The majesty and wonder of the ancients are seemingly lost to time and progress, but could it possible that such knowledge was ever really lost? Might it somehow still exist, but elsewhere?

Such is the theory that Clarke takes on in her new novel. Readers are presented with the journal writings of our protagonist, who is writing from a place unknown, but seemingly elsewhere. This place is sublime and palatial, abounding with statuary, columns, stairs, labyrinthine passageways leading to wonders known and unknown. There are stars, oceans and birds, but little else. Remnants of a lost civilization? Perhaps, but civilizations, old and new generally offer evidence of people. Here, the numbers are shockingly few. For the most part, our protagonist is largely on his own—a stranger in a strange land, exploring and surviving.

Our protagonist’s entries have a free and trusting childlike innocence, an innocence that some readers might find slightly bewildering. Our narrator is gullible, and at times, his sense of trust leads him to seemingly fail in recognizing that some events or situations might not be quite right. Red flags of mystery abound; but are largely ignored. There are even a few situations that can only be described as comically sinister. Readers will find the first line of Mary Howitt’s poem applicable: “Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly.

This is not really a pleasant story to read. There’s an underlying cruelty that some readers might find disturbing. As well, some scenes and descriptions that are introduced don’t really offer much in the way of closure. Loss abounds, and the past and present seemingly cannot exist together. Knowledge is lost and regained, but understanding, acceptance and happiness is arguably fleeting.

This is not really a book that one can describe in terms of likes or dislikes. Rather, it’s a book that asks readers to observe, think, consider and to discuss.

PIRANESI is one of those rare books that doesn't just transport you to a different reality, it alters the one you're in. Clarke is a peerless world-builder, and she's at her best in this book, which despite its length (at under 300 pages) is rich with detail. Her physical descriptions of the house are meticulous and comprehensive. Reading them, it was like I had a film reel running through my head the entire time: I stood beside Piranesi as he greeted the albatross, I could locate each statue with precision, and I could see how the tides came in through each room. Add to that the novel's deep emotional resonance and you have a masterpiece.

What a remarkable reading experience! I was clueless at what to expect from reading this marvelous book. I did know I was looking for a read that would take me away from the daily bombardment of news about a vicious and unrelenting virus spreading throughout the world. This book took me to a place I could escape this horrible reality for at least a while. I admit I was perplexed as to what I was actually reading about. I was so focused on rationalizing the characters Piranesi and Other that I was missing the wonderful story being told. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a break from the strife and distress of the alarming news we are being constantly being saturated with and as yet with no end in sight. I plan to reread this book at a more leisurely pace to dwell in the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides which thunder up staircases and everything else occurring in the House.

Imagine waking in the middle of a 3D labyrinth populated by only statues, neoclassical architecture, the sea and clouds. It would be confusing at first, certainly, just as the first chapters of Susanna Clarke's new speculative fiction novel are. But as you wander this world with the character Piranesi, you'll become oriented to this strangeness of marble and chalk, seaweed and fish leather. I use the word 'strange' on purpose. It is a word you might associate with Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, but be warned, the two books are very different. Piranesi requires patience, but as its mystery wrapped in fantasy wrapped in surreality reveals itself, you might, as I did, fall deeply into its thrall.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke was so different from anything else I've read, but it was captivating and brilliant and difficult to put down. I think the less you know about the book, the better because it was very mysterious. I was immediately drawn into the characters even though there were several untrustworthy ones and the narrator wasn't 100% reliable. But I thought that the writing was clever and revealed things at just the right time. It did not take me a long time to read the book and part of me wished it had been longer - I just enjoyed it so much!

A very strange book, but quite engrossing. I found the mystery pretty easy to unravel, but there's still great joy in watching the character figure it out. The style of the POV is fresh and intriguing. It's also highly visual, and as someone with a very visual imagination, I enjoyed that. (It would adapt well to film, I think.)

I remain mystified by the way Clarke writes women (or, mostly, doesn't).

I was attracted to this because I loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and I requested it based on my faith in Clarke’s talent. Tonally, it’s quite different from her first novel, but her imagination really shines, and she still surprised a laugh out of me more than once. I hope lots of people give it a chance to delight them.

It would be hard to surpass <em>Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell</em>, my favorite book of all time, but I did very much enjoy this long-awaited second novel from Susanna Clarke.

This epistolary novel goes beyond the lengthy references to imaginary books in Johnathan Strange, in that instead the whole thing is an imaginary book—the journal of a man sometimes called Piranesi.

The central truth of the novel is almost immediately evident to the reader, though not to its narrator until nearly the end. Usually, figuring out mysteries long before characters do frustrates me; I feel like I'm spending the majority of a book just waiting for them to catch up. But in this case it's not only purposeful and a large part of the characterization of the narrator, it's actually very pleasurable—like an episode of Columbo, where you know exactly who did what and how, and the joy is in learning how Columbo will figure it out.

