adored it, too; just a bit less so and in parts.