Ratings928
Average rating4.2
No in-depth review. This book is better experienced without knowing anything. Loved the prose, the characters, the setting, the House.
It was beautiful.
“The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite.”
Piranesi is unlike any other book I've read. I'm not sure if I would exactly put this under the Fantasy genre; if anything, it's a lot more subtle and perhaps more in between Fantasy and Magical Realism. It has incredible world building, such a unique story, and for me it was the kind of book that I couldn't put down.
4.5/5 stars
For some reason this book actually really disturbed me. Idk what to think. I don't feel right.
I almost DNFed this one at about 20% but I'm so glad I didn't. This was a spectacular read, a little reminiscent of [b:House of Leaves 24800 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403889034l/24800.SX50.jpg 856555] but at its core it was very different. The mystery took a while to get going, but once it did, it was hard to put down. A solid 4.5 stars for me.It's pretty difficult to summarise anything about this book without giving important plot points away. Piranesi is a person who wanders around the infinite Halls of the House, occasionally meeting the only other person who also wanders those Halls, appropriately nicknamed The Other. The House provides them with whatever they need, and Piranesi views himself as the Beloved Child of the House. But who is The Other, and what is this endless House that they are in? Most importantly, who is Piranesi himself?As mentioned above, the first 20% was very bewildering and I couldn't get my bearings in the story very well (and almost DNFed!). It's only after that the the mystery element of the book came on fast and furious. The pacing was good, and the ending was fairly satisfactory. I'm on the fence on whether I wanted more in-depth explanations, or whether it was perfect the way it is.About overall themes and the ending:When I was reading this book, I was strongly reminded of dissociative identity disorder, and perhaps that's deliberate? I haven't read up on interviews with Clarke yet to figure out if that was her intention, but when Piranesi began talking about Matthew as someone who was "asleep within him", it seemed like a very clear reference to DID. It makes sense since Piranesi was "born" shortly after Matthew was trapped in the Labyrinth by Ketterley, and it's likely that the whole ordeal with your entire perception of reality being challenged could very well have caused Matthew to dissociate.What's even more interesting is at the end when Piranesi returns to the Other World with Raphael. At first, we get Piranesi's perspective, but then it shifts to yet another identity that doesn't seem to have existed before. It's like Piranesi's transition into the Other World was enough of a shock to have caused yet another dissociation, creating a new identity that "oversees" both Piranesi and Matthew, is aware of the workings of the House and the Other World, and is now the primary entity.I wonder if Raphael knows this about him? It's also interesting that Raphael chooses to go back over and over again to the Labyrinth, and I'm wondering if she would choose to live in the Labyrinth at any point.What I kinda wished was more fleshed out was the whole idea of the ancient knowledge/magic that the House was made out of. I guess it might have been deliberately left unexplained since the book seemed to be about the futility and silliness of men fighting other men to get a grasp on knowledge that was infinitely bigger than them. I just wish I had a better handle at least on what kind of knowledge and magic this was about, even if there wasn't an in-depth explanation on how it worked.I'd recommend this for fans of fantasy mysteries, speculative fiction, and stories that break the mold. This might also be a good recommendation for fans of House of Leaves, if you don't expect as much gritty darkness and horror because ultimately this book is more about the wonder of things infinitely bigger than oneself than it is dealing with the existential horror of it.
I felt super lost up until ~30% ish of this book until the mystery finally started unfolding. What a nice read!
This is a beautiful book and the audiobook narration by Chiwetel Ejiofor is really something special. I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.
Piranesi is extremely different from Strange & Norrell - not as long, with fewer fantasy elements, characters and plot and not a footnote in sight! - but it's just as well written. A slow burn at the beginning but worth the payoff. At first I thought the burn was too slow but on reflection, the initial lengthy descriptions of the House work perfectly to illustrate the House's endlessness. Highly appropriate in 2020, actually. Then the mystery kicks in and Piranesi is hard to put down!
If you want to read a book about an idiot wandering aimlessly around a giant, mostly empty, statue museum then boy do I have a recommendation for you!
