Don't mind me screaming "HECK YES" the entire way through this video. This is the perfect example of a book that just creeps under your skin and lives rent-free in your brain until eternity. I mean, just hearing you guys talk about all the different messages (many of which I hadn't even picked up on yet), just gave me a whole new level of appreciation and love for it. Amazing episode, we love a good unapologetic gush 🤩🤩
Listening to two friends talk about this book for over an hour has got to be an automatic net positive for mental health…this ought to be prescribed to the masses.
This is one of my all time favorite books. I'm not much of a rereader, but I picked this one up for a second time within a year of the first read and enjoyed it just as much as the first time through. Usually knowing where things are going ruuns the second read for me.
This was so emotional, but you also made me laugh calling Ketterly by the name of Kimberly. As someone who used to be a fierce Christian, I think the love and reverence for nature were closer to pagan belives and ways of interpretation. I am both excited and nervous for the animated adaptation of "Piranesi". Still saving for a potential Folio Society edition. 🥰
Saw your last video about the three one day books. Audibled Piranesi on a long drive the other day. Was an excellent book and beautifully written. Loved it! Thanks for the recommendation!
I heavily identify with my boy Richard, and would LOVE to have a homeboy like Austin. You're a lucky guy, keep him close! Reading Red Rising soon, excited to get to Golden Son to see if I agree with you bro. Much love from a new fan :)
ahhh Piranesi... Loved the book, and loved your discussion. You're right that having a book club discussion of it makes it better. I now need to buy a copy of it for my personal library...
When I finished this book, I literally hugged it. It felt like an old friend that I'd just found for the first time. And though I can wax rhapsodic all day about my feelings, I also love that the book shows other people different aspects or interpretations of itself (as Piranesi says the House reveals itself in the book?). I also *highly* recommend the audiobook, read by Chiwitel Ejiofor. Just beautiful.
Something that affected me deeply and that I've been turning over in my head since I finished the book (last night) is the fact when he returned to the original world, Matthew Rose Sorensen did not "wake up". Nor did Piranesi "survive". They are both there in some ethereal way, but ultimately this person that returned is neither. There is a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez that is relevant: “Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but ... life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.” Throughout our lives, we grow and learn through thousands of tiny deaths and rebirths. What follows from that resurrection is that we are no longer the same person, and in a way I think that the story of Piranesi embodies this idea. Further to this, Piranesi the character is almost in a state of arrested development; he has a childlike sense of wonder and naivety about himself and others. What is amazing about this book is the universal applicability of the themes. For example, when we go through a traumatic event or struggle, we can end up regressing to a childlike state. In this world that Piranesi inhabits, the statues are "perfect" because they do not degrade over time, they are the representation of an ideal. Ultimately, they are this way because they are not the real thing. The real thing is scary; it is flawed, complicated, and temporary. The book does not judge Piranesi for this viewpoint, but highlights the fact that to live in the "real" world we have to sacrifice that part of ourselves that is Piranesi. In doing so, this person that is born at the end of the book is new, both Piranesi and Matthew Rose Sorensen, but neither. There is tragedy in that, but maybe it is the human condition? I don't know, but I think we should nourish more that part of ourselves that wonders where the birds go.
It’s Ketterly, not Kimberly. SPOILER- This is important because Ketterly is a borrowed name from CS Lewis’ Magicians Nephew (prequel to Chronicles of Narnia). The character Ketterly is a magician who pushes 2 children into a different magical realm. So there are obvious similarities, since both Ketterlys act as stewards and captors to this alternative dimension.
This also lends credit to the religious aspects of the book since she is clearly drawing on the work of CS Lewis. I think Piranesi is a beautiful ode to faith, and paints people who have faith (Piranesi) in a positive light. I think religious people get portrayed at serious, strict, and negative and this was a really nice perspective that faith gives you peace, acceptance with your circumstances and kindness and gratefulness for everyone and everything
I finished the book in two days, last month. I needed to know what was going on and was so intrigued. Easily the most interesting book I’ve read so far. I couldn’t put it down, I had to see it through and am so glad I did! Easy recommend for those who haven’t read it yet!
you guys have been on point with your timing, posting both the will of the many and piranesi right after I finished them 😆 didn’t love this one as much as you guys but still really enjoyed it! super atmospheric and honestly so different from any other book I’ve read.
