stargazer

Book Review: Piranesi

I’ve had mixed success with my recent reads. And when Piranesi at first sight appeared to be an endless list of journal entries, I was seriously starting to doubt my own judgement. What went wrong? I used to be so good at picking them.

And then it happened. Without much notice, I suddenly found myself in the House with Piranesi, completely mesmerised by the endless halls filled with statues and a mysterious ocean flowing throughout. I guess subconsciously, I must have let go of my rational mind and returned to an almost child-like state of wonder. Like Piranesi, I started to sense the magic of the House and I loved how every day was filled with exploration and discovery.

In many ways Piranesi’s world is brutal. Cold and bare, with only Piranesi and The Other present, surviving isn’t easy. However, Piranesi has achieved a state of contentment, living in an almost symbiotic harmony with The House.

In this respect, The Other is depicted as the antithesis to Piranesi. The former doesn’t appreciate the The House in its own right and only ascribes value to any gains or powers, The House may be able to provide. These opposite life attitudes are central. Piranesi’s ability to appreciate and to adapt gives him the potential to find happiness or at least contentment in life, in a way which would never be possible for The Other.

Of course, all is not what it seems. The author alludes to this all along via quotes, names and hints. Readers will relatively quickly get an idea of what lies behind. What is this world? Who is Piranesi? How did he get there? Still, it is great fun trying to work out the details.

Lamp post in Piranesi inspired by Narnia

As the story progresses towards revelation of the mystery, the dreamy otherworldly atmosphere gradually dissolves. Some readers may prefer the first part of the book, which is beautifully written and filled with wonder. But I enjoyed everything and found the gradual transition, towards more mundane matters, illustrating certain points about humans’ relation to reality. Unfortunately, I can’t say more. No spoilers from me.

In some sense, Piranesi is a simple little story. On the other hand, it made my head spin. Constantly, my mind was searching for clues, wondered about the symbolic meaning of the statues, looked for allegoric interpretations of The House and analysed the juxtaposition of The House and our world. Even if the mystery is fully explained, there is more than enough to ponder on.

I recently read C.S. Lewis’ The Magician’s Nephew, which I didn’t particularly enjoy. But it did enable me to spot all the references to this book, which were scattered around in Piranesi in a playful manner. Ideas from Plato’s Cave were utilised as well. It all came together in this strange, unsettling story, which I found unique. Themes such as isolation and identity may have reflected the author’s own state of mind. Clarke was struggling with an illness, eventually identified as chronic fatigue syndrome, whilst writing the novel.

My experience of reading Piranesi was like a scene taken right out of the book. Sitting in the House, a powerful ocean wave came along and swallowed me completely. It twisted and spun me around and I got caught by different undercurrents, but all the time I felt perfectly safe.

Read this book, let yourself be caught by the wave, let go, don’t over-analyse and enjoy the ride!

Piranesi reminded me why I love reading. Sometimes, a good story is all you need. 4 1/2 stars.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Title: Piranesi [2020]
Author: Susanna Clarke 
Format: Audiobook, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor
Genre: Fantasy

Piranesi has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021.

43 comments

  1. Interesting. I have a tottering pile of books from the library, of which this is one, which I borrowed because they hadn’t been lent to anyone else before I could get my hands on them. All are promising reads. But this one keeps its place on the bottom of the pile as I just didn’t get on with Jonathan Strange. You’re suggesting I just need to get over myself and get stuck in.

    • I think you should at least give it a try. It is quite short and apparently a lot simpler than Jonathan Strange, which I haven’t read (and probably won’t read). It takes a little time before it gets going, so don’t give up after the first chapter.

    • I hope you will enjoy it! I guess it isn’t in everyone’s taste, but I found it quite unique.

    • You are exactly right, it really was a different reading experience. I hope you will enjoy it, if you decide to pick it up.

    • Thanks! I know now, it didn’t live up to the hype for you. I, on the other hand, am on a roll! 😉 I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all four of the ones, I’ve read from the Women’s Prize longlist, which statistically is quite impressive. Do you intend to read more from the longlist?

      • That’s great! 🙂 Yes, there are at least a few others I’m hoping to pick up from this year’s list, but I won’t be committing to the whole thing like I did the last couple of years. What about you?

