Spoiler-free
Piranesi is without doubt a modern fantasy classic. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is one of my all time favourite books, so I was very excited for the release of Piranesi back in 2020, and it didn’t disappoint. Going into this reread I was slightly apprehensive that it wouldn’t hold up to my past estimations. However, I have been flirting with the idea of gifting Piranesi to my Dad for Christmas, given its short length and intriguing mystery. Also, despite giving this book 5 stars, I had actually forgotten pretty much everything about it, so rereading this was just like experiencing the mysterious whimsy for the first time. Having a shit memory really is a superpower.
Honestly, if you are even remotely interested in picking this one up, It is 100% one of those books that benefits from going in completely blind. A big part of the enjoyment is figuring out this mystery, along with our main character. This book is a puzzle. Not one which can be difficult or frustrating, but rather one such as a Jigsaw, taking you on a pleasant journey, rewarding you with a pretty picture, as the individual pieces fit together at a steady pace.
We are taken on this journey, by reading the journals of our main character, Piranesi. He recounts his experiences in a Labyrinth, with its seemingly endless halls, proud with its abundance of statues. His character voice is meticulously crafted, allowing the text to flow across the page as a wave crashing through those very halls. There is a very cinematic feel to the writing and the whimsy of the story is not lost when finding out more secrets of the world. The way Piranesi talks through his day to day life, along with his various theories in his journal, is fascinating. A lot of the fun of this book is figuring out what the hell is going on. So don’t worry if you are confused.
There’s not much more I want to say in this spoiler-free section, scared to reveal too much. It’s a very short, quick read, so you can simply pick it up in the bookshop, read the first couple pages and you will have a very good idea of whether it’s for you or not.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 5 stars!
P.S. I feel a ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell’ reread creeping towards me.
Spoiler Chat
Despite having already read Piranesi, when I read the first few pages I was instantly like “Okay, what the hell is going on?” I didn’t try to fight my memory to piece the puzzle together early, but rather allowed myself to be swept along with the tides of the story once more. It was great!
What struck me on this read through was how early on we get the impression that ‘the Other’ is untrustworthy. I can’t remember exactly how I felt on my first read, but I feel as though I was potentially too overwhelmed by the setting, the journal dates, and Piranesi's cadence of writing, to fully absorb everything in. This time I knew what to expect in that regard, so I was much more focused on the characters and their possible intent. At no point did I trust the Other. He was sketchy from the start, clearly withdrawing a lot of information. I was also surprised how quickly it is hinted at him being from the ‘other world’, by the description of ‘his shiny device’. This is obviously a mobile phone, but I don’t think I picked up on that on my first read through. At least not so early on.
As stated before, Piranesi going through all his thoughts and ideas regarding, not only the Other, but the world at large, is incredibly engaging. It’s clear that he’s a very astute and intellectual man, despite having a seemingly narrow scope of the world. At least, the ‘other world’. As for the world of the Labyrinth, there’s no one else who has a larger scope of the world. It’s fascinating to read from a perspective that’s so smart and switched on, despite lacking a lot of information. Therefore the conclusions he comes up with, based on the limited information he possesses, are very creative and unique.
I am so happy that there actually was an occultist ritual. The mystery of this story could have ventured into any direction. Perhaps, Piranesi was a prisoner gone mad, imagining his surroundings to provide entertainment in his bleak solitude. Perhaps, the Other isn’t real and simply an imagination conjured up by Piranesi for comfort. And of course, perhaps, it was all a dream… Okay, thank fuck it wasn’t that one… Having the outcome be Piranesi finding himself trapped in the Labyrinth as the result of an occultist ritual is my preferred outcome. I loved the angle of him not believing in the ritual, but being a scientist willing to rule out all potential results of his hypothesis. Susanna Clarke is truly a master at writing these scholar type characters.
There is an argument to be made that the world in which Piranesi stayed in was all in his mind, and was a coping mechanism for his decaying mental illness/potential breakdown. This is what Mathew Rose Sorensen’s family chose to believe:
"Matthew Rose Sorensen's mother and father and sisters and friends tell each other that this is a description of a mental breakdown seen from the inside; an explanation they find reasonable, perhaps even reassuring."
Therefore, you could take this quote and decide that this entire book was an allegory for mental health, delusions, hallucinations, and internal suffering. While there is no right or wrong answer, simply interpretation, I personally don’t like this spin on the narrative. I believe that this explanation is a way that Mathew’s family can cope and come to understand the inexplicable alterations in their loved one’s character. After all, why would they believe in other worlds, when they haven’t been there themselves? It was due to Mathew’s own scepticism and curious intellect that encouraged him to rule out the possibility of the occult, which resulted in him getting trapped in the other world in the first place. Furthermore, this explanation of being an allegory for mental health, doesn’t explain to me how others, such as Raphael, were able to visit this world. Representation of deteriorating mental health unequivocally plays a role in the story, as Piranesi is still showing definite sides of madness and memory loss. However, I also believe that the occultist ritual worked, and the search for knowledge seemed to be more worthwhile than perhaps first thought.
So referring back to my initial intent on rereading this book, I pose myself the question: “Will my Dad enjoy this book?”
Answer: Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is that he will find the mystery interesting, and will no doubt appreciate how unique the story telling is. As to what he takes from it, I am unsure if he will appreciate the outcome of the plot, but I would be curious as to his theories, and what he got from the book, if anything. It is also very short, so the likelihood of him actually reading it, is much higher than other potential gifts. Therefore, I will give him the book for Christmas, and patiently wait to hear his thoughts.
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