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A review by thestarlessmaisie
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
5.0
I knew I'd love this book but I hadn’t anticipated this feeling now that it’s over; a tangle of wonder, horror and grief.
It’s best to go into this book blind, then you really get to know Piranesi and follow him as he goes about his business living as ‘a child of the house’. However, it definitely isn't a Greek mythological retelling! I think the marketing really did a diservice here, as that is not what it is at all.
As the events unfold and Piranesi learns the scary truths as to how he has come to be with the house, you get submerged in the confusion and the darkness and the panic, you're trying to stay afloat, you're thinking ‘surely not, surely not!!’ as you rush to the end. It’s like waking up from a dream and forgetting it, but upon remembering all the little fragments the dream shapes itself into a nightmare. Which is to say… The book is nothing short of amazing, immersive and utterly captivating.
Clarke tells Piranesi's story in an epistolary style, which I haven't read much before but I think really worked for this story. It packs a punch in a relatively short novel and I'm definitely going to explore her other works. It somehow felt familiar despite me never encountering anything like it, which perhaps is another mystery of the magic of The House.
It’s best to go into this book blind, then you really get to know Piranesi and follow him as he goes about his business living as ‘a child of the house’. However, it definitely isn't a Greek mythological retelling! I think the marketing really did a diservice here, as that is not what it is at all.
As the events unfold and Piranesi learns the scary truths as to how he has come to be with the house, you get submerged in the confusion and the darkness and the panic, you're trying to stay afloat, you're thinking ‘surely not, surely not!!’ as you rush to the end. It’s like waking up from a dream and forgetting it, but upon remembering all the little fragments the dream shapes itself into a nightmare. Which is to say… The book is nothing short of amazing, immersive and utterly captivating.
Clarke tells Piranesi's story in an epistolary style, which I haven't read much before but I think really worked for this story. It packs a punch in a relatively short novel and I'm definitely going to explore her other works. It somehow felt familiar despite me never encountering anything like it, which perhaps is another mystery of the magic of The House.