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spryngI finished reading Piranesi within three days -- a new record, at least in these parenting times. It was a delightful read, surprising and yet inevitable, and then surprising again, and yet... I've been struggling to put my feelings for it in words. Compared to Circe, it felt a bit thin.
So perhaps I shouldn't compare it to Circe.
It's a book about a mystery, yes -- who is Piranesi and what/where is the House -- but in solving that mystery, it's weirdly anti-climatic. Because it's ultimately not about the mystery, it's about the joy Piranesi finds in the House. It reminded me a bit of House of Leaves (which, tbf, I never finished reading) but without the creeping dread. There's a horror at the core of the novel, but that's not what it's about and honestly, I think I've struggled with writing this little review/whatever this is because I can't quite pinpoint what it's about.
I keep wanting to reach and read reviews about this book so I can better understand it, but I also want to capture my understanding before and I guess it's -
It's just a delightful little book. The way the MC accepts himself as who he is in the present, as a separate yet whole person from his past self and then his future, unnamed self... well, that's a life lesson in itself. The refreshing pleasantness of the narrator in general, despite/because of his circumstances, carries the book a long way. The reveal, a bit further.
I don't often get the itch to reread a book, but I bet this one would do well for a second read.
So perhaps I shouldn't compare it to Circe.
It's a book about a mystery, yes -- who is Piranesi and what/where is the House -- but in solving that mystery, it's weirdly anti-climatic. Because it's ultimately not about the mystery, it's about the joy Piranesi finds in the House. It reminded me a bit of House of Leaves (which, tbf, I never finished reading) but without the creeping dread. There's a horror at the core of the novel, but that's not what it's about and honestly, I think I've struggled with writing this little review/whatever this is because I can't quite pinpoint what it's about.
I keep wanting to reach and read reviews about this book so I can better understand it, but I also want to capture my understanding before and I guess it's -
It's just a delightful little book. The way the MC accepts himself as who he is in the present, as a separate yet whole person from his past self and then his future, unnamed self... well, that's a life lesson in itself. The refreshing pleasantness of the narrator in general, despite/because of his circumstances, carries the book a long way. The reveal, a bit further.
I don't often get the itch to reread a book, but I bet this one would do well for a second read.