This is a wildly creative book that is also hauntingly beautiful. It is wonderful to find a book that brings so much magic to the page. I read nothing about the book before I started and instantly fell under its spell. I love the main character and his almost spiritual connection to "the house". The way the truth was revealed was also extremely artfully done. I had trouble putting it down to go to bed and go to work!

I loved this book. The characters are well written and stay with you long after you finish the book. The author's descriptions of the halls is amazing and I found that I wanted to explore more with Piranesi. The themes of loneliness and isolation are so relevant to our times today. It is the perfect read.

Amazing, puzzling, a bit angsty at first. What is that thing about a puzzle wrapped in an enigma (or maybe the other way around)? Whatever it is, this book is it. Piranesi made me think of Candide, an optimistic innocent exploring the World (his caps, not mine).
The puzzle began to resolve and I felt relief and joy for this character, my friend. Slightly confusing at first; hence the angst. but stick with it and you will be greatly rewarded.
I want to read it again. Right now.

This book is definitively not Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in terms of setting or scope. Where it is like JSMN is in the narrative rule-breaking, the disregard for making an approachable book instead of creating a thing unto itself. It is not convoluted, but involuted. Like Piranesi, Clarke knows the way through the labyrinth, but the reader cannot navigate it on their own.

She conjures very solid characters despite the brevity of our time with them and the limits of the narrator's knowledge. The narrator may in some ways be formless and wan, but the others are sharply delineated by dialogue and description, and with such exact and memorable names.

There's a curiously lacking life-force, perhaps in part due to the hollowed-out setting filled with statues. I love a labyrinth and I love the reference to Plato's Forms, and the story depends on the solitary isolation of the narrator, but it left me longing for more connection. The story itself picked up after 60 pages, and I kept going back to double-check earlier references that made more sense the more I knew, but second-glance satisfaction isn't nearly so rewarding as being in the story's grips from the start.

Piranesi
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a surreal marvel of a story. Piranesi lives in a world enclosed by walls, a vast labyrinthine structure confining an ocean, that he names the House. The House contains huge rooms filled with statues and winding halls that connect them. The tides of the ocean sweep through the halls, bringing Piranesi fish and sometimes floods. The only other beings in this world are birds, which occasionally nest in the rooms, skeletons, and a man whom Piranesi names the Other. As the story unwinds, Piranesi becomes aware that the Other comes from a different world, and that there are more of his kind who have visited the House before and may come again. The Other warns Piranesi against these visitors, but as more information becomes available to him, Piranesi wonders if the Other is indeed the wise companion he has always trusted. Then the woman Raphael appears. Who is his friend, and who is his enemy?
Told from the point of view of Piranesi by means of his journal entries, Clarke’s novel is full of fabulous imagery and startling revelations. The entries document Piranesi’s shifting perceptions as he wanders through the maze of the House and of his own divided mind.
Clarke’s poetic language and a compelling plot make the reader’s journey through the story mesmerizing. I finished the book in two days because it was so hard to stop reading! I highly recommend the book for those who enjoy literary fantasy and mystery.

Magic and mystery entwine into a labyrinth of literary wonder in Susanna Clarke's new novel, Piranesi. Clarke's first novel since Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Who is Piranesi? Where is the mysterious endlessly chambered house filled with gigantic statues, clouds and oceans that makes up the entirety of Piranesi's world? What does it mean that the only other living person that Piranesi interacts with, the Other, seems to be from our world; a world alien to Piranesi? Clarke keeps you entranced and intrigued as the charming Piranesi finds the clues that link the impossible house with our mundane world. Clarke still has the magic and this book is a feat of literary legerdemain that must be read to be believed.

Susanna Clarke's imagination is truly astonishing. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is one of my all-time favorite books, so my hopes for this one were high. I was not disappointed! Though they're very different books and questions abound at the start of Piranesi, I was drawn into the story and the sense that there was a deeper mystery unfolding here. An intriguing meditation on reality and memory, I was fully invested in Piranesi and his stories. This is one I'll be thinking about for a long time.

Don't read about this book before starting, just start reading. I really believe you'll enjoy this book the most if you don't read descriptions about what it's about. I loved it and I think that is because I was thrown into a fascinating new place with an unreliable narrator. A lot of the enjoyment for me was the amazing setting and the slow revealing of information about what is going on. I highly recommend this one.

This book was so unique. The parallel universe was fascinating, though following all of the halls and vestibules was exhausting at times. All of the characters were interesting, and I enjoyed their interactions. The ending was very sweet, and understanding between Piranesi and James Ritter was really touching.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi is the long-awaited new book by Susanna Clarke, published 15 years after her international bestseller Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Piranesi's subject and feel is a departure from her first book, but it is by no means less brilliant and captivating. Clarke shows her skill of beautiful world building and creating characters that one feels like they know and will miss when the tale is ended.
The story of Piranesi and the House is both haunting and beautiful. I could tell fairly early on what was happening, but it in no way diminished the joy and thrill of seeing how it all played out. The end had a bittersweet feel that left me wanting to stay with the characters longer and continue to converse with them.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke will be published on September 15, 2020.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for this ARC.

