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A review by moonymars
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I have some trouble in putting this book in a genre, I haven't read thousands of books but I have read a few dozens and want to real hundreds. This book is unlike anything I've ever read or heard of.
In this book we follow the journal entries of a character named Piranesi, the character wonder around somewhere called The House, The House is made of endless halls and rooms with many different statues. Piranesi also describes himself as the "beloved child of The House".
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
Piranesi isn't for everyone. A lot of people who seem to not like it are all complaining about the same things: "nothing really happens" and "this is too abstract". This because, at least for me, the first parts of the book were more about setting up the setting of the story and not very much about any plot. Which is why many people will say nothing really happens until the end. But for me everything was happening, and although you may see many reviews saying the book could be shorter I don't really think it could. The description of the halls and The House were essencial both to build up the tension within the book and Piranesi's character.
From the begining we see that something is wrong, but we don't know why. We read about those endless halls with statues and bones of dead people, we read about the one person who is alive in this disturbingly beautiful realm and we can be sure that this person is not like Piranesi. The other knows something Piranesi doesn't and there is some weird power dinamic in there. From the beginning I felt like The Other could be thanking advange of Piranesi's naiveness. The other has things Piranesi doesn't, The Other doesn't have to fish or collecting stuff to heat himself during winter, The Other can just get a new pair of shoes while Piranesi can't. Piranesi has to search things himself. Piranesi only questions this once, asking why The House gives The Other all this things and ends up coming to the conclusion that if The House didn't give them to him he would die. But this feels kinda weird doesn't it? It just add to the surreality of it all.
So for me this first half was what got me hooked in the book. What the hell was going up? What is The House, who is The Other, who is Piranesi, why are there only two people alive?
On the second half of the book is when the uneasiness of the reader starts being justified.
Piranesi questions The Other about his search for The Secret/Great Knowledge and The Other tells him this conversation has happened three times and that Piranesi seems to forget anything that isn't the halls, rooms and statues of The House, he also warns Piranesi about 16, someone who hates The Other, means him harm, and will make Piranesi go insane. Piranesi gets very scared about this and questions his sanity a bit.
Then one day The Profet show up, and despite The Other's warnings to not talk to anyone else Piranesi speaks to him. From here Piranesi finds more and more information about The House, The Other, The Profet, The "real world", in his old journals that he did not ever remember writing we see entries about Valentine Kettterley, Laurence Arne-Sayles, his students who ended up going insane etc. He also discouvers that he is trapped and that his "real name" is Matthew Rose Sorensen but even after he leaves the house he doesn't fell like Matthew, nor Piranesi.
Susanna Clarke explores indentity in trauma through Piranesi's character, she also explores the question of freedom. Piranesi feels free even being held by chains. But does he really live in freedom even if he feels free? Or does he live in an illusion of freedom?
So although I understand that this isn't for everyone, I can't recomend it enough. The way the author build the setting and at exploring themes of indentity, freedom, horror, and the mystical sublime is incredible. I'll definetly check out her other works.
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
(sorry for any typos, mistakes or if this is confusing to read)
In this book we follow the journal entries of a character named Piranesi, the character wonder around somewhere called The House, The House is made of endless halls and rooms with many different statues. Piranesi also describes himself as the "beloved child of The House".
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
Piranesi isn't for everyone. A lot of people who seem to not like it are all complaining about the same things: "nothing really happens" and "this is too abstract". This because, at least for me, the first parts of the book were more about setting up the setting of the story and not very much about any plot. Which is why many people will say nothing really happens until the end. But for me everything was happening, and although you may see many reviews saying the book could be shorter I don't really think it could. The description of the halls and The House were essencial both to build up the tension within the book and Piranesi's character.
From the begining we see that something is wrong, but we don't know why. We read about those endless halls with statues and bones of dead people, we read about the one person who is alive in this disturbingly beautiful realm and we can be sure that this person is not like Piranesi. The other knows something Piranesi doesn't and there is some weird power dinamic in there. From the beginning I felt like The Other could be thanking advange of Piranesi's naiveness. The other has things Piranesi doesn't, The Other doesn't have to fish or collecting stuff to heat himself during winter, The Other can just get a new pair of shoes while Piranesi can't. Piranesi has to search things himself. Piranesi only questions this once, asking why The House gives The Other all this things and ends up coming to the conclusion that if The House didn't give them to him he would die. But this feels kinda weird doesn't it? It just add to the surreality of it all.
So for me this first half was what got me hooked in the book. What the hell was going up? What is The House, who is The Other, who is Piranesi, why are there only two people alive?
On the second half of the book is when the uneasiness of the reader starts being justified.
Piranesi questions The Other about his search for The Secret/Great Knowledge and The Other tells him this conversation has happened three times and that Piranesi seems to forget anything that isn't the halls, rooms and statues of The House, he also warns Piranesi about 16, someone who hates The Other, means him harm, and will make Piranesi go insane. Piranesi gets very scared about this and questions his sanity a bit.
Then one day The Profet show up, and despite The Other's warnings to not talk to anyone else Piranesi speaks to him. From here Piranesi finds more and more information about The House, The Other, The Profet, The "real world", in his old journals that he did not ever remember writing we see entries about Valentine Kettterley, Laurence Arne-Sayles, his students who ended up going insane etc. He also discouvers that he is trapped and that his "real name" is Matthew Rose Sorensen but even after he leaves the house he doesn't fell like Matthew, nor Piranesi.
Susanna Clarke explores indentity in trauma through Piranesi's character, she also explores the question of freedom. Piranesi feels free even being held by chains. But does he really live in freedom even if he feels free? Or does he live in an illusion of freedom?
So although I understand that this isn't for everyone, I can't recomend it enough. The way the author build the setting and at exploring themes of indentity, freedom, horror, and the mystical sublime is incredible. I'll definetly check out her other works.
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
(sorry for any typos, mistakes or if this is confusing to read)