Piranesi is one of those books, I wish I could reread for the first time. I went into it knowing almost nothing, so when I read it, I kept looking for the plot, instead of enjoying the mood. Tht meant the magic only really dawned on me in the last chapter, and afterwards the setting stayed with me for months.
I felt like Piranesi is kind of in dialogue with C. S. Lewis. In the Narnia prequel "The Magician's Nephew", the children enter a forest that is a World between worlds. The House felt like an expanded and nuanced version of the Forest. It draws on the magic of names, homeworlds and how they relate to identity
Listening to your discussion tells me that I really, really need to reread this book! I absolutely loved it on my first read, but I’ve also read “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer since then. And from the sounds of it, some of the perspectives Kimmerer shares in Braiding Sweetgrass about the indigenous view of gift giving and reciprocity as important parts of a positive relationship with the world and your surroundings themselves might add a bit of extra depth to the ways I could look at some of Piranesi’s themes! It might also add some extra perspective to some of your descriptions of the ambiguously-religious air to this book, in that maybe *spiritual* would be a better term. Because that view of gratitude towards what the world gives that you spoke of as often being directed towards the Christian god, in the perspective shared from Kimmerer, can even from real world perspectives also be directed at the world in and of itself, just as Piranesi does.
You need to read The Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino which has a similar vibe to Piranesi Jorge Luis Borges also wrote mesmerising short stories which inspired Clark. The Immortal, The Circular Ruins and The Library of Babel are among my favourites :)
Read this based on the books in a day video. Loved it but honestly I’m still processing. Based on this video, it sounds like I’m not alone in the need to process this book. I took it literally as a fantasy world and this does happen in that world but now I’m not so sure anymore. Awesome review :)
I literally started reading the book when I saw that you were talking about it, even without watching the video. Now I just finished the book and the first thing I did was come here cause I NEED to know you guys opinions haha
@@2ToRamble I loved it! For me, it got off to a bit of a slow start, maybe because it was so different from anything I might have expected, and like you, I took the story more literally. I loved the prose, but most of all, I love Piranesi. I want to hug him so bad, I feel he is more innocent than naive, and throughout the book, you can feel his loneliness and his longing for human connection. His spiritual bond and reverence for the House and its inhabitants are beautiful, and as someone who grew up catholic, I think his way of showing it aligns more with pagan practices. I don't think I would have picked this book without seeing this so thank you 😊 and great video!!
If you have played the old video game “Mist” and liked it, you will enjoy this book. It follows a guy who is in a weird and mysterious place and you don’t know why. As he figures out what’s going on, you figure out what’s going on. You never know something Piranesi doesn’t. You will develop theories and you will be wrong. One of my earliest theories was that Piranesi was somehow very small and stuck in a library full of shelves(halls) and bookends(statues). I was way off. Lol
Ah man, Circe is one of my favorite books, and Madeline Miller has a blurb praising Piranesi on the book. I love atmospheric books, and everything I heard about it made me think it would be one of the best books I ever read. I just finished it recently, and I was pretty disappointed. I felt like I just didn’t get it. But also I think I overhyped it too much, which as you guys were saying, you really can’t do with this book. I guess it’s like I was looking for something specific like the other was, as opposed to just going with it like Piranesi, which is kind of a cool parallel. I also liked some of the stuff you guys said that helped me think about it more deeply. I also agree that it’s cool how open ended it is, and you can interpret so much from it. But yeah. It always sucks when you’re so sure you’re going to love a book so much, and you don’t. In fact this might be one of my most overhyped books. I was actually saving it to read when I was in a slump, because I was so sure I would love it, and I just kind of didn’t. It also feels bad because I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t like it that much and everyone else seems to have gotten the experience from it that I was looking for 😭 lol
Ah darn - thats happened to Rich and I in the past as well, too. Happens from time to time, but hey - at least this wasnt too long of a book so hopefully didnt drag too much!
If you’re a fan of Golden Sun from the Red Rising series, you absolutely need to check out the Sun Eater series. In my opinion, it’s the best modern sci-fi series out there right now. I highly recommend it to all Red Rising fans, especially those who loved book 2. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!
