Piranesi (Book Review)
English

Piranesi (Book Review)

by

literature
fantasy
"The beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite."

Some books are funny; some are intriguing; some are just interesting; but some books are contemplative. This was Susana Clarke's Piranesi for me. Before starting Piranesi, I had just finished a tough book, and I was looking for a kind of resting reading. And what a perfect choice. Susana Clark's magical universe is different from almost everything I had read before. Familiar but groundbreaking at the same time. To be honest, I read a review after finishing Piranesi saying that Susana Clarke got inspiration from Jose Luis Borges, and now I think that makes sense. On the one hand, I had the same contemplative feeling reading Borges. On the other, I felt a more fluid reading following Piranesi's journal entries than Borges' tales. Yes, Clarke's book is a fictional journal of a character called Piranesi. He lives in a world that is a house; a house with untold rooms and vestibules, statues and stairways. A house with an ocean imprisoned in the first floor, and clouds hovering in the third. A whole world with two living inhabitants; Piranesi and the Other. It's amazing how this book begins with confusing and unpretentious journal's entries, and unfolds to an intriguing mystery. I just couldn't stop reading.

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