Piranesi

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is one of my favorite books of the last few years. It is a story that can be read a philosophy, a look at the human condition, or just a beautiful story of the awe people see in the world around them.

The House has hundreds of rooms and vestibules, all filled with statures. All room's statues are different than those of the other rooms. And the House makes up the entirety of the world.

A few rooms have collapse into the sea and become the Drowned Rooms where you can fish, collect seaweed and watch the birds.

Piranesi knows the house. He has explored and mapped his world. He knows the tides that sometimes close off sections. He has made a life with what his world has to offer.

The only other living person in this life, simply called the Other, meets with him twice per week. He is researching a Great and Secret Knowledge. He and Piranesi could not be more different in their approach to life.

This is all I can say without giving too much away. I absolutely love this book. Buy a copy today from your favorite local bookshop. 

Clarke, Susanna. (2020). Piranesi. New York: Bloomsbury.