"Piranesi" by Susanna Clarke

This was another read that we selected for the book club I attend. In addition, this was one of the books I got through my Book of the Month subscription. One of my reading goals for the year is to read the books I get in the subscription boxes in a timely manner so this was a perfect choice for that reason.

Piranesi is a portal fantasy novel. It is written from the perspective of a person (called Piranesi) who lives in a vast building with a countless number of rooms. Each room (or hall as he calls them) contains statues of varying sizes depicting people, mythical creatures and other lifeforms. This building is also so large that it has an entire ocean within its walls. Piranesi is aware of only one other live human being whom he calls the Other and meets twice a week at a pre-determined time.

One thing I must say is that for such a short novel, it certainly has a lot packed into it. First of all, we have the mystery of what this world is, who Piranesi is, and how he got there. As I began reading the novel, I got a distinct sense of "wrongness" - there was something not right with this character and the world. Things were not lining up nicely and Piranesi sounded distinctly like an unreliable narrator. Secondly, as we begin unraveling the mystery and as Piranesi begins to learn more details about the past, I was struck by the idea of adaption: the things people can adapt to, the defense mechanisms and survival instincts that kick in, and overall the idea of how much the environment really shapes who we are. 

Without spoiling anything, I would say this is a great pick for book clubs. I love when an author does not spell everything out, but instead lets the reader connect the dots and figure out possibilities. One complaint that I do have about the book is that it is too short. I would have loved a bit more world building beyond what we see in this novel. Overall, I really liked this book. 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it.