Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Piranesi

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Piranesi by Viktor Plesl, Susanna Clarke

401 reviews

glitterenby's review against another edition

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reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”

Piranesi has lived his entire life in “the House,” wandering it’s endless, cavernous halls and vestibules full of statues, watching the crashing oceans that occasionally cause great floods and the clouds that obscure his vision of the upper level. He divides his time among gathering the supplies that he needs to survive (“The House provides much food for the active and enterprising person. There is no excuse for going hungry!”), caring with almost religious reverence for the Dead that he has found tucked in odd places, and gathering information about his surroundings. He documents his explorations meticulously in a hand-written journal and shares them with his mysterious friend, “the Other,” with whom he meets for an hour twice per week. His life is everything that he needs, and he is thankful for it. But one day, the Other tells Piranesi something that sends him back through his old journal entries, and slowly, his understanding of himself and his world begins to unravel.

I rarely give books five-star ratings, but I gave one to this book with hardly a second thought. It is the best piece of fiction I have read in years. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this book, if I say much about the plot, I will ruin much of what it makes it great; I can say, however, that the sophisticated way in which it deals with themes of Christianity, confinement, and identity affected me deeply, so deeply, in fact, that I cried when I finished reading.

I can also say that I loved being in the head of Piranesi. This story is told via his journal entries, which do a splendid job of communicating his personality and his changing mental states. Normally, I don’t gravitate toward books that are in the form of journals because I find that they provide too limited of a view of events, but, in this case, that limited view of events is an essential element of what makes this story work. This story’s impact comes in no small part from finding our way out of a limited and incorrect understanding along with Piranesi. I experienced confusion, surprise, and revelation alongside him, and this process was made all the more enjoyable for me because I was deeply invested in him. His dedication to the comfort and well-being of everyone around him –the Other, the resident animals, even the Dead– made me love him and hope that he would survive the mysteries of the House.

This book’s prose is also absolutely gorgeous in an understated and precise way. We are given (through the writings of Piranesi) descriptions that are vivid because of their use of sense detail and metaphor. These descriptions, however, did not draw attention to themselves or draw me out of the flow of the book. One of my favorite examples is found early on in the book:

“The Vestibule was full of birds and the birds were all aflight. They circled and spiraled, creating a whiling dance. They filled the Vestibule like a column of smoke, which grew darker and denser in places and the next moment lighter and airier. I have witnessed this dance on several occasions, always in the evening and in the later months of the year.”

My one qualm with this book is that how it deals with LGBTQ+ representation worries me. The only character who is identified as queer is also one of the most dangerous, erratic characters in the book and seems to be sexually predatory. While I definitely think there is a place for negative queer characters in literature -and this character is fascinating- the fact that he is the only representation might be seen as playing into the stereotypes of queer people as being morally bankrupt. I wish that Clark had included a positive character who is obviously queer to counter that issue.

Overall, though, I am deeply impressed with this book and recommend it especially to lovers of books that invite you to ask questions and sit in the darkness of lacking certainty.

Content Warnings

amaris_everlasting's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

kg18's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Content Warnings

sxndaze's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

4.5

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.

an absolute whirlwind

Content Warnings

kailanlovescats's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The first 20% of the book is fairly slow as it's setting up a mysterious otherworld. As mysteries start to emerge and unfold, it became impossible to put down and i ended up finishing the majority of it in a day!

This really wasn't at all anything what I expected the book to be. I'm so happy I went in fairly blind with this one as I was right along Piranesi in trying to uncover the truth of his life.

Despite the content warning tags, overall this book was so beautiful and mostly lighthearted. The way Piranesi revered the world in which he lived was like a breath of fresh air.

thank GOD he didnt die T.T

Even the aspects of death/remains in this book are treated with care and respectfulness.

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saskia_ej's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

kitkathw871's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Brilliant storytelling that feels like walking in a labyrinth. I am not a fantasy person so the world building in the first part was a little hard to get through, but I read the rest of the book in one go. I love the way the story unfolds as you gain more and more information alongside Piranesi, but the focus stays on him and his wonderment of discovery even while the fascinating backstory unravels. This book is a delight even while handling some dark subject matters.

Content Warnings