PIRANESI – Susanna Clarke (2020)

My expectations for Piranesi were lukewarm. Clarke’s short story collection wasn’t fully successful, and the early descriptions of this new novel hinted at a dreamlike, labyrinthine, magic-realist puzzle – not really my cup of tea.

So I entered The House with a certain reservation, but Clarke’s narrative powers quickly swept me away.

Not that this book is a 100% triumph, but it would be foolish to dwell on its few, minor flaws too long. Taken as a whole, Piranesi succeeds brilliantly, and easily stands among the very best I’ve read this year.

I do think this review is safe for those who haven’t read it yet, but as I will try to unravel some of the book’s philosophical underpinnings, there will be mild spoilers – even so, nothing you can’t guess after about 30 pages in. I will not say anything about its relationship with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. There are links aplenty – disenchantment for one – but Piranesi deserves to be treated & read as its own thing first.

THE LADIES OF GRACE ADIEU – stories by Susanna Clarke (2006)

Susanna Clarke’s much lauded magnum opus Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of my favorite speculative books. So I didn’t hesitate to order The Ladies Of Grace Adieu And Other Stories after reading an excellent review on the Calmgrove blog.

It features 8 stories, plus a fictional introduction by “Professor James Sutherland, Director of Sidhe Studies, University of Aberdeen”. That introduction is only 3 pages and set my expectations even higher, as Clarke’s familiar ‘English’ narrative voice shone through instantly, promising more of the treat Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was. All the stories in this 235-page collection deal with Faerie in one way or the other, and were illustrated by WFA winning artist Charles Vess. A few are also explicitly linked with J.S. & Mr. N.

JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL – Susanna Clarke (2004)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a long book that takes its time. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has slower character development – except for books that don’t have any character development at all.

In the first half especially, this massive tome reads more like a collection of anecdotes, short stories and miniatures about magic, folklore and society, which are nearly all interesting, well-crafted, oddly poetic and at times charmingly witty.

The actual story only takes off after about 400 pages (in my pocket edition of 1000 pages). It took me quite some time to reach that mark. I considered giving up around page 300, since not that much was happening, but kept on reading because Clarke’s language and descriptions have an eerie yet funny character that retained a sense of promise about the story itself. 100 pages later, I was fully gripped.

The inventive use of footnotes and the freshness of the enthusiastic narrative voice add to the pleasure this novel provides. The entire book, which has been rightly dubbed a comedy of manners too, has a reflective, ironical vibe, and as such it is very, very English – for lack of a better word.

Lots has been written about this acclaimed book, and I don’t have much to add. Let me suffice with saying that it is utterly original, and a genuine feast of the imagination.

This comes with the highest possible recommendation – if you are willing to invest the time.

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UPDATE: Here’s a link to my review of the lesser known The Ladies Of Grace Adieu, Clarke’s 2006 collection of short stories, most of which are set in the same faerie England. And here to a bit of a philosophical analysis of Piranesi, her 2020 triumph.

There’s also a brilliant, in-depth examination of Strange & Norrell on the Strange Horizons’ site – really stunning scholarschip by Elizabeth Hoiem. Very much worth your time if you’re familiar with the novel.

originally written on  the 13th of September, 2015