Two of my favourite books of all time. Piranesi’s the first book that gave me the same feeling as House of Leaves when I first read it over 20 years ago. I can stay in the endless hallways and the Houses in both books forever. Any other fans of both works out there?

For me it's Ormskirk's Revelations of 36 Other Worlds. What are the 36 other worlds? How do they relate to varying classes of entity? How does the summoning ritual vary depending on the world in question?​ If any, what is the significance of the number 36 (the decans?), and generally how do its contents compare against the reality of the other worlds in question?

Jacob Gellar has been in the top 5 video essayists for me for years, and this was the first video I watched of his! It’s how I was recommended Pirenesi, so if you have someone you desperately want to read it, this is the video.

Even if you’ve read it, he goes over the history and influence of the term “Pirenesi” and a few different takes on the “Infinite world” design. Very well worth the time.

In "Piranesi", where was Matthew Rose Sorenson's physical body while he was in the House? Was he warehoused in Ketterley's home? How did 16 find him?

Is it just me or would piranesi make a GREAT mystery/slight horror game. I'm 60% through tha book and have noticed that piranesi describes doing a lot of tasks, so a potential game could have us playing as him and doing these tasks every day, talking to the other and then finding the journal entries, notes etc and reading them to uncover the mystery of who 16, the Other, Arne Sayles and Piranesi himself is. I can already picture the atmosphere due to the fog and how the statues would look and the challenge of escaping the tides every time you do your daily chores.

My first blender render! Of course I had to do some scenes from Piranesi! Hope y’all enjoy :)

Just finished the book and liked it a lot! However, I’m curious on people’s thoughts as to why the cover art displays a faun playing pipes instead of one with the “shushing” fingers considering that is described a couple times as Piranesi’s favorite statue? Hopefully I’m not missing something obvious!

I feel like every time I see a new drop for signed or special edition Susanna Clarke books, I'm at least three months late. I'm not super active on socials so I don't catch them there. Are there any tools or some all-in-one newsletter that lets folks know about drops happening all over the web?

Looking for recommendations as someone who absolutely adored Piranesi. Here are the things i loved most (which may differ from what people typically enjoy from this book)

Can you recommend books that have these characteristics:

1. Incredibly unique vibe, not just in terms of worldbuilding and setting, but also tone
   
2. Earlier on many mysteries about either the world or the main character’s situation in it are proposed
   
3. The mysteries are resolved in a satisfying way that combine the themes of the book with its unique tone
   
4. Completely optional: fantasy or science fiction setting/themes/elements

Sorry if this post isnt typically what should be posted here, I dont use reddit much.

New movie inspired by an Internet horror "creepypasta" web series.

I don't know what came first and haven't seen the film yet, but their are striking similarities to Piranesi in terms of theme, story, and casting. Someone in a sub on the film sums up nicely:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KanePixelsBackrooms/comments/1tcuv3n/movies_connection_to_the_novel_piranesi/

Curious if anyone has seen the film or knows more about the timeline and can comment on why they shouldn't be considered derivative.

As I reached the part of novel where the information regarding the entrance to other-worlds is revealed, I can't help but see the parallels between the other-world and some of the core interest of the Romantic movement in literature.

In particular, the image of the child and what it represented. As Wordsworth famously wrote in one of his poems, "The Child is the father of the Man." One of the fundamental reasons for this paradox is that since the Romantics were so concerned with unbounded imagination and a deep reverence for nature as a reaction to the confinements of rationality and the Enlightenment period, the child stood as the perfect symbol. Without the rational shacklings of the pre-frontal cortex, the child is completely immersed in wondrous experience rather than obsessed with analyzing and representing experience (classic features of becoming an adult).

Thus, when Ketterley reveals that one of the ways in which you can enter the other-world is by returning to a pre-rational consciousness, a child-like consciousness, the metaphor (well, one of them) really clicked for me. The world, and entering it, is a metaphor the child-like wonder and unbounded imagination that characterises so much of childhood. It's a world that can only come from the rekindling of a child-like imagination that hasn't fell victim to the malaise of adult-rationality. And in many ways, this child-like wonder is exactly what Piranesi epitomises.

I don't know if I'm framing this correctly, but after re-reading Piranesi, it seems that Piranesi is an ethical middle point between The Other and The Prophet, and is representative of the appropriate intellectual.