This is one of the most cinematic books I have ever read. It is a feat of imagination. Be prepared to expand your mind a little before you start this. It challenges perceptions of reality and identity. It's going to take you to another world of labyrinth halls, marbles statues and sweeping tides of sea. What a pleasure to read. This book is a gift to readers everywhere.

As I may have mentioned twenty-two thousand times, I gave up magical thinking in 2019, and this was very smart of me because 2020 turned out to be a magical thinking minefield. Luckily I have a — actually, I have lost control of this metaphor and do not know what sort of a thing you’d use to protect against a minefield. I’m coming up all mine-sniffing animals, and I don’t want my very successful self-administered cognitive behavioral therapy to feel in any way connected with exploding rats or whatever. What I’m saying is, I am safe from the minefield of magical thinking that is 2019.

However, had I not given up magical thinking in 2019, I would have had to admit that it is not real when it was announced that Susanna Clarke had a new book coming out, because I admit that I have not kept the faith. In the last few years, I had said out loud to more than one person, “Susanna Clarke will only ever write one novel.” I had said, “But that’s okay! She has already given us perfection. I could not ask for more.” And that’s not the kind of attitude which (if magical thinking were real) gets you Piranesi in September 2020. What gets you Piranesi in September 2020 (if magical thinking were real) would be keeping the faith in spite of all the odds. Which I did not do. Which proves magical thinking doesn’t work.

Anyway, as you remember, Susanna Clarke wrote Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell way back in 2004, dayenu. And this year she wrote Piranesi, a pithy novel of a mere 272 pages about a man who lives alone (?) in an endless House comprising statues and floods and rotting things, and I really loved it.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The writing style of Piranesi isn’t tremendously similar to the writing style of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, because Susanna Clarke is a beautiful genius and I’ll fight you. What is similar is the fact that if you’re not enjoying the writing by about 10% of the way through the book, the book is probably not for you and you can move on to other pursuits. Piranesi (his name isn’t Piranesi) is extremely intelligent yet very innocent, and all you can think from very early on is “ack I want to protect this sweet marshmallow from his machinations, whatever they may be.”

This is fortunate, because Piranesi is a little slow to start, with a lot of descriptions of the House and the various floods, statuary, and bird life inside the House. I do not have a strong visual imagination, so this was very challenging for me — though not as challenging as it is for Piranesi, who is constantly mapping out the many rooms of the House and harvesting seaweed for food and taking tender care of the House’s dead. Also, I am frightened of floods. Also, his name isn’t Piranesi.

In all of this moody scene setting — which is by turns charming, sad, and funny — Clarke includes just enough discordant notes to make it clear that Piranesi, though recording with earnest accuracy his memories and impressions, is an unreliable narrator. He is a sweet, good cinnamon roll who trusts his friend (slash, the only person in the House besides Piranesi who is currently alive), but I do not require his input to know that I don’t trust this The Other character. I am touching my collarbone thinking about a later scene where Piranesi acquires some doubts about the value of this Secret Knowledge and tries to very sweetly bow out of acquiring it because he doesn’t want to dominate lesser intellects, actually.

As the book wears on, it gets creepier. (You will remember this technique from Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and all those stories the gentleman with the thistledown hair tells to Stephen re: his own history. Really, anything relating to the gentleman with thistledown hair.) It’s partly creepy because Piranesi is so good and sweet and you don’t want this poor guy to have to keep eating seaweed; and it’s partly creepy because the House is full of water so everything’s wet all the time and wet things are creepier, as we all know; and it’s partly creepy because whilst there are fifteen people in the history of the world that Piranesi knows of, evidence begins to mount that the House might contain a sixteenth person too. You, an enemy to the Other because he’s an obvious butthead, will not be able to stop thinking about the question IS THE SIXTEENTH PERSON GOING TO SAVE PIRANESI OR WHAT?

So yeah! I loved it! Predictably, I loved it! More than anything, it reminded me of Elizabeth Hand’s Wylding Hall, in which everything is damp and there are a lot of dead birds. While it wasn’t exactly the haunted house story I was envisioning (so much wetter! so much more otherworldly!), it was nevertheless fucking creepy, yet tremendously sweet and charming. I cannot believe that we received this gift from Susanna Clarke after so many years.

Also, Piranesi discovers documentary evidence of things, and y’all know how I feel about documentary evidence.

Note: I received an e-ARC of Piranesi from the publisher, for review consideration. This has not impacted the contents of my review.