Piranesi

2021273 pages

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Summary

**From the *New York Times* bestselling author of *Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell*, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.** 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. For readers of Neil Gaiman's *The Ocean at the End of the Lane* and fans of Madeline Miller's *Circe*, *Piranesi* introduces an astonishing new world, an infinite labyrinth full of startling images of surreal beauty, haunted by the tides and the clouds. This description comes from the publisher.

Themes and moodShow

This novel transports readers to a surreal and richly imagined world filled with evocative imagery and profound philosophical questions. It is recommended for those who enjoy literary fantasy and narratives that challenge their perception of reality, akin to works by Neil Gaiman and other modern speculative fiction authors.

Themes

  • •the exploration of memory and identity
  • •the nature of reality and illusion
  • •the relationship between knowledge and power
  • •isolation in a fantastical world
  • •the influence of myth and mythology on self-discovery

Era

contemporary

Reading Level

popular