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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
most secrets anyone would need to get by can be found here! along w a weird aftertaste of homophobia & like, unresolved eurocentrism..
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can't say yet why this book affected me so much. Still processing. Weird, evocative, engrossing.
I can explain it like...La Casa de Asterión + Control (the video game) + The Magicians.
Asterión since obvious, with the shared infinite labyrinth motif and Greek mythology nods. Control due to a mysterious, vast, intelligent space with a certain religious awe about it, that the main character desires to explore. The Magicians due to the aesthetic of academia plus the occult and its discussions on the source of magic.
OK I'm back and I think I know why the book was so effective for me.
Two obvious things out of the way.
First: I loved the innocent, trusting, yet inquisitive voice of the main character. Very refreshing from typical fantasy fare.
Second: The House itself is absolutely a stunning setting. It's one of the few settings that I can remember genuinely filling me with a sense of awe and wonder. Gorgeously described, so strange and otherworldly, yet somehow has a wondrous, dreamy logic around it.
And to the crowning jewel, the reason why it's 5 stars.
The front half of the novel, before any plot revelations strike, is a masterpiece of juxtaposition, irony, and perspective.
This is done in two ways.
The first is how the magical and awe-inspiring nature of the house is exposited by the main character, Piranesi. HE is familiar with the house. He knows its moods, its nooks and crannies, and also LOVES it deeply and adores its beauty and its muted wisdoms, and in this way the WE are drawn in to love the house and understand it too, with such a kindly guide.
The second is how the real-world elements are placed subtly throughout the book, so that our modern eye can catch them and realize that things are not as they seem. The contrast between what we know about Piranesi, the Other, and the Other's devices and gifts, serves beautifully to create tension, mystery, and dread. WE know that the Other and how Piranesi understands their relationship cannot not to be trusted, but Piranesi does not know this. It really worked to make ME feel protective of our main character and engross me in untangling the mystery.
So that's why as the novel wore on and the mysteries started getting clearer, I found myself feeling oddly wistful. The beauty was in the dreaminess and the unknown.
The ending was still satisfying and wrapped things up neatly, even though it was less spectacular than the beginning.
5/5. Short, sweet, tear-jerkingly beautiful. Will make you reconsider the world around you and want to recapture some of the wonder the book has left you with.
I can explain it like...La Casa de Asterión + Control (the video game) + The Magicians.
Asterión since obvious, with the shared infinite labyrinth motif and Greek mythology nods. Control due to a mysterious, vast, intelligent space with a certain religious awe about it, that the main character desires to explore. The Magicians due to the aesthetic of academia plus the occult and its discussions on the source of magic.
OK I'm back and I think I know why the book was so effective for me.
Two obvious things out of the way.
First: I loved the innocent, trusting, yet inquisitive voice of the main character. Very refreshing from typical fantasy fare.
Second: The House itself is absolutely a stunning setting. It's one of the few settings that I can remember genuinely filling me with a sense of awe and wonder. Gorgeously described, so strange and otherworldly, yet somehow has a wondrous, dreamy logic around it.
And to the crowning jewel, the reason why it's 5 stars.
The front half of the novel, before any plot revelations strike, is a masterpiece of juxtaposition, irony, and perspective.
This is done in two ways.
The first is how the magical and awe-inspiring nature of the house is exposited by the main character, Piranesi. HE is familiar with the house. He knows its moods, its nooks and crannies, and also LOVES it deeply and adores its beauty and its muted wisdoms, and in this way the WE are drawn in to love the house and understand it too, with such a kindly guide.
The second is how the real-world elements are placed subtly throughout the book, so that our modern eye can catch them and realize that things are not as they seem. The contrast between what we know about Piranesi, the Other, and the Other's devices and gifts, serves beautifully to create tension, mystery, and dread. WE know that the Other and how Piranesi understands their relationship cannot not to be trusted, but Piranesi does not know this. It really worked to make ME feel protective of our main character and engross me in untangling the mystery.
So that's why as the novel wore on and the mysteries started getting clearer, I found myself feeling oddly wistful. The beauty was in the dreaminess and the unknown.
The ending was still satisfying and wrapped things up neatly, even though it was less spectacular than the beginning.
5/5. Short, sweet, tear-jerkingly beautiful. Will make you reconsider the world around you and want to recapture some of the wonder the book has left you with.
fast-paced
Life is pretty bleak right now so I too enjoyed being in a different world filled with infinite corridors and sprawling halls.
Read this in one day which I haven't done in a long time.
Read this in one day which I haven't done in a long time.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Very trippy not at all what i expected. Finished it in two sittings
tbh, been thinking about this one a lot. what i would give to read it again for the first time.