Reviews

Piranèse by Susanna Clarke

Only show reviews with written explanations

chrispy_mac's review against another edition

hopeful 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

This book is actually great. I'm always weary of books that get really popular having been spurned more than once, but i read this in 2 days and really enjoyed it. It's quite dreamy and strange, and really captures that feeling of isolation.

anollie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

eabh's review against another edition

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inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? No

3.75

“The House is valuable because it is the House. It is enough in and of Itself. It is not the means to an end.”

This felt like a book you would have for AP Literature and could write endless essays about the prose and meaning, and everyone would have a different answer. This is a strange little book. I think it’s a good book to go into with no expectations or context. Though this book was not what I anticipated, I think it’s still a very interesting read that will leave you wondering about the ending.

For such a short book, there’s times where I felt like the story was really dragging its feet. I found myself losing interest in multiple parts of the book. However, the relationship that Piranesi has with the house always compelled me to keep reading. The setting, while ambiguous, was enthralling to me. there are multiple beautiful quotes about the worthiness of people that released it out to me while I was reading this book, I kept thinking that it would be incredible as an animated mini series.

shankarhere's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.0

hannah_joy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

willjacks's review against another edition

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3.0

A very simple and effective story for a Sunday afternoon.

Great themes, symbols and evocative storytelling.

Slightly too short, could've been more set pieces with 'the other' so that he wasn't so obviously an evil prick.

The narrative was very similar to that of the Truman Show, but with a protagonist that was so adorably naive and fascinatingly optimistic.

Unfortunately, the only aspect that was wrong was the inevitable over-simplicity of the narrative making the story so short and in some places too-comparable with the Truman Show. I found myself thinking about how Truman Show had better plot structure, and was thus better than the book. Imagine reading a brilliant book but being constantly reminded of a somewhat superior movie with a very similar plot.

Loved the characters, loved the setting, loved the themes and labyrinth vibes.