54.2k reviews for:

Piranesi

Susanna Clarke

4.3 AVERAGE

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.

"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—
Spoilerone of imprisonment, the minotaur in its labyrinth.
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.

"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.
emotional mysterious relaxing sad slow-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: No
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

A very unique read that had me coming up with all sorts of theories to unravel the mystery. Learning about this main characters world view felt like a spiritual experience. Honestly made me cry. Would recommend and I'd like to re-read and annotate it one day.