I think i heard Piranesi in one of your tier list videos. I dont like to read fantasy/ sci fi books in English cuz it feels like im missing some of the good parts. So i cant always read the books you talk about. But I am extremely glad Piranesi was translated. It was one of the best books ive ever read. Also, we dont have gendered pronouns in Turkish so i thought Piranesi was a woman most of the book and was very suprised when i found out he is a he
This book is so good, it’s up there with The Alchemist for me in terms of being life affirming. The more I think about this book the more I love it. When I finally sort my life out I’ll get my actual copy of Piranesi out of the box it’s in and read that copy finally instead of having to get it out from the library again 😂 I’m gonna get my friends a copy of this book that’s what I’m gonna do for them.
*SPOILERS* ... ... (Tl;DR I pretty much agree. The plot is a backdoor mystery and you're watching just to see how the main character deals with it. And the themes my god the themes) Having seen FNAF and many many 'Made For TV Chick Flick Turned Horror' films, the overall plot was a bit thin to me. THAT SAID, 5/5 on everything else. 6/5 for Prose, dear god this story took my general struggle with reading chunks of description and made a vivid world better described than any book I've read so far. Taught me how immersive description should actually function. Despite seeing the abuse red flags early on, (so the final reveal was a bit of a 'well duh' for me) I still think its an eerily accurate abuse story and the radical-acceptance reason-driven character of Piranesi with the relationship to both the house and the developing relationship transitioning from liking Other / disliking 16 to hating Other and loving 16. So Emotional Impact of Piranesi being unable to let go of the house even after leaving, being certain and logically clear that Myself is no longer Piranesi nor (you know who). Thought Provoking just the amount of ways the very idea of concepts and belief (whether statues are tangibly and conceptually as good as or even better than the decaying reality of what they convey). Character just strong centre and strong curiosity in a mysterious world. Relationship in how many webs, pick any two characters (treating Myself, Piranesi and You Know Who as three different people) and theres an interesting parralel. Worldbuild just how it unfolds the backstory and the details of the House. I was immersed just Piranesi exploring, and in a way Plot comes so secondary its why I dont grade it as highly but its still extremely well done for the simple event reveal underneath. Prose, my god, I wont write the same way after this book. I was very Dialogue/Action driven and how much the book could just sit with "and then theres these statues, and the birds, and the water, and crumples of paper". I do think I went in expecting damn near perfect and when it was all said and done it was odd Myself can come and go rather than a hard choice - how tragic itd be if Myself just stayed in the house and forgot and we ask what it means for them to never know a family they no longer know anyway but a family that mourned them and then never found them again. Or vice versa, if we linger on Myself going back to Real Life just to find they felt they lost something. Both happen, but both together feels weird to me, and it being at the end I was expecting a near perfect web of mystery where everything mattered and it all came together. As it is, the plot itself is kind of a generic Psycho Killer Reveal; buuuut, it really is the characters and details that made this book so engaging from start to finish and so meaningful. 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 3.5 + 5 + 6 = 34.5 (I gave prose a 6 legitimately because a lot of my issues with the plot thinness is compensated by the prose. And ironically despite my 'I wish there was more to it than a simple abduction twist plot' nitpicks it gives it an average score of 5.07/5, showing just how much the prose and all the other details really elevate what was to me an otherwise decent mystery and average reveal.
