Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
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 patter 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.
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This was one of the strangest books I’ve ever read but, at the same time, one of the most intricate and captivating. I’ll be honest up front, I’m not sure this book was my cup of tea, however, I can admit that the writing was beautiful, the plot was very interesting, and the characterizations were unique. I did find this to be slow for the first half so I had a tough time getting through it but once it picked up, it really picked up. I heard one person describe it as a puzzle box which I think is the most accurate description of this book. Once one piece shifted, the rest began to move into place.
If you like somewhat strange stories without your typical 4-stage plot, there’s no question that you’ll like this. It reminded me a bit of a Gaiman novel in its whimsy but stood wholly alone in terms of plot. I did go into this expecting some ties to Greek Mythology but there were less than I expected. Minotaurs, a labyrinth, that’s about as far as it went which disappointed me a little bit but I really enjoyed our main character. Even being in first person point of view the entire book, this character still feels a mystery to me which makes him all the more interesting. It was interesting to see the changes in thought process throughout the story anytime a new puzzle piece was revealed, a new riddle solved.
The plot wasn’t something I can even describe. It was nothing I expected yet entranced me just the same. Was I disappointed it wasn’t your typical story with a problem and resolution? A bit, yeah. But did I still enjoy it immensely? Definitely yeah. I found the setting to be disconcerting, making me uncomfortable enough to keep questioning what was going on. It was like a mystery without fully being a mystery. Am I confusing you yet? Good. Because I was very confused yet in the end it all made sense. Riddle me that.
If you like strange stories, a bit of mystery, or are an expert at puzzles, this is the perfect fit. I did give it 3.5 stars because of my frustration on the resolution and the slow pace throughout the first half, however, those things aside, I found this book quite enjoyable.