Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Piranesi

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Piranesi by Viktor Plesl, Susanna Clarke

226 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.

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vessel's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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

This book was very interesting, though for me, a bit hard to get into. My personal issue was that due to attention problems, I found the protagonist's voice extremely difficult to read at times, since he tends to capitalize every word he finds important. This is excellent characterization, and I do not wish it was different, but it made getting into the groove more challenging for me.

It's a beautiful, achingly human story. I recommend borrowing or getting a physical copy if at all possible, because when the connections started connecting, I really wanted to flip back to look at stuff that was going on 50 pages ago in a new light, which was difficult with a digital copy. It's a lot of fun watching the mystery unfold.

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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

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yokai_garden's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

bluebellfallen's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is a fantastic read and I cannot recommend it enough!!

The main character (known to the audience as Piranesi) keeps a written log of his life and his discoveries within the (labyrinthine) House / World he resides in.

The book is made up of Piranesi's journal entries, and as time goes on, the audience starts to see a much darker story at work.

Piranesi is an unreliable narrator (we only see what he deems important enough to write about after all), but the structure of the book makes this a very intimate reading experience. I cannot provide much detail without spoiling the book, but it is absolutely and without a doubt my current favorite book I've ever read - and I haven't chosen a new one of those in literal years.

The only place this book fell a little short for me was the final transitional entries between Piranesi's interactions with the 16th, and his final entry about the House before the book ends - that section felt a bit long to me, like I was just *waiting* for that final entry that I knew was coming and would be so satisfying. And it was! ... when we finally got there. And I get why that section is there and feels like that - Piranesi is continuing to accurately log his experiences as best he can, and quite some time passed between that interaction with the 16th and the final entry - but even knowing why and agreeing that yes, it should in fact be there, it was my least favorite part of the book.

Other than that one, very minor issue? Absolutely, without a doubt, 100% a masterpiece.

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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.

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ursa_arlo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I really liked this book, especially the slow unraveling of Myself's mystery and the descriptions of the House, but I think I was led astray by all of the positive reviews.

Because, while Piranesi is a good book with an interesting format and mystery, I have read similar books that are similar in subject that hit a little harder and push the boundaries a little further. (A personal favourite is Beneath the world, a sea.) So ultimately I was a bit disappointed by the end.

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