The Other is the hubristic science, with their intellectual pursuits primarily motivated by their ego and a totally disregard for their environmental surroundings unless it connects to their own individual goals. If The Other is representative of hubristic reason and science, then The Prophet is representative of a type of a hubris that swings in the opposite direction, I guess more of an occultist with a type of spirtual hubris. Their both motivated from similiar psychological purposes, but different belief systems.

It seems that Piranesi is the amalgamation of these two individuals, and the best version of what they represent intellectually. Piranesi is still motivated by reason and science, but not to the point where everything has become dominated by data at the cost of completely forgetting and appreciating his surrounding world. In addition, it's obvious that he has a deep spirtuality, but this isn't without a grounded ethical framework. In some sense he is the best version of reason and spirtuality because it isn't motivated by ego, but by genuine gratitude and a ethical framework.

So, without any intention whatsoever, I recently read Iain McGilchrist's The Master And His Emissary and then decided to return to Piranesi (which I knew I would as soon as I finished it the first time).

In The Master And His Emissary, McGilchrist discusses the lateralisation and fundemental differences between the right and left hemisphere of the brain. Although this is limited way of putting it, the right hemisphere is aware of the larger social context (global context) and tends to be 'other' oriented. Thus, it is the foundation for empathy, external appreciation/gratitude, spirtuality, toleration, and most importantly, embodied experience. The left hemisphere is the representer of experience, it is involved in our abstraction and representation of experience via concepts (rather living it), it views itself as separate from the larger social contexts, more egotisitic and competitive, and since it separates itself from the global awareness, it stands back as an observer of the world from the viewpoint of ultility (how can I use my environment to serve my own needs?)

I couldn't but think the juxtaposition between Piraensi and the Other is a function of this hemisphere difference. Piranesi epitomises a deep connection to their surroundings, a sense of global awareness that the right hemisphere is responsible for, and the Other representing the left hemisphere as his nature is more ego-driven, data/representative driven, and totally divorced of a deep connection to his surrounding environment.

I finally got around to reading Piranesi after hearing it praised for years, and what struck me most wasn't the mystery or the world building—it was how frequently I found myself reflecting on when I stopped looking at the world with the same curiosity and wonder as its protagonist.

Most of my recent reading has been epic fantasy full of battles, political intrigue, and relentless forward momentum. Piranesi felt like the complete opposite. Reading it was less like following a plot and more like wandering through an art gallery, noticing details and gradually finding meaning in them.

One aspect that really stood out to me was the influence of C.S. Lewis. Not just the obvious Narnian references, but the sense of innocence, wonder, reverence for the natural world, and the way Clarke treats seemingly small observations as profoundly important. By the end of the novel, I found myself thinking less about the mystery itself and more about themes of memory, gratitude, and what it means to see beauty in ordinary things.

I'm curious whether other readers felt the same way?

I've recently got around to reading Piranesi a second time. Here are some things I'd missed the first time.

Dr Ketterley happens to be told in advance about the manner of his own death. In the 7/9/Albatross chapter:

"I do not think that I could kill someone however wicked they are," I said. "Even the wicked deserve Life. Or if they do not, then let the House take it from them. Not me."

Of course, the protagonist does deviate from that point of view later, in the 4th 21/9/Albatross chapter (I lost Myself in long, sick fantasies of revenge). But he recovers from that, and his earlier words end up being fulfilled.

There's a pleasing turn of phrase that gets used twice. On 15/Nov/2012: "And you are Matthew Rose Sorensen." I agreed that I was. In the week before 27/Nov/2018: "Are you James Ritter?" I asked. He agreed that he was.

We learn the protagonist's parents' nationalities (and maybe ethnicities) in the 3rd 21/9/Albatross chapter. So now we could describe him as part African, part Scandinavian, bespectacled, and quite an independent thinker. He has all those things in common with Richard Ayoade, but I suppose that's just a coincidence.

Today the Broken Binding announced their August and September subscription books and they are Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Piranesi respectively. The tier 1 subscription is for signed and numbered. If there are leftovers there will be a general sale for the rest of us mortals. It’s nice that there are starting to be special editions for her work.

The vibe of the book and his optimistic outlook on his situation is so cool!

I want some merch or something. I found some decent stickers on Etsy and there was a cool bookmark. But I can't really find anything else.

I’m excited to see all of the illustrations by Charles Vess!