Piranesi

[boxofdelights]

I am rereading Piranesi for library book group tonight. I am overwhelmed anew with how much I love Myself/Piranesi (though that is not my name)/Matthew Rose Sorensen before he remembers what was done to him. He is so appreciative of everything that is beautiful and good, so brave in the face of everything painful and terrifying, so interested in everything he doesn't understand, and so honest and careful about documenting what he learns! He is a Beloved Child of the House, whose Beauty is immeasurable, its Kindness infinite.

This book group does not usually read SF so I am interested to see what we make of it.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Myself/Piranesi (though that is not my name)/Matthew Rose Sorensen

I haven't seen/heard of calling the character "Myself" but I love it! Piranesi really is so so so so good.

[boxofdelights]

I got stuck on trying to name him, so I went with how he refers to himself. Even at the end of the book, when he refers to the self I love as "Piranesi", I don't know what to call him!

It is such a good book.

[sovay]

This book group does not usually read SF so I am interested to see what we make of it.

Please report back! I have not read the book since the first time.

[boxofdelights]

About five of the 14 people who showed up said they did not like or had difficulty with the book. (The library book group has a registration cap of 20, plus a wait list. The registration was full, but an unusually high number of people cancelled a day or two before the meeting.)

Even the ones who didn't like the book liked the protagonist, for most of the same reasons I like him: they named his childlike optimism, his scientific curiosity, his willingness to change his mind when he discovers information that contradicts what he thought he knew, and the kindness he shows to others.

A couple people said they just don't like fantasy. One person said she can't get into fiction right now, because the real world is so terrible. One person said she can never visualize things, so all the beautiful descriptions were tedious for her. It was an enthusiastic and interesting discussion.

[sovay]

One person said she can never visualize things, so all the beautiful descriptions were tedious for her.

That criticism fascinates me because I love beautiful descriptions as much or more for their language as for the images it describes: prose is not a pane for me. I can see why it was an interesting discussion! Thank you!

[isis]

Now I am thinking of rereading!

[boxofdelights]

I think this will be on my reread sometime list forever.

[sovay]

I think this will be on my reread sometime list forever.

I am so glad it has become an endlessly revisitable book.

[lunabee34]

I love that book so much. It's so dreamlike.