But Piranesi is not afraid he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. One of my favorite books in recent years, I loved trying to piece together the mysteries of the marble halls on my journey alongside Piranesi.įrom the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality. The one thing he doesn’t know is why he is there, and the only other resident is oddly quiet about it. Piranesi has an extensive knowledge of almost everything in this house, from the changing tides of the ocean on the floor below, to the migration of the birds in the sky that is the floor above. Imagine you find yourself living in a mansion full of thousands of marble statues, lining hundreds of rooms, which take days to reach. Half-mystery and half-fantasy, full of magic and suspense, Piranesi transcends both genres to become a moving meditation on timeless themes: What is ignorance? What is knowledge? What kind of knowledge is worth gaining, and at what cost? Piranesi is a lovable guide, his purity and innocence at times heart-rending - a model of what human goodness could be. Besides the fish, the birds, and Piranesi, there is only The Other. Piranesi is the Beloved Child of the House, which is not a house at all but an endless maze of classical halls, flooded with fearsome ocean and filled with silver clouds.
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