Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a beautiful book! There isn’t much that I can say without spoiling its mysteries, and I absolutely believe that this book is best experienced as blind as possible. What I will say is that it opens slow and the plot does take a while to feel like it is starting. A large part of the first 60-or-so pages of the book are spent following the main character in his daily routine - fishing, wandering, and tending to the Dead - in order to immerse yourself in his world and understand his mind. I thought it was fascinating in a vibe-y sort of way, but I could see how other people might think that it is boring. But just know that there is a mystery there, and once it starts to unravel, I found it nearly impossible to put the book down.
The only other thing I want to say about this book for now is that I loved the main character of this book. He is such a sweet person, so inquisitive and respectful and it was a joy to follow his thought processes throughout the story. Maybe it’s recency bias, but as I write this I feel like he is up there with some of my favorite book protagonists that I’ve read so far. He’s just a really likable guy and I found myself only wanting the best for him in every situation.
And that’s all I feel comfortable saying about Piranesi without diving into potential spoilers. Please read this book! You won’t regret it :)
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