Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Oh. My. Gosh. Why did I wait so long to read this?

This story is mind bending. I gasped and squealed (in excitement, fear, and something akin to “What” which I also said and whispered out loud several times). My eyes are still wide from what I just read.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is not about a minotaur playing a trumpet on a random pillar as I thought the cover meant to say. It is about a man. I cannot say anything else because the entire book is a plot twist as intricate and intense as the twisting halls and tides in the house (vast, vast world) where it takes place.

The worldbuilding? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The writing style? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The audiobook narrator? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (There was a certain intimate humanity he gave certain thoughts and dialogue that captivated me)

The characters? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love it when a book has enough power to make your heart race and my heart is still beating faster after listening to the last 2 hours of this book today. Piranesi is a master class in unreliable narrator as well as an amazing depiction of the traditional story arc where the hero starts out as one person, becomes a new person during the events of the story in the “Other World,” and must yet still become someone new as they return to and confront the unchanged primary world with the “Elixir” of knowledge/change.

The only problem I have with this book that I can think of right now is the cover art which misled and confused me and made me wait to read this book for at least a year or two.

This reminded me a little of The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez, but shorter and lot easier to follow and, perhaps because of that, far more intense. I’m going to go scream wordlessly at a house or seaside or statue now because my emotions are everywhere due to this book.

Edit: I found a playlist to meditate to instead. This captures the essence of this book, Piranesi, incredibly well. I could see so many of the scenes playing out before me while listening to the music after finishing the book. I can only imagine the effect it would have had if I were reading it while listening to this playlist. ❤ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1dN9qh5la5bwW723NdJFoN?si=8HV454-oSPmpjs4jZoMHig&pi=hv4XaP8lTe-Dm