Piranesi

 

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020 Bloomsbury hardcover 247pp)

 

Around 15 or 16 years ago as I made my way home from work via a mall, I started seeing these great stacks of alternating black and white books in the local Whitcoulls bookshop. On closer examination these turned out to be trade paperback copies of “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, a new fantasy novel which was getting a lot of good press on the internet at the time. So naturally I bought a copy and soon found myself immersed in Clarke’s alternate regency-era England where magic had once existed and rival magicians sought to bring about its return. There was much atmospheric world-building and a lot of people learning hard lessons about not making deals with fairies. I loved the book and in particular the totally separate history narrative that was included in the footnotes alone. Not long after Clarke produced a volume of short stories then nothing until 2020. There are hints of some type of health crisis in the intervening years but now she’s back and I’m happy to say she’s lost nothing from her writing ability.

Piranesi is told entirely by its protagonist’s journal entries. Piranesi (not his real name as we soon find out) lives in an enormous indoor structure that contains seemingly infinite statue-filled rooms (or Halls as he calls them), its own seas and indoor weather too. There’s no way outside although he can see the sun, moon and stars through windows. His days are spent fishing and exploring and just trying to stay alive in the somewhat harsh environment. He tells us of the human remains he’s found around the house and once a week he meets with ‘The Other’ a middle-aged man that seems to come and go seeking knowledge. It is he who has given the main character the ‘Piranesi’ name.

For about the first 100 pages the mystery of the story is maintained. Piranesi lives his simple life until things happened to shake up the status quo. We soon see that he’s is not the most reliable narrator of his own story. New secrets and threats come to light and soon he must make some very difficult decisions. To say much more will ruin the surprises the book has in store.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was the bite-sized palate-cleanser I needed after reading 2 or 3 heavy-duty non-fiction books recently. It is also nice to get a dose of fantasy without having to commit to a 3,4,5 ,6 + volume series. Its self-contained and has a very definite ending. The writing is very good and pulls you along at great speed. I could have read this all-in-one sitting had time permitted, the story is done in an economical 245 pages.

I hope Susanna Clarke has more in store for us and we don’t have to wait another 15 years.