Ok so idiot is unfair. Piranesi's childlike naivety is at once endearing and frustrating. But what is this book? It feels like a concept piece, as in abstract and metaphorical and not fleshed out at all. That's the problem with allegories. They're all too often paper thin.
Let's assume the House is a metaphor (if it's not, then it really is just a book about an idiot trapped in a house). Once you get that, or begin to suspect it, what else does the book offer? Really, nothing. Nothing much else happens. Piranesi eats some seaweed. Pieces together at last the idea that Other is abusive. Uses the word Vestibule twelve million times. Gets rescued. The end.
And even now, I'm not sure it really is an allegory because, and I cannot stress this enough, nothing happens. There's a whiff of an idea that it could be about exiting an abusive relationship, and the half-broken, half-free way you might continue to exist after that. But the House is benevolent and actually somewhat yearned-for by the people who've visited it. So I think it's a metaphor for a life-changing enlightenment from which you can't return to normality, such as a religious or philosophical awakening that at the same time traps you within its world view and whisks you away from reality.
But it's only a hint! Only a possible interpretation, if you squint. Maybe it's just about a guy trapped in a House.
edit: Oh, wow, I've just read a review that suggests the House is a metaphor for drumroll the worlds you enter when you read books. So. It's worse than I thought.
I've given worse books 2 stars, I didn't hate it like some of them, it just passed through me without leaving much impression.
Other reviews have praised the ‘world building'. What world building? It's just endless halls full of statues. The occasional bird. What have I missed? Was there a chapter I skipped where something other than birds, water, and marble existed in the world?
Such a great book it was. One among “those” books in which I couldn't contain my excitement to know what might happen next.
Really interesting. Lovely, simple world-building. I have a soft spot in my heart for the main character.
Not much “happens” but the meandering chapters where Piranesi just records his day-to-day are so wholesome and charming that I don't mind the slow pace at all.
I do wish it came to more of a climax in the latter half.
Ik was enorm content van Susanna Clarke's eerste boek, en van zodra ik wist dat er een tweede was, heb ik het meteen op de Kindle gezet.
(Nee, ik heb The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories niet gelezen, en ik zal dat dan één dezer verhelpen.)
Piranesi is een raar boek. Wie een vervolg op Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell had verwacht, of zelfs maar iets in dezelfde wereld of hetzelfde tijdperk: neen dus.
Het boek begint in medias res, met een persoon die in vreemd aandoend Engels een dagboek bijhoudt:
ENTRY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIFTH MONTH IN THE YEAR THE ALBATROSS CAME TO THE SOUTH-WESTERN HALLS
When the Moon rose in the Third Northern Hall I went to the Ninth Vestibule to witness the joining of three Tides. This is something that happens only once every eight years.
The Ninth Vestibule is remarkable for the three great Staircases it contains. Its Walls are lined with marble Statues, hundreds upon hundreds of them, Tier upon Tier, rising into the distant heights.
I climbed up the Western Wall until I reached the Statue of a Woman carrying a Beehive, fifteen metres above the Pavement. The Woman is two or three times my own height and the Beehive is covered with marble Bees the size of my thumb. One Bee – this always gives me a slight sensation of queasiness – crawls over her left Eye.
Dag na dag, zonder veel context. Een mens die weet dat hij bijna alleen op de wereld is — in de plaats waar hij leeft is hem, en twee keer per week The Other, en verder 13 overleden mensen — maar zich noch eenzaam noch slecht voelt. Hij bevindt zich in een eindeloos soort paleis met enorme ruimte na enorme ruimte, vol met standbeelden. Er zijn getijden en seizoen, er is zeewier om te drogen en vuur mee te maken, er zijn vissen en schaaldieren om te eten.
Naar gelang het boek vordert, merkt het hoofdpersonage — dat geen naam heeft voor zichzelf maar door The Other spottend aangesproken wordt als Piranesi — dat er dingen niet kloppen.
Ik was meer dan onder de indruk van het boek. Het is spannend op een zen-achtige manier, en poëtisch op een zakelijke manier, en melancholisch maar niet sentimenteel, en het doet een mens nadenken. Zeer zeer goed.
