Along the way, we explore the history of human knowledge. The eponymous narrator himself guides us methodically through his observations of The House, and as he does so, slowly the interactions he has, along with his own prior observations, begin to unfold what and where this place is. Clarke is calling back to the legend of Theseus on Minos, and we too must find our way out of the bewildering labyrinth as we explore it through the journals of Piranesi. Symbolised by Clarke’s narrator when he is in the Hall of the Minotaurs, we too must follow a thread of logic and empirical observation to work out exactly what this enigma might signify. As with The Drowned Man, in Clarke’s Piranesi, we strive toward a gestalt that will make the whole bewildering thing make sense. The great enigma set up at the start of the book has two really strong resonances for me.įirstly, it feels like the written counterpart to an immersive theatre production – something like the disorienting alternative world of The Drowned Man that sprawled through the massive Paddington Post Office sorting office in 2013 – a series of unexplained vistas and art installations with scenes unfolding that had their own internal logic from which explanation was withheld. And that enigma drives the reader on to find some sort of answer, following the central character’s methodical hunt for the truth about his world and himself. What is this bewildering world which gives us no clues to its meaning? Is it a metaphor? Are we in some strange psychodrama? Is it simply the hallucination of a madman? And if not, what, exactly? The early sections of the book circumscribe what we know to the limited experience of the narrator, the strange hermit-like Piranesi who believes himself to be a child of the great sprawling and impossible mansion that is The House. Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi offers us a scintillating glimpse into a world of strange magic, with its own rules and internal logic. The past becomes clear, the crime is solved and the bad guys get their comeuppance, but Piranisi isn’t that interested in going back to his old life.Piranesi… an extraordinary journey deep into the labyrinth… This seems to be mostly about the quiet setting and the journey. On the less positive side, it feels like there’s not that much of a point to the story. As we read, Piranisi comes into clear focus as person suffering from amnesia, irrevocably changed by the strange environment. The labyrinth is carefully constructed, and the serene quality of the narrative really stands out. The Other helps Piranisi out some, but doesn’t seem that interested in really looking after him, only using him as a tool to record information about the labyrinth world. Those skeletons also suggest he’s not the first victim, and that the others didn’t fare as well against the tides and the possibility of dying in this prison from starvation and exposure. This is a quick, easy read, basically a detective story, as Piranesi is the victim of a crime that slowly takes shape as he reads back through his journal and tracks down the missing pages. And yes, there are Minotaurs in this labyrinth, but I was disappointed that they’re only marble. Should Piranesi approach the intruder, or not? Are they really dangerous?įor anyone who’s wondering, Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) was an archeologist, architect and artist who left behind strange etchings of mysterious prisons. Piranesi finds pages apparently torn out of his journal that detail another world, and a strange interloper appears that the Other says means harm. It’s a quiet, serene existence that suddenly changes when evidence emerges that all is not as it seems. There is one Other who appears about twice a week and asks Piranesi for help with his research into a secret knowledge. He finds many wonders in the labyrinth including skeletons that show other people once lived here. Piranesi fills his time with gathering things to eat, in exploring and in making entries in his journal about the schedule of the most dangerous tides. The halls and corridors seem to be infinite, all filled with mysterious stone statues and sometimes flooded by the ocean’s tides. Norrell won various awards, and this follow up is a New York Times Bestseller. Clarke is British and well established as a short story writer. It was published by Bloomsbury in September 2020, and runs 272 pages. This fantasy novel is a finalist for the 2020 Nebula Award.
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