Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
A book review by Mina
Piranesi’s house is unique. It holds infinite rooms, lined with different statues. Within
the halls of Piranesi’s house is a trapped ocean, causing rooms to flood, but Piranesi is not afraid
and is well-prepared. He understands the oceans and understands the navigation through the
corridors. His main purpose is to explore for himself and for The Other, the one other person in
the house who visits Piranesi twice a week to ask for help with research into A Great and Secret
Knowledge. As Piranesi explores, there is evidence that there may be more than one person in
the house. The truth begins to unravel, opening Piranesi to another alternative world.
Piranesi is a very intricate book throughout. It was extremely unique through the
storytelling and the description. It is told through a limited point of view through journaling.
Piranesi journals and readers are essentially reading his writing, which allows the reader to
follow along as Piranesi is exploring. I found this to be both frustrating and intriguing. At one
instance, I liked the limited view because it allows for more surprise and a biased opinion. At the
opposite end, this book would’ve been more descriptive and the world-building would have been
more developed and descriptive, but I think the limited view plays into this
lack-of-description-narrative when describing the world. As a romance reader and this book
having no romance, I found this book to be beautifully written and nuanced. It was poetic. The
story is clearly trying to get at a bigger picture. It’s an extremely short read, but Clarke makes it
extremely compelling and entertaining. I wouldn’t necessarily call this suspense, but I was
flipping pages waiting to see what the big discovery was. While the ending was all wrapped up, I
found myself wondering who Piranesi was and what he would be and what his future choices
would be.
Put Piranesi on hold today!
Books similar to Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
● Babel by R.F. Kuang
● Circe by Madeline Miller
● The Secret History by Donna Tartt
● A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
● The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
