He tells Piranesi in a fit of annoyance, "But there isn't anything powerful. Unlike the rags Piranesi is dressed in, the bits of shells and fishbones he's tied in his overgrown hair, the Other keeps a trim beard, wears immaculate, well–cut suits, and his fine shoes shine. The meetings never last for more than an hour. The concept is gone from his mind of what he longs for the most.Įvery Tuesday and Friday, Piranesi meets a man he calls the Other. In these brief but gut-wrenchingly tender interactions we are felled by the loneliness Piranesi can't fully grasp. Clarke's writing is clear, sharp - she can cleave your heart in a few short words. In moments like this - such as when he clings to a statue of a woman carrying a beehive during a flood not as anchor, but as if the statue, again, were a living thing that could save him - the sweetness, the innocence of Piranesi's love for this world is devastating to read. At one point when in distress, Piranesi - who's around 35 years old - flings himself up into the giant faun's arms to be cradled by him. Piranesi's favorite is a faun, faintly smiling with a finger gently pressed to his lips Piranesi thinks he means to comfort him. Many are filled with statues held in niches or on plinths, though some statues emerge straight from the wall, as if struggling to be born, he thinks. The halls are in various states of decay and perfection. Unfathomably, an ocean is trapped in the lower floor - the Drowned Halls its tides and waves come crashing up the stairs. But above the House, he can see a limitless sky with sun, moon and stars. Through the windows he has only ever seen courtyards and walls. Piranesi has spent years trying to find the last of these connected rooms, even though there are only three floors. The world - he calls it the House - consists of endless classical halls, like an ancient temple. It is at first a seemingly small, limited world - but unlike a person stranded on a desert island, Piranesi has no desire for rescue, or even the notion that he should be saved. He sees this world as beautiful, and he is filled with rapture as he thinks upon it. He lives in a world where the words for crisps, biscuits and sausage rolls exist - but the items themselves do not, nor does he seem to think this is odd. Our title character, Piranesi, is another strange fellow. (Thankfully not nearly as long as those awaiting magic's return in Jonathan Strange.) Then those of us who fell in love with her worlds had a desperately long wait. The book became an international bestseller, and was followed by a collection of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu. In her new novel Piranesi, British writer Susanna Clarke limns a magic far more intrinsic than the kind commanded through spells a magic that is seemingly part of the fabric of the universe and as powerful as a cosmic engine - yet fragile nonetheless.Ĭlarke stunned readers 16 years ago with her mesmerizing tale of magic's return to England in her debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. What is the nature of magic? What is the nature of reason? Must one cancel out the other? And which is cloaked in a greater illusion?
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