Teen Reader Recommends: Piranesi

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

There are two alive people in the House. There are 13 skeletons, and thousands upon thousands of statues. All who exist in a parallel universe made up of an infinite labyrinth of halls and vestibules that seems to steal the memories and identities of its inhabitants. Told through the research notes of a man named Piranesi, both him and the reader try to solve the mystery of who he is and how he got to this place. 

This truly might be one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. It was so strange and mysterious that I read it one sitting because I simply had to know what happened next. One of the strongest parts of the novel was how it was written. Like I said above, it’s told through research notes, but Piranesi is also piecing together his identity and his memory. This means that sometimes the audience received information that gave us answers but meant nothing to Piranesi. It made for a really intriguing story about the relationship between identity and memory loss. My favorite kinds of books are the ones that are incredibly hard to explain to people without spoiling it. Everything is so intertwined and the pieces of the puzzle truly don’t make sense until near the end, but the picture it made was so worth the confusion.

My only gripe with this book might be that it wasn’t longer! I had so many more questions after it was finished that I wish had been answered. The world Clarke has built is so fleshed out but still has plenty to be discovered. I’m not sure if she’s planning on writing more books set in the same place but I hope she does. Overall, I think this book is a masterpiece and well worth your time if you like science fiction or just weird books in general.

--submitted by New Trier student Charlotte R.