Review: 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor

 I finally got around to Susanna Clarke's beloved Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell earlier this year and utterly adored it. That novel is a doorstop of a book and I made the choice to listen to it as an audiobook. I was utterly transported by it, which meant that the hype around Piranesi hit home with me. While a vastly different book, Piranesi has the same magical ability to whole inhabit its readers.

Pub. Date: 9/15/2020 
Audible Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

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. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

Piranesi is Susanna Clarke's second novel and I don't know if ever a second novel was more intensely anticipated. Since the publication of Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell, a masterpiece of a 1006 pages, in 2004, fans have been eagerly waiting for something new by Clarke and the sight of Piranesi, clocking in at less than 250 pages must have been a shock. And yet Piranesi packs a punch in those pages, showing that Clarke can weave magic no matter what. As I got ready for this book, I attempted to avoid reviews yet even the ones I did read remained mysterious. No one seemed to want to burst the bubble around this book, to reveal what it was about, what that great and secret knowledge at the heart of it was. (See what I did there?) And that is, I believe, one of the novel's themes. The hunt for knowledge and for something else makes you neglect what is right there, it removes your connection with the here and now, when really this moment is all you can be sure of. Or perhaps this is just what the House revealed to me.

Piranesi lives in the House, which is made up of countless halls and corridors, adorned by hundreds, if not thousands, of statues. He keeps track of the tides, he catches fish, and twice a week he meets with the Other. Unlike Piranesi, the Other does not know the House as well. He is also after a Great and Secret Knowledge, the existence of which Piranesi begins to doubt. And that is literally not even half of what this novel is really about. Piranesi is told through the diary entries of Piranesi himself as he records his experiences, thoughts, and considerations. It is very self-referential, the way in which he will critique his method of writing, or discuss the way he orders his journals. These moments tell you so much about the man and explain his actions throughout. As I said above, for me Piranesi is a novel that meditates on the here and now, on connecting with yourself and the world around you. While this sounds very high and mighty, it does not come across as such. 

I adore Susanna Clarke's writing and have since the first footnote in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Admittedly I initially missed the academic and historic tone of that novel, but I was quickly engrossed in Piranesi's detailed and contemplative self-narration. I loved the House, I loved the Tides, I was intrigued by The Other and oddly enough not that into chasing after some great knowledge, even though that usually is my favourite thing. Clarke makes you care for Piranesi and his concerns so much that many other things take second place. His connection to the House and his love for it shine through and I found myself rooting for the latter almost as if it was a character in its own right. If like myself you're lazy determined enough not to look up anything in relation to the novel, such as its main character's name or the quotes ahead of the narrative, you can go in without any expectations and let yourself be wowed. Major props also need to go to Chiwetel Ejiofor who did an absolutely brilliant job as the narrator. With a character like Piranesi, who is consistently writing in his journals and noting down details and considering things, you could easily feel a little trapped or bored. But Ejiofor breathes life into every moment, soothing and rousing whenever the story calls for it.

I give this novel/audiobook...

5 Universes!

Piranesi is a wildly different but stunning book. Avoiding the thrills of in-your-face magic and action, Clarke has crafted a quiet but powerful narrative that eludes immediate explanation.