The Unforgettable House of PiranesiĪs you might have gathered from the brief description of the plot, Susanna Clarke‘s Piranesi is about as far as can be from your average run-of-the-mill dark fantasy story. What’s more, this intruder leaves messages for the young boy, pushing him to wonder further about who the real source of danger in the House really is. The relatively peaceful existence comes to an end one day when the Other warns Piranesi of there being an intruder in the House, one posing a mortal danger to him. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not. Piranesi can’t help but wonder if the Other is the mad one. This man compels Piranesi to help him with his mysterious research, warning our protagonist he might go mad if he refuses. Piranesi’s life is a rather simple one: he ventures down the corridors, tries to plot the tides which periodically wash through the house, keeps a journal of his discoveries and emotions, all while feeding himself on seaweed soup.Įvery two weeks for one hour Piranesi existence is disturbed by his meetings with a man in a tie and a suit he only refers to as the Other.
Stretching into a vast and seemingly endless expanse of winding corridors, hallways and staircases decorated with majestic marble statues. He lives in a place only known as the House, but it’s unlike any dwelling before or after it. The story opens with a fairly slow rhythm, introducing us to our narrator, a young man who calls himself Piranesi, though it definitely isn’t his real name.
This, in my opinion, is rather counterproductive in regards to the purpose of the genre: to give authors a platform to venture where none others have before, just as Susanna Clarke did with Piranesi. The fantasy genre has, over the last few decades, seen the establishment of numerous conventions and cliches, to the point where many works by different authors can easily blend in with each other. Susanna Clarke Raises the Impossible World
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