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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
Humans have an innate proclivity to empathise with those that suffer, moreso those that suffer innocently. Clarke has captured this quality beautifully in her book. Piranesi had me enraptured in the vicious severity of its innocence, with its metaphors upon metaphors of ambition, religion, progress, and life embedded within it.
Picture the vigilant anticipation with which you may read the climax of any book. Now impute that feeling to the entirety of the reading exercise, from introduction to conclusion. That is how it feels to read Piranesi. I feel all at once, an aching sense of loss at having finished the book, and a striking sense of clarity at having gained a new perspective.
Piranesi is unlike anything I have ever read before, and I doubt I ever will. If you do decide to read this book, I promise that you will come out of it a changed person.
Picture the vigilant anticipation with which you may read the climax of any book. Now impute that feeling to the entirety of the reading exercise, from introduction to conclusion. That is how it feels to read Piranesi. I feel all at once, an aching sense of loss at having finished the book, and a striking sense of clarity at having gained a new perspective.
Piranesi is unlike anything I have ever read before, and I doubt I ever will. If you do decide to read this book, I promise that you will come out of it a changed person.
I am choosing to see this as a reimagining of plato’s allegory of the cave, and I do love an unreliable narrator! There was a lot to think about in here about perception and attitude, and a lot of it was really beautiful. However I think reading this over the course of 2 days kept it the freshest it could have been for me- if I had taken longer I definitely would have gotten bored of hearing about the eighth hall in the twenty second vestibule of the third floor for the hundredth time. I don’t think that kind of thing irked me though because Piranesi was such a pure and lovable perspective that I just could not be frustrated with him!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Interesting plot and really well written just not my kind of thing
What a beautiful book. It's been a while since I read a page-turner like this one.
Susanna Clarke's "Piranesi" is mystical, mysterious, otherworldly. A house, a labyrinth, a world so different from our own that you're mesmerized by it from the very first page. And you begin to love it and long for it by the last.
There's no way to make this review less vague without spoiling everything. I think the beauty of this book lies in not knowing what it's about. You begin a journey of mystery and beauty, and the world in the book presents itself to you slowly at first, and then all at once.
It becomes a terrifying tale— But it's also a book about seeing the beauty in everything: in all the birds, the leaves, the tides. Being comforted by existence itself. Knowing that whatever you do, the world is there, made for you, providing everything you need to survive, to feel, to love—you just need to grasp it.
By the end of this book, I felt such nostalgia for a world I've never even known. Clarke describes it so mesmerizingly that you understand all the people who've managed to witness it and all who risk their own sanity to live in it. Simple. Mystical. Beautiful. Empty. Peaceful. A house one with nature. Infinite peace.
Susanna Clarke's "Piranesi" is mystical, mysterious, otherworldly. A house, a labyrinth, a world so different from our own that you're mesmerized by it from the very first page. And you begin to love it and long for it by the last.
"I was in a house with many rooms. The sea sweeps through the house. Sometimes it swept over me, but always I was saved."
There's no way to make this review less vague without spoiling everything. I think the beauty of this book lies in not knowing what it's about. You begin a journey of mystery and beauty, and the world in the book presents itself to you slowly at first, and then all at once.
It becomes a terrifying tale—
Spoiler
one of imprisonment, the minotaur in its labyrinth."The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite."
By the end of this book, I felt such nostalgia for a world I've never even known. Clarke describes it so mesmerizingly that you understand all the people who've managed to witness it and all who risk their own sanity to live in it. Simple. Mystical. Beautiful. Empty. Peaceful. A house one with nature. Infinite peace.
"In my mind are all the tides, their seasons, their ebbs and their flows. In my mind are all the halls, the endless procession of them, the intricate pathways. When this world becomes too much for me, when I grow tired of the noise and the dirt and the people, I close my eyes and I name a particular vestibule to myself; then I name a hall."
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So beautiful. It took me far too long to get around to reading this. What was I waiting for?! It's ethereal, sublime, gorgeous, mysterious. I loved every moment.