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A review by lilianalee
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
5.0
To get some initial items out of the way: do you need to know the history of the artist Piranesi? Outside of knowing that he was a master of Labriynths, not really. Would knowing a bit of the background of Susanna Clarke influence your perception of Piranesi? Absolutely.
Piranesi is not a book to take at face value. There was one thing I was disappointed about, and that was the lack of physical descriptions of items. I had heard that this book is description-heavy and had assumed it would have been along the lines of Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans. However, Piranesi is heavy in descriptions of maps/directions, which is very fitting.
To return to my first statement, Piranesi is more of a statement on the human psyche, even the human condition when faced with isolation. Early on it is quite clear that Piranesi is entirely isolated, and it has greatly impacted his overall psychology. If anything, Piranesi as a whole feels like a prolonged experience you can find in some of Kafka's writings.
Throughout the book, there are questions you pick up on - who is Piranesi? Who is The Other? Who is 16? The answers come in time, but not without a dive into more historical portions of the setting, primarily graduate students and corrupt professors that are leading them down paths they shouldn't. Most of all, you witness Piranesi's gradual decline throughout the days.
In a way, Piranesi is trapped in his own mind, his loneliness clear from the get-go. Everything has a purpose here to Piranesi, the statues he focuses on, each one giving him something to find a way to survive. His journals where he's trying to keep track of his daily life and the events happening in the house. When you approach Piranesi through a different lens, one that involves a deep look into the potential symbolism in this book, it is fantastic. The grip that the house has on Piranesi is so excellently described, almost like a slow burn into insanity.
I truly await the day that a book has a grip on me as Piranesi did.
Piranesi is not a book to take at face value. There was one thing I was disappointed about, and that was the lack of physical descriptions of items. I had heard that this book is description-heavy and had assumed it would have been along the lines of Against Nature by Joris-Karl Huysmans. However, Piranesi is heavy in descriptions of maps/directions, which is very fitting.
To return to my first statement, Piranesi is more of a statement on the human psyche, even the human condition when faced with isolation. Early on it is quite clear that Piranesi is entirely isolated, and it has greatly impacted his overall psychology. If anything, Piranesi as a whole feels like a prolonged experience you can find in some of Kafka's writings.
Throughout the book, there are questions you pick up on - who is Piranesi? Who is The Other? Who is 16? The answers come in time, but not without a dive into more historical portions of the setting, primarily graduate students and corrupt professors that are leading them down paths they shouldn't. Most of all, you witness Piranesi's gradual decline throughout the days.
In a way, Piranesi is trapped in his own mind, his loneliness clear from the get-go. Everything has a purpose here to Piranesi, the statues he focuses on, each one giving him something to find a way to survive. His journals where he's trying to keep track of his daily life and the events happening in the house. When you approach Piranesi through a different lens, one that involves a deep look into the potential symbolism in this book, it is fantastic. The grip that the house has on Piranesi is so excellently described, almost like a slow burn into insanity.
I truly await the day that a book has a grip on me as Piranesi did.