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A review by mitskacir
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
5.0
Finishing this book made me feel peaceful and content with the silence in my house. The book begins with our narrator telling us about the House, its Halls, and his daily tasks of journalling, fishing, exploring, and taking care of the "inhabitants" of the House. I am concurrently reading "Braiding Sweetgrass" and couldn't help but think about the parallels of Wall Kimmerer's understanding of the reciprocal, gift giving relationship between humans and the earth and "Prianesi"'s narrator's philosophy of the House: his understanding that it provides him everything he needs and in turn he gives it his attention. I think I could have a read a whole book of just this, without needing to understand any more about this surreal landscape. Each description of a statue is methodical and compassionate, reflecting the narrator's contentment, curiosity, and sense of peace.
The non-House portions of this book were certainly higher paced, darker, and more action-packed than the narrator's meanderings, and I was filled with a true sense of disquiet. However, I was not as invested in them until the climax of the flood. That being said, when the plot picks up and we begin to understand more about who the narrator actually is and why he is in the House, I was not disappointed. I appreciated that by the end of the book, we return to the narrator's serene voice and his optimistic and childlike appreciation for the world, despite the added complexity that has been introduced to it.
The non-House portions of this book were certainly higher paced, darker, and more action-packed than the narrator's meanderings, and I was filled with a true sense of disquiet. However, I was not as invested in them until the climax of the flood. That being said, when the plot picks up and we begin to understand more about who the narrator actually is and why he is in the House, I was not disappointed. I appreciated that by the end of the book, we return to the narrator's serene voice and his optimistic and childlike appreciation for the world, despite the added complexity that has been introduced to it.