Amazing work of balance between the magical and mysterious world we're taken into, by a narrator that knows almost as little as we do, and the confident line tying it all together and taking us to a satisfying conclusion
Shares very little with Jonathan Strange, apart from that focus on the frontier between the real world and the magical world (though this time, we spend more time on the other side of the border) but equally fascinating
Beautiful writing and construction (or should I say architecture ?)
My only complaint is that Susanna Clarke should write faster
4.5 stars
Absolutely my kind of book hell yes
Unlike anything I've read before. There's so much good stuff in 245 pages, the last 150-ish are dense but it's very captivating. Reminded me of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell I'll read soon :D
This story was so amazing. It is sad and happy at the same time!
Totally deserves all the hype !
A little slow at the start but quickly picks up. It's a very mellow fantasy, magical realism novel with mild discussions about religion, philosophy, and identity. It's best to go into this completely blind so I won't say much but that it's best to approach it as a mystery rather than a fantasy.
I don't think I did this book justice as a reader so I will reread it at some point.
I have gathered that I love books that are super confusing. I know recommending this book to anyone would probably not be helpful but I loved it with all my heart. The ending felt well done and all the questions I had were revolved.
Reading about two minds within one person is always fascinating and this book does that well, as others I have read. I read most of it in one day and what a ride this one. Almost enough to drive you insane and then reel you back again.
This is very different, and I loved it! It's Weird, but mostly in a very beautiful, poetic way. Everything about it is compelling, and there's definitely dramatic tension, but it also feels dreamy. The narrator is intelligent, resourceful, courageous, loving, and kind, but almost immediately the reader sees that there's a naivete that may be problematic. So much of his joy in life comes from unhesitating, total acceptance - is that a good thing, or a danger? So, no surprise that there are strong echoes of the Garden of Eden here. I've long thought about that story as expressing human frustration that we are driven to find out, learn, and understand, but there can be no learning without pain. A lot of the enjoyment involves watching the mystery open up and accompanying the narrator in his experiences. So I don't want to give much away. I'll just say that the writing and characterization are beautiful, while the plot steadily gains momentum as you go, and the ending is handled in a way I found satisfying. Along the way, I was reminded of a strange array of other great stories, including:[b:American Elsewhere 14781178 American Elsewhere Robert Jackson Bennett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340758848l/14781178.SX50.jpg 20434248][b:The Library at Mount Char 26892110 The Library at Mount Char Scott Hawkins https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453225113l/26892110.SY75.jpg 42797715]Lovecraft's Dream Cycle: https://www.goodreads.com/series/212217-dream-cycle[b:Circe 35959740 Circe Madeline Miller https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565909496l/35959740.SY75.jpg 53043399]and even [b:Guards! Guards! 64216 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8; City Watch #1) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431127356l/64216.SY75.jpg 1128601], in that Corporal Carrot is also smart, capable, and above all Good, while being utterly clueless about a lot of things his more cynical compatriots understand.
not trying to dunk on YA, but if you told me this was actually YA, i'd 1000% believe you. enjoyed the world a lot (as does everyone) and some of the ideas the book presented about what the world could represent, but i really wasn't a fan of the writing style and many decisions involving the characters (why is piranesi so dumb???) and plot.
You don’t really know what’s going on when you start Piranesi, but in a wonderfully mysterious way. I really enjoyed the morphine drip of information this book gives, slowly revealing what’s actually going on while also introducing several new questions every few pages. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the journal-entry writing style and how charmed I was by the main character.
dnf at 15%
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the excessive descriptions of halls and vestibules and water and stairs and statues paired with how lost i felt not understanding whats happening made me feel claustrophobic. and based on the reviews it goes on like this for a 100 pages and i dont think i want to submit to this kind of torture sigh i was excited to read this
I know it's only January but this is the best book I've read this year. Beautifully crafted, Clarke guides the reader into Piranesi's world through his notebooks.
I tried to keep up hope that something would happen in the book that would change my feelings towards it to the positive. It never happened.