Piranesi

       

Title: Piranesi

Author: Susanna Clarke

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, September 15, 2020

Pages: 246

Genre: Magical Realism, Mystery Suspense

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

This has been on my TBR for years, probably since it came out. Then someone in book club said it was one of their favorite books, and we chose it to read for this month. I immediately got it from the library and had to renew a 21-day loan, twice, because I couldn't finish it in time. This is not a long book. But it took me FOREVER to read. 

Piranesi himself is wonderful. Almost childlike in his wonder and the way that he orders his days.  He loves the House where he lives. He explores and fishes and records all of his activities and observations in his thoroughly indexed journals. He has one friend and sometimes he wishes he could see him more than twice a week. 

But the more Piranesi explores and learns, the more he realizes that maybe the House isn't the only world. And maybe The Other isn't really a friend. The motif of a labyrinth is carried through the way the story unfolds. Everything is a mystery. Even Piranesi to himself.

The writing in this book is absolutely 5/5 stars. But my gut is telling me that it's like a 3.5/5 stars for the story. I settled on calling it 4 stars. I certainly won't stop thinking about it for awhile, that's for sure. But it did take me over a month to read. 

Ratings

Stars: 4/5