4thace reviewed Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (duplicate)
A story set in a building unlike anything we know
4 stars
I think of this book as a novella but that is only in comparison with her first novel of over three times the page count of this one. The two works are quite different in most respects, despite both being in the fantasy genre. This story is told in journal entries by he viewpoint character but I think the true motivating factor for writing it is the unusual setting in a labyrinthine house with rooms swept and sculpted by the sea. There is a profusion of elaborate sculptures in every hall but no human designer and very few human characters present. In time we hear about the backstory of these players but never any full explanation for how the house came to be. The conflict comes from an antagonism between the characters, the narrator included, along with the sometimes violent working of the tides. The main character discovers that he …
I think of this book as a novella but that is only in comparison with her first novel of over three times the page count of this one. The two works are quite different in most respects, despite both being in the fantasy genre. This story is told in journal entries by he viewpoint character but I think the true motivating factor for writing it is the unusual setting in a labyrinthine house with rooms swept and sculpted by the sea. There is a profusion of elaborate sculptures in every hall but no human designer and very few human characters present. In time we hear about the backstory of these players but never any full explanation for how the house came to be. The conflict comes from an antagonism between the characters, the narrator included, along with the sometimes violent working of the tides. The main character discovers that he has forgotten most of his life while he was placed within the house and goes through his numerous journal entries to reconstruct what might have happened. The details of how people are able to travel to the secondary world are left a mystery. There is some suggestion that the sculptures are derived from events on earth arranged to express some essential meaning behind things. To me, it seemed like living in a vast museum that appeals to the eye and touch but leaves off any mention of the provenance of its collection. I thought the novel setting was the most successful aspect of the novel.
