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A review by beaconatnight
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
5.0
I'm sure most readers of world literature, philosophy, or related fields are familiar with Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In the ancient tale children are imprisoned in the eponymous cave. They are chained so that they cannot go about (in fact they cannot even look around). All they see are the shadows of objects that are moved unbeknownst to them by freemen.
The story must have inspired the peculiar world that Piranesi inhabits. He roams an endless place referred to by the House, a seemingly infinite sequence of halls and vestibules that he numbered within some frame of reference. His surroundings are lined with statues depicting events alien to his mind (yet familiar to the reader). He's not quite alone in the house. Twice a week he meets with another person whom he simply calls the Other. The tasks assigned to him serve the quest for Great and Secret Knowledge hidden within the House.
Not only spatially Piranesi construed a system by which to locate himself within his world. The events of the novel are set in the year the albatross came to the South-Western Hall. He keeps track of the passing of time in a notebook he updates every day. It's through these entries that the reader learns of the events that took place in the life of the avid note-taker. And it's by reverting to past entries that Piranesi realizes that unsolvable mysteries plague his existence.
It's truly fascinating to see the world through Piranesi's eyes. The perspective of the narrative strongly reminded me of Christopher Nolan's Memento in the way how severely impoverished background knowledge deprives him of the ability to accurately conceptualize the world in more objective terms. Later he comes across words that remain meaningless as their corresponding experiences are inaccessible to him. To make this even more intriguing, Piranesi is warned not to investigate any further as this would be the sure path to madness – which in a twisted sense is true.
Similar to the Wood between the Worlds in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series, prolonged existence in the house leads to gradual amnesia of who you are and of your past. Susanna Clarke further pursues these themes in ways continues to Piranesi's own placing. Certain discoveries leave his mind shattered into numerous personalities. Different minds within himself would see things differently, but there is only one consciousness presently in control. This character must create his own identity from what he can gather about his past selfs, from the objects and people he finds – and from what they wrote in their journal.
As you will have realized at this point, I was fully captivated by how our hero unravels the mysteries about his world and his place within it. There are so many episodes that blew my mind and made me thirst for more. It were especially the conspiratorial undertones from which the story builds its suspense. Readers will be immediately suspicious of the Other's motives and provable deceive, yet you are never quite sure whom he can trust. What he finds are occultist and cult-like circles in the real world that only add further to the overall dark mood.
Being an introvert myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet of the House. Being an inveterate note-taker, I strongly emphasized with Piranesi. And being a passionate reader of the philosophy of language on how background knowledge determines the meaning of the expressions we use, I was truly amazed by the depth of the ideas presented here. The novel also introduced me to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's delightfully nightmarish Imaginary Prisons. It's a very rewarding and highly enjoyable experience I appreciated even more because of the audio-book adaptation that was so wonderfully read by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Highly recommendable!
Rating: 5/5
The story must have inspired the peculiar world that Piranesi inhabits. He roams an endless place referred to by the House, a seemingly infinite sequence of halls and vestibules that he numbered within some frame of reference. His surroundings are lined with statues depicting events alien to his mind (yet familiar to the reader). He's not quite alone in the house. Twice a week he meets with another person whom he simply calls the Other. The tasks assigned to him serve the quest for Great and Secret Knowledge hidden within the House.
Not only spatially Piranesi construed a system by which to locate himself within his world. The events of the novel are set in the year the albatross came to the South-Western Hall. He keeps track of the passing of time in a notebook he updates every day. It's through these entries that the reader learns of the events that took place in the life of the avid note-taker. And it's by reverting to past entries that Piranesi realizes that unsolvable mysteries plague his existence.
It's truly fascinating to see the world through Piranesi's eyes. The perspective of the narrative strongly reminded me of Christopher Nolan's Memento in the way how severely impoverished background knowledge deprives him of the ability to accurately conceptualize the world in more objective terms. Later he comes across words that remain meaningless as their corresponding experiences are inaccessible to him. To make this even more intriguing, Piranesi is warned not to investigate any further as this would be the sure path to madness – which in a twisted sense is true.
Similar to the Wood between the Worlds in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series, prolonged existence in the house leads to gradual amnesia of who you are and of your past. Susanna Clarke further pursues these themes in ways continues to Piranesi's own placing. Certain discoveries leave his mind shattered into numerous personalities. Different minds within himself would see things differently, but there is only one consciousness presently in control. This character must create his own identity from what he can gather about his past selfs, from the objects and people he finds – and from what they wrote in their journal.
As you will have realized at this point, I was fully captivated by how our hero unravels the mysteries about his world and his place within it. There are so many episodes that blew my mind and made me thirst for more. It were especially the conspiratorial undertones from which the story builds its suspense. Readers will be immediately suspicious of the Other's motives and provable deceive, yet you are never quite sure whom he can trust. What he finds are occultist and cult-like circles in the real world that only add further to the overall dark mood.
Being an introvert myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet of the House. Being an inveterate note-taker, I strongly emphasized with Piranesi. And being a passionate reader of the philosophy of language on how background knowledge determines the meaning of the expressions we use, I was truly amazed by the depth of the ideas presented here. The novel also introduced me to Giovanni Battista Piranesi's delightfully nightmarish Imaginary Prisons. It's a very rewarding and highly enjoyable experience I appreciated even more because of the audio-book adaptation that was so wonderfully read by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Highly recommendable!
Rating: 5/5