A review by rachelmerrie
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I’m not entirely sure what I just read or how to rate it. I’ve never read anything like it; it was beautiful and sad, but I don’t think I fully grasped the purpose. 

Update: 

I’ve never read anything like this and it is something that continues to come to mind even weeks after finishing it. I believe it was beautifully written and I loved the way he viewed the House as a place to be loved and cherished and nurtured. I loved his admiration for everything the House had to offer and the way he felt blessed by everything the House gave to him, even the dead. 

Through my Book Club meeting on this book, a conversation was sparked asking if we believed the House was real, or if Piranesi was going through a psychotic break. It was in that moment I realized the House very easily could be the result of his experiencing extreme trauma, but of it being his only true comfort and of him finding the beauty in what he is given from the House. I believe if the House were to represent his mind and the way he copes with trauma, that the police officer was the only one able to “find” him because she was the only one willing and able to ask questions in a respectful way that allowed him the ability to share the beauty that came from the trauma. An example of this being the Other frequented the House, yet he never respected it or saw the beauty of it, therefore, Piranesi has no way of sharing his truest deepest gratitude toward it with the Other. 

Now that I’m writing this review, I almost wonder if his encounter with the Prophet wasn’t Piranesi’s way of remembering his abuser in the vaguest sense and refusing to villainize him for his own sanity? Maybe he forgot about the traumas he was put through because of the Prophet and when it was brought to his attention, he chose a different mindset over reliving the mental agony of remembering his abuser and what was done to him? 

I love the way he associates his two names with the two different times in his life. Before the House and during the House. After we go through traumatic events, we lose pieces of ourselves (or sometimes our entire selves) and the person who is going through the thick of the trauma is not the person who has yet to endure it. And those who come out on the other side are neither of the two and evolve into an entirely new person, which he did. I love that he holds his past selves in his heart for safe keeping to always love and protect. 

Disliked (?):

-Piranesi felt very young to me and it was strange picturing him as a 30 year old educated man. But now writing this review and thinking of the book as a psychotic break, I can see how the character wouldn’t have the same mindset he had before everything happened. He is navigating this new world and re-wiring his brain to cope with his losses and it’s as if he has to start this new path from infancy and crawl before he can walk. 

-I wish there was more backstory on Arne-Sayles, why he went to prison, what his crimes were, and how Piranesi got to the House. However, those are mainly questions I’d have if I chose to believe the House was real and not part of Piranesi’s mental health journey (unsure what to believe at this point). With the mindset of believing the House is in his head, maybe it doesn’t matter how or why Piranesi became involved with Arne-Sayles or what he’s done to deserve his imprisonment. Maybe the author left this piece vague so everyone who has been through a trauma event could see the world through Piranesi’s eyes without the specifics of what he went through segregating the reader? 

Unsure, but overall I believe this book will forever be flowing and crashing through my mind.