Oh this book is very much full of the kind of stuff I like. Stuck in a huge labyrinth like house full of statues and with floors in intermittently flooded by the ocean, the narrator believes they are exploring the known universe. The reader can tell they are probably somebody trapped in a magical place an were originally from contemporary London but ‘Piranesi’ is under the impression they have always lived in the halls of the vast house.
5 responses to “Currently Reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke”
The worst the book reviewer in Private Eye, who has a caustic and cynical eye, could find to say about this was that “it ends up seeming ever-so-slightly twee”.
This was an interesting one for me – I liked it a bit, but not as much as the critical acclaim did. (My review is drafted but not published yet, or I’d link you to it). You’re not up to the points where my biggest complaints come in, so I’ll be very vague here, but I loved the atmosphere and the character of Piranesi/The Narrator, but I felt we spend too long with his story (which is weird since it’s a short book!) and I really wanted to see his story contrasted with that of a spoiler character, who forms a clear contrast with him by the book’s ending, but whom we barely get to see honestly. I’m not sure how Clarke could’ve pulled that off, honestly, with the way the book is told, but it felt like a gap in the story i was hoping for that I would’ve preferred filled over the focus it did have in the end, to make the ending hit as hard as it was aiming for.
This high up on my TBR but Yoon Ha Lee’s latest just mysteriously appeared on my Kindle as well, so it’s moved a little further down. And I’m still slowly making my way through Flowers of Mold.
Camestros Felapton 
5 responses to “Currently Reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke”
The worst the book reviewer in Private Eye, who has a caustic and cynical eye, could find to say about this was that “it ends up seeming ever-so-slightly twee”.
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Oh good. I bought this recently and it’s pretty close to the top of my TBR list.
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This was an interesting one for me – I liked it a bit, but not as much as the critical acclaim did. (My review is drafted but not published yet, or I’d link you to it). You’re not up to the points where my biggest complaints come in, so I’ll be very vague here, but I loved the atmosphere and the character of Piranesi/The Narrator, but I felt we spend too long with his story (which is weird since it’s a short book!) and I really wanted to see his story contrasted with that of a spoiler character, who forms a clear contrast with him by the book’s ending, but whom we barely get to see honestly. I’m not sure how Clarke could’ve pulled that off, honestly, with the way the book is told, but it felt like a gap in the story i was hoping for that I would’ve preferred filled over the focus it did have in the end, to make the ending hit as hard as it was aiming for.
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Well I will look forward to your review when I’ve finished
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This high up on my TBR but Yoon Ha Lee’s latest just mysteriously appeared on my Kindle as well, so it’s moved a little further down. And I’m still slowly making my way through Flowers of Mold.
LikeLiked by 1 person