Paperback, 245 pages
Published Sept. 2, 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
2023.09 Drugie czytanie. Wywarła na mnie większe wrażenie, jest bardziej wnikliwa, wzruszająca i piękna. O szukaniu siebie, o odwadze, o byciu człowiekiem i co to znaczy być sobą. Opisy sal są przepiękne, bardzo plastyczne. Na 100% wrócę do niej jeszcze nie raz.
I picked this book because of its Hugo Award nomination. I had read 4 of the 6 nominations (or at least started 3 and finished 2 and passed on a fourth), so I wanted to read more.
If the name Piranesi evokes to you labyrinths, stairs, halls, chambers, statues, you're in luck. The whole book is filled to the brim with these. It's also filled with a man called Piranesi, who lives in these halls. Who wanders in them, content of being the only person in this world—or I should say, the 15th, but 13 of them are dead, and the Other is, well… a friend, for lack of a better word?
Susanna Clarke has written the most surprising book I've read in the last year, at least. The ending left me wanting more, but I hope there won't be, it would just dilute the purity of the House, and …
I picked this book because of its Hugo Award nomination. I had read 4 of the 6 nominations (or at least started 3 and finished 2 and passed on a fourth), so I wanted to read more.
If the name Piranesi evokes to you labyrinths, stairs, halls, chambers, statues, you're in luck. The whole book is filled to the brim with these. It's also filled with a man called Piranesi, who lives in these halls. Who wanders in them, content of being the only person in this world—or I should say, the 15th, but 13 of them are dead, and the Other is, well… a friend, for lack of a better word?
Susanna Clarke has written the most surprising book I've read in the last year, at least. The ending left me wanting more, but I hope there won't be, it would just dilute the purity of the House, and the Mercies of its Statues.
I wanted to like this book so much. And I did! For maybe the first third. The world that was constructed was so intriguing with its mysticism and beauty. Clarke is a beautiful writer and I absolutely fell in love with the setting.. for the most part. I loved Piranesi's relationship with the world, his dynamic with The Other, and their opposing philosophies. I loved the almost slice of life descriptions about Piranesi's tasks and introspection as he gently moved through life.
And then it all came crashing down as a mystery thriller. I can't fully express my disappointment as I started to realize that that was just a modern day missing persons case with a tired trope of the victim losing their memory. Not only did this take me out of the story, but I think that's when the construction of the story started to suffer. With this new …
I wanted to like this book so much. And I did! For maybe the first third. The world that was constructed was so intriguing with its mysticism and beauty. Clarke is a beautiful writer and I absolutely fell in love with the setting.. for the most part. I loved Piranesi's relationship with the world, his dynamic with The Other, and their opposing philosophies. I loved the almost slice of life descriptions about Piranesi's tasks and introspection as he gently moved through life.
And then it all came crashing down as a mystery thriller. I can't fully express my disappointment as I started to realize that that was just a modern day missing persons case with a tired trope of the victim losing their memory. Not only did this take me out of the story, but I think that's when the construction of the story started to suffer. With this new revelatory information, Piranesi started making uncharacteristic decisions in order to move the plot along (if he kept wanting to meet The Other or Raphael, why not just wait in the Minotaur room??). There was a breakneck pivot in pacing from delicate exposition and world building to a fast paced hunt for information. The themes of the story became strange as it moved from exploring the philosophy around why the Other World exists and what the implications were to a rescue mission for a kidnapped victim.
I should know better than to rely on a back-of-the-book pitch, but the comparison to Circe felt disingenuous. You can't just slap some Grecian statues in a story and compare it to Madeline Miller. A more accurate comparison would be House of Leaves without the horror/thriller/suspense.
Instantly enthralling, incredibly creative and a cracking good mystery. One of those books that creates an entirely new place in your mind.
I'm a big sucker for mysterious spaces and Piranesi delivers in spades. Characters are very interesting too, the story's theme resonates as well.
I've waited so long for a sequel to Strange & Norrell, but was thrilled to see the publication of this second, much different novel, which may (or may well not) be in the same "universe", as it were, as S & N.
The upshot: this is one of the most hauntingly beautiful books I have ever read, I can't recommend it enough.
(PS, it's a finalist in both the 2020 Nebula and Hugo awards.)
I felt super lost up until ~30% ish of this book until the mystery finally started unfolding. What a nice read!
I felt super lost up until ~30% ish of this book until the mystery finally started unfolding. What a nice read!
Very satisfying. Fantastical and moving (somewhat).
This is part mystery, a little bit thriller, but mostly thought-provoking philosophy.
When I first started reading, I had no idea what was going on. At first, I was reminded of the beginning of
For me, the big takeaway from this book is that you can do a lot with a little. Don't be put off (as I was) by the seemingly clunky start of this novel. This is a straightforward story in what is essentially a closed room. There aren't many characters to track and not a lot of characterization of anyone but the protagonist. This is a quick, quick read. It took me a little over three hours to finish.
Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell is one of my favorite novels. It’s a book that I enjoyed so utterly, in which I was so completely immersed, that I mourned the end of it. To this day I wonder what its characters are up to. So I was elated when I learned that Susanna Clarke had a new novel coming out and Piranesi did not disappoint. It’s much shorter than its predecessor, but no less wondrous. It’s every bit as magical without having anything to do with magicians. And I hope that the dedicated team who spent a decade adapting Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for TV decide to do the same for Piranesi. This is such a visually dazzling story, I’d love to see it adapted with the same degree of enthusiasm and care.
"The beauty of the House is immeasurable. Its Kindness infinite."
From intellectually titillating constructs of Borges to Strugatskys' "Roadside picnic" - the idea of a world that repels humans yet attracts them is not new. Yet the world created in "Piranesi" is beautiful and desirable, governed by the classical art and nature in their purest form. Rarely did I put down a book with such an acute feeling of something lost and a desire to start reading it again in order to regain that. To me, the House itself was much more engrossing than the actual plot (which was clever and engaging in its own).
I wish I could give six stars to this book...
When I was in my 20s, I had a healthy social life AND social anxiety which is a hell of a cocktail. Every night I'd come home full of beer and emotions and I'd have real difficulty in shutting my brain off so I could go to sleep. Nothing worked. I'd just lie in my bed going over everything I'd said or did trying to think about things I could have said or did differently. For hours. And then I bought a DVD box set of The Prisoner. I'd put on an episode and it would pummel my brain into submission. Everything about it is so strange and confusing that my mind would give up trying to figure out what was happening and just shut down after 10 minutes.
Piranesi brought back this feeling so hard. I don't just mean thematically (although there are plenty of similarities between …
When I was in my 20s, I had a healthy social life AND social anxiety which is a hell of a cocktail. Every night I'd come home full of beer and emotions and I'd have real difficulty in shutting my brain off so I could go to sleep. Nothing worked. I'd just lie in my bed going over everything I'd said or did trying to think about things I could have said or did differently. For hours. And then I bought a DVD box set of The Prisoner. I'd put on an episode and it would pummel my brain into submission. Everything about it is so strange and confusing that my mind would give up trying to figure out what was happening and just shut down after 10 minutes.
Piranesi brought back this feeling so hard. I don't just mean thematically (although there are plenty of similarities between the book and The Prisoner -- similarities I'm sure someone with a medium dot com account and a pathological inability to allow a take go un-taken will happily point out). I really struggled with the opening of this book because every night I would feel my mind saying "fuuuuucccck this book I can't figure out what's going on" and shutting down. Every single time. It wasn't until page 100 or so where something finally clicked for me and the story started to make sense and I blasted through the second half.
Loved it. It’s a perfect perfect autumn story.
