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A review by syllareads
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book has immaculate vibes.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a beautiful and somewhat short story of labyrinths and being at peace with oneself and forgetfulness of the rest we'd much rather tuck away, about how we shape our own identity and about how quiet and solitude can be wondrous things. Piranesi's story, who is so sure his name isn't Piranesi, is told in a somewhat weird way at first, disjointed and just fantastically odd that you very quickly get the feeling it is not just fantastically whimsy, but something more.
The first-person perspective helps immensely in creating this illusion of closeness to our main character and narrator, Piranesi, who lives in a giant house, The House, if you will, filled with empty rooms and statues and bones. He's been living there ever since he can remember, with only one living person nearby (whom he calls "The Other") and 13 bony, dead companions. He is, however, quite content with his life - until something changes around him and suddenly, things do not seem so clear anymore.
I was hooked from the very start, and I'm very glad I went into this completely blind. Clarke's prose is simple enough to mirror her main character's thoughts, yet meanders beautifully whenever Piranesi starts thinking about how much the House has done for him and how well-protected he feels in its arms. Piranesi himself is far from stupid or simple, but the way he uses words as opposed to The Other (or other books I have read) lends him such a unique voice of mingled innocence and scientific thirst of exploration that I fell in love immediately. I cannot recommend this book enough!
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a beautiful and somewhat short story of labyrinths and being at peace with oneself and forgetfulness of the rest we'd much rather tuck away, about how we shape our own identity and about how quiet and solitude can be wondrous things. Piranesi's story, who is so sure his name isn't Piranesi, is told in a somewhat weird way at first, disjointed and just fantastically odd that you very quickly get the feeling it is not just fantastically whimsy, but something more.
The first-person perspective helps immensely in creating this illusion of closeness to our main character and narrator, Piranesi, who lives in a giant house, The House, if you will, filled with empty rooms and statues and bones. He's been living there ever since he can remember, with only one living person nearby (whom he calls "The Other") and 13 bony, dead companions. He is, however, quite content with his life - until something changes around him and suddenly, things do not seem so clear anymore.
I was hooked from the very start, and I'm very glad I went into this completely blind. Clarke's prose is simple enough to mirror her main character's thoughts, yet meanders beautifully whenever Piranesi starts thinking about how much the House has done for him and how well-protected he feels in its arms. Piranesi himself is far from stupid or simple, but the way he uses words as opposed to The Other (or other books I have read) lends him such a unique voice of mingled innocence and scientific thirst of exploration that I fell in love immediately. I cannot recommend this book enough!