If you want to fast-forward by four and a half minutes, you should probably do that, if you’re planning on reading this book.” I dutifully obeyed. He prefaced his remarks by saying, “It’s quite a hard novel to talk about, because the less you know about it, going into it, the better. Andy Miller, cohost of the smart, bookish podcast Backlisted, raved about it on the November 23 episode. I glimpsed the reviews, just enough to learn that (a) the book was good and (b) I should be even more vigilant about spoilers when it came to this unexpected gem. I didn’t return to the book, and hardly thought of Clarke until last fall, when her surprise follow-up Piranesi (Bloomsbury, $27) appeared. The years, a whole bunch of them, passed. Though the specifics have faded, this bout of literary bondage remains one of my most memorable reading experiences. Indeed, the tying-something I’ve never inflicted on a book since-had the quality of a thaumaturgic ritual. One day, I came across a length of twine, and instantly its purpose was apparent to me: I neatly tied the fat book up, quartering it like a parcel without the wrapping.Īptly enough, the book that cast such a spell on me was about magicians: Susanna Clarke’s 2004 debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I had only finished a third, perhaps less. I could have given it away, of course, or simply tossed the thing, but surely at some point-when this oppressive spell of work was over-I’d want to dive back in. (The book was very long, over eight hundred pages I didn’t have the time.) But the tome kept jumping back into my hands. If I were to get any of my own work done, I needed to hide it. These notable elements underscore how little actually happens throughout the novel, especially in terms of characterization or growth.A DECADE AND A HALF AGO, a book so enchanted me that it was hard to pull away. Piranesi is a fascinating exercise in craft as Clarke expertly manages both the narrative and plot with well-timed reveals and twists. For a story that starts so big, with so many vast possibilities, the final outcome feels like the least compelling direction Piranesi could have taken. Unfortunately, the actual ending is not as compelling as the buildup no one is settled or even okay by the end, nothing is resolved. Even the meandering, stream of consciousness style of much of the book can’t diminish the tension as the novel builds inexorably to its climax. The intricate unfolding of the plot contrasts sharply with mounting urgency as The Other tries to find the mysterious new person and kill them while Piranesi tries to save them. Despite the quirks of Piranesi’s first-person narration and the idiosyncrasies of the book’s structure, readers are immediately drawn into this strange and layered story. There is simultaneously a lot to talk about here and very little that can be said without revealing spoilers (which I have avoided here).Ĭlarke is an excellent writer. Piranesi is Clarke’s deceptively slim followup to her blockbuster novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Will they be friend as Piranesi hopes? Foe as The Other warns? As Piranesi comes closer to answering these questions he will also unravel an awful truth as vast and immeasurable as the House itself in Piranesi (2020) by Susanna Clarke. But even with his intimate knowledge of the House and its workings, Piranesi doesn’t know what it means when evidence of another Person emerges. It provides everything that Piranesi needs. The Beauty of the House is immeasurable its Kindness infinite. There is one other living person in The House: The Other, a man searching for A Great and Secret Knowledge that Piranesi suspects he may never find. He visits his favorite Statues and, most importantly, he tends to the House as he explores its vast spaces. He can navigate the Halls and track the Tides. Piranesi understands the House and its ways intimately. Water moves through these Halls, waves flooding and draining according to the changing of the Tides. Connected by endless corridors and Vestibules with walls lined with thousands of Statues–each unique in both appearance and in name.
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