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.
(CW: kidnapping, violence)
I basically went into this book blind. I say ‘basically’ because I had read the blurb, which was why I requested it, but I honestly forgot the details by the time I finally read the book. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke really does work well not knowing too much, though.
This is one of those books that manages to pull off a strange, fantastical place with relatively straightforward writing. I love a good juxtaposition, and the one between the setting/prose mimics that of the two main characters. Piranesi is bursting with energy, while the Other is more reserved.
The book is told via the writings of Piranesi. From the get-go we’re thrown into the thick of things without much explanation. Oh, yes, of course this is the Northwest Hall with these particular statues. Oh, obviously the Lady with the Beehive statue is in this Hall. This is the House with its many Halls. This is the World. However, as the book progresses, the pieces start coming together. We learn more about the House, the Fifteen (maybe Sixteen!) people who reside in it (13 dead + 2 living), and all about the Tides from the Sea below. The book might feel confusing at first and feel a bit off-putting, but as I said, things do start coming together. The pace picks up slightly near the end, but overall the book has a steady rhythm to it. Also contrasting the straightforward prose is the non-linearity of the story in how we get lots of little flashbacks.
Piranesi’s writings are straightforward yet detailed. Occasionally he gets a little poetic with his descriptions, but for the most part he’s just reporting on what happened that day. Oh and his method of dating is something else. Each year is designated by a landmark event that occurred. (Well, landmark for Piranesi). He has a charm about him in how self-sufficient he is. He’s an incredibly caring person and very cunning, being able to craft things from fish leather for example. He can also be a bit insufferable and incredibly naïve. Then again the Other also be a bit insufferable. He doesn’t have the same energy the Piranesi has, but it’s a nice contrast nonetheless.
Things definitely get darker as the story progresses. We start to see the cracks forming in Piranesi’s childlike wonder and resilience the further into his writings we get. But maybe at the end of that dark corner, we’ll see a light we can walk towards.
For me personally the only complaints I have is at the very end. Without saying too much, there’s something that happens with the protagonist that I almost felt came out of the blue. I would’ve loved maybe one or two more journal entries where we read about the process taking place. There was also a part where Piranesi discovers some litter that I don’t know was ever fully explained. It felt a bit like a “Oh. … okay then” moment to me.
Piranesi is a book that sweeps you away like the Tides. It’s like being in another World, isolated yet not without the company of statues that watch over and protect you. Reading it is like discovering old letters from a stranger you’re sure you’d be great friends with.
(I received a copy of the book from the publisher.)