        • I have read the ones from the longlist, I found most appealing, so this might be it. But I am keeping an eye on the reviews, just in case.😉 It was rather brave of you to read the whole thing last year. I would struggle to get started on books, which didn’t catch my interest up front.

  5. gosh this sounds good, I’m having a funny old reading time too, so maybe this is the answer – thanks!

    • I haven’t followed your blog for that long – do you mostly read classics? In any case, this one is quite different from anything I’ve read before. It is neither fantasy, not reality. And even if the topics are rather serious, the story is also playful with lots of references and ideas thrown into the mix.

    • It was rather mysterious in a fun way, although with quite a lot of hints at where it was going. Yes, it illustrates why you shouldn’t give up, just because you aren’t captured by the first couple of chapters. Thanks Inge.😊

  9. One more vote in favor of Piranesi – noted! 😉
    I’ve got to ask: did you enjoy Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, though?

    • I sense that you weren’t impressed by Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell? 😉 I must admit, I haven’t read it, so I can’t really compare. From what I understand, Piranesi is a lot shorter and simpler. I guess it is down to personal taste, whether that is a good thing.

      • You sense correctly 😉 I’ll definitely give Piranesi a chance, nevertheless – maybe not in the next few months, but hopefully this year 🙂

        • I hope you will give it a try, but I fully understand your reservations. If I’ve had an underwhelming experience with a novel, I am extremely reluctant to pick up another one by the same author, however different it may be. That’s why I categorically stopped reading Adrian Tchaikovsky after not getting on with Dogs of War.

          • Yeah, exactly. A pity about Tchaikovsky, though – even though I didn’t like Bear Head and have no interest in reading Dogs of War, I absolutely love his Shadows of the Apt series! 🤩

          • Well, it might still happen – with my bad memory, I may even forget about Dogs of War over time. I think, the novella (One Day All This Will Be Yours), rather than the door stop series would be the candidate for my second attempt.

          • If you’re considering a novella, you might want to check out Made Things by Tchaikovsky – a fantasy world with magically created automatons 😀 the review is on the blog somewhere, if you’re interested e can send you a link 🙂

  10. Great review! I’m so glad to see this one sneaked up to surprise you after a rocky start- it was a little slow for me in the first pages too, but ultimately worth the read. It’s such an incredible, evocative world to sink into. And so interesting to learn about Clarke dealing with CFS while writing it, I hadn’t known that and like to think about how it may have affected the novel’s themes.

    • Thanks! 😀 Yes, it was a pleasant surprise, to be completely swallowed up by this world. Clarke said in the interview, that she felt isolated from the rest of the world because of her illness (this was pre Covid) and not being able to write also affected her sense of identity. So there are definitely themes in Piranesi, which may reflect her state of mind back then.

  11. Oho, that sounds very promising! I already was interested before, but now I’ll really have to find this book and read it. I love stories that take you for a mental ride, so will definitely give it a shot

    • Great, I would love to hear your thoughts on this one. I’ve seen more or less enthusiastic reviews, but nobody really disliked it so far. And even if there are some serious themes, I actually thought it was quite fun.

      • Oh that’s quite impressive if more or less everyone can agree it’s a good book. It happens quite rarely 😄

    • It was unique, Jennifer, I love when such a little, unassuming book take me by surprise.

  13. I’m sold! Gonna read this as soon as I can. So glad you enjoyed this, stargazer! Glad you didn’t give up despite the uncertain start. I must remind myself to persevere! 🙂 Fantastic review, my friend!

    • Thanks Jee, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did, if you decide to pick it up. I never considered giving up, but it did take me a little while to get into it.

  14. This sounds thoroughly wonderful! I love how it caught you off guard too. And I love that it has those “dreamesque” moments that you are so often drawn to! 😀 Fantastic review. I’ll definitely keep it on my radar and pick it up when I can! 😀

    • Thanks Lashaan, it really was wonderful! And you are right, it does have these “dreamesque” moments, although not quite in the “Japanese” way (that was a terrible generalisation, but you probably know what I mean…). I hope you will pick it up at some point, I would love to hear your thoughts.😀

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