Jan 8, 2025 3:38 PM
I’ve never read her previous novel, but I picked this up on a whim in a book store and breezed through it. Very nicely developed and written, exploring themes of solitude and identity. The main character is one of the most charming that I’ve encountered in a very long time, sweet in a way that wasn’t annoying — really quite a feat in itself I think.
It’s really inventive and has a “world-building” (although I’m loathe to use that term, it’s probably the best term to use) that is beautiful and mysterious. To my taste she revealed neither too little nor too much.
One less-than-positive thought was that I felt the reader was a bit too far ahead of Piranesi in regards to the unraveling of the mystery. You kind of get the gist of what’s going on much earlier (basically at the beginning) than it may have meant to be explained. But to me it didn’t matter because the wonder of the book is just being with Piranesi as he learns about the world around him.
Worth reading, and I would definitely pick it up again for a weekend read and would look forward to reading something else by the author.
2 Comments
11 months ago
I loved this book so much! "Charming" is a great word to describe the narrator. I did love the first half more than the second half, though, personally; wasn't super stoked on the direction the plot/explanation took. I think I might just appreciate vague metaphysical musings and such over more "concrete" sort of developments, although that may easily just be chalked up to personal taste. I just thought the first half was a lot more "profound" than the book as a whole ended up being. Although I thought the last couple pages wrapped up the book quite nicely! Thanks for sharing.
11 months ago
Yes I agree with you, the drive of the plot near the end was much less interesting than the beginning, I think because for so long you basically know around 80% of the 'mystery' and so much of the last chunk is devoted to the details of the remaining 20%. I think the length helps, if the book were twice as long yet the proportions were the same, it would not have worked as well. Thanks for the comment :)