Piranesi by Susanna Clarke : Book Review

When I write about a book, I most often explain what happens in a book. I hope this is useful to some, but it is largely for me. By writing the events of a book it helps me to solidify them in my mind so I am more likely to remember them and lets me think through what parts of the books were interesting to me. I can’t do that with “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke. That is in part because there is little I could say about the plot that I wouldn’t consider spoiling it, it is in part because I barely know what happened and third because you could arguably say that very little actually happens in the book.

What Did I think of “Piranesi” By Susanna Clarke

One could assume that I didn’t like “Piranesi” by the by introduction. You wouldn’t be entirely wrong. I strongly dislike this type of book. I don’t want a book that is intoxicating, hypnotic or dreamlike and have trouble understanding why other people do. I want a book with people that make sense, with events that happen in some logical way, and preferably without far more pages of description than is necessary. It felt like a book written by an author who wanted to prove that she was smarter than the reader and did so by writing something that felt like it might make sense if you were just a bit smarter but is eternally out of reach.

That makes it odd that by the end of this story, I really enjoyed it. The slowly unraveling of what happened was well paced and the world it created while dreamlike also had a tangibility that made it feel like somewhere that could exist on some edge of reality. The descriptions while far too much were at least of an interesting world. And while much of the book never really was explained if you take the leap that the magic in this story is what it says it is then it is satisfying enough though there is really not much that happens and what happens feels as if it’s an excuse more than a plot.

But while much of that could frustrate, it’s clear that isn’t what the book is trying to do. I think the entire point of the book is to put you into the mindset of the main character. A mindset that is described as that of the ancients. People who believed that the world was alive, and that magic existed. People who focused more everyday survival that on owning things or trying to control the world. And in that, I think she probably got about as close as one can to that feeling. And being able to understand how other people think is one of the biggest draws for reading compared to any other media because it’s one of the things it can do better than any of them.

Conclusion

I don’t know if I can recommend “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke because I really don’t know why I enjoyed it. For me it was a frustrating but very well written book that didn’t do what I want from a book but did what it wanted very well. If you enjoy books like “The Night Circus” then this might be perfect for you, as might it be if you’re more interested in how a book makes you feel than what happens, then this might be perfect for you. But if you, like me, prefer books with interesting plots and events that make logical sense, this may not be something you enjoy, but I still think it could be useful in expanding the way you think.