@@2ToRamble Relationships is the 7th! 👍 (I think I've mention before but for context I'm writing a whole book on storytelling) and I distilled all the basic questions into Story Elements: If, Then = Concept (What makes the story unique? Why this idea above all others?) Who = Character (Perspective & Goal) Who With = Relationship (Supports and Threats) What With = Tools (Strengths / Weaknesses) What = Plot (What Happens and what are we working towards?) Why = Theme (Cohesion of ideas, Purpose behind the elements) How = Framing. Your Grading system, my Deep Dive Analysis system and Story Engineering (Larry Brooks) all fairly similar, but yours reminded me Emotional Impact and Intellectual Impact should be considered separately and equally, and gave me a good ranking aspect which I have credited you for in a Doctor Who Review I made (But I went on holidays before I could finish editing the video so it'll be up in two months 😅) Prose was effectively your How: Framing (And I called it Production Value because I was doing tv shows but same thing) Thought Provoking and Emotional Impact are the wholistic aftermath affect on the reader/viewer. What it all amounts to. What With (Tools), I didn't feel the need to add because I don't see much benefit in Grading a characters tools; even in my deep dives I naturally forgot to list it, but something like a Jackie Chan film or Batman / James Bond or Doctor Who what tools and information they have at their disposal is just as useful as the setting itself, and still something to consider when writing 👍 But I was using it to grade Doctor Who Season One and I quickly found I had had complaints seperate to the individual character traits either about Doctor/Companion (lack of relationship development) or weak villains (lack of antagonistic development), and while villains often naturally fall into Who Drives The Plot, they cause the What of it all, I instantly needed to differentiate nuance between the lack of character development and the lack of bonding/threat development Between characters, lack of conflict and connection. There's the characters themselves and then the sum of the parts. So I'm big on Relationship being a seperate element to Character. A story then is an idea performed by a character who exists in a setting who interacts with connections and conflicts that challenge their character and using all tools at their disposal they attempt to resolve a problem, all of which hopefully results in a significant and wholistic event that invokes an (emotionally impactful and thought provoking) thematic climax where the sum of their parts means more than any individual element. But MC's need (as John Truby would put it) Allys and Enemies, but support characters can accidentally hinder (I.e. Dory in Finding Nemo) and threatening characters can accidentally inspire (i.e Killmonger in Black Panther). Characters rarely act alone and Relationships helps define who is driving, who is supporting, and who is resisting: a story lacking Relationship development seems to have people doing things in places but no inner conflict, no nuanced parralels, no deeper theme to challenge, and thus the characters feel shallow. They can be as lively and 'characterful' (quirky) as anything and yet they don't interact meaningfully with other characters, they don't interact with the setting AS IF it were a contrasting character in its own right with something to say about the characters role in the world. The big mistake some shallow writers make, as far as I can tell, is they treat character like a Trait, they think Plot is "mcguffin quest" and the think setting is a green screen backdrop, they don't explore what the character is against what they aren't, and they forget that MEANINGFUL conflict isn't just Character Wants Thing, Argument Ensues. It means defining a characters relationship with themselves, showing how the people around them are similar (connection) and different (contrast) and then explore how they resolve conflicts through learning who to be or who not to be, explore how characters BOND over these interactions, or COMBAT each other over the same things. Threats fight with MC for being too similar, supports fight with MC for being too different, etc. For Example *SPOILERS for Piranesi* But I think this is as great a feature as any. Concept: Only 2 people exist in a labyrinth. Why? Character: A person who is fundamentally curious who explores things scientifically. Relationship: Other and 16 treat the house in polar opposite ways. They hate each other. But we see Piranesi and Other initially have a connection, and O brings P stuff, P brings O information, from this we learn P trusts those who care about Truth and its this contrast that allows P to stop trusting O and start trusting 16. P's relationship with the setting also leads to nuance when P still wants to apologise to O even after he tries to kill P, and P still wants to live in the house after leaving it. Through all the trauma, it is P's attitude AND spiritual connection to the world they inhabited that makes it emotionally impactful when they for all intents and purposes should instantly flip to hating Other and ... still want to collect Others bones, still feel a pull to live in what should be a cage. The nuanced Relationships is what takes it from Person Stuck In Labyrinth to Person Stuck In Abusive Situation They Have Made The Best Of and I believe that second part is what makes Piranesi's optimism truly pop. All elements are needed for plot, but for a real nuanced story all elements emphasize and challenge character. 😆 but in conclusion, that's why I'm a big advocate of separating Character from Relationships. Who are we following (and what do they want?) and who pushes them in one direction or another, and what can we ultimately learn and take away from knowing that character based on who they are and who they are not, and who they can become more like.
@@B-MC Appreciate the thoroughness! I can tell we'd have a very, very, very long and awesome convo -- your look into character vs relationship reminds me of how Rich and I discuss the most minute of details in storytelling, and we love it
@@2ToRamble yeah I appreciate hearing how much you guys look to the meaning behind storytelling and not just as something to pass the time 👍 Also appreciating you taking the time to read it as always 👍👍
I seem to be one of the only people that didn't rate Piranesi a 5/5. It is a good book, just not great. I also have upset people in the past by saying it's much closer to literary fiction than to fantasy. It's a solid and short literary fiction read with literary fantasy leanings.
