#susanna clarke

maythehedge:

“But when the fairy sang, the whole world listened to him. Stephen felt clouds pause in their passing; he felt sleeping hills shift and murmur; he felt cold mists dance. He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands. In the fairy’s song the earth recognized the names by which it called itself.”

— Jonathan Strange &
Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

hexenmeisterer:

“In both novels I’ve written there’s been one character who has turned up and said to me, ‘It’s OK. Relax. I’ve got this.’ In Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell it was Childermass. Whenever he appeared in a scene I felt like he pulled up a chair for me to sit down, made me a cup of tea, and told me he would handle everything. And then he pretty much wrote the scene for me. I loved Childermass. (I still do.) In Piranesi there was a character a little bit like that, but he was a very different person from Childermass and I didn’t exactly love him. It was the Prophet. When the Prophet appeared he waved me airily aside and then just wrote his own dialogue. I had to type really fast to keep up. And when he had finished, he looked round and smiled, like he was saying, ‘That’s the way it’s done.’ And then he strutted off.”

—Susanna Clarke, 2020 interview with Hindustan Times

the-hearth-and-the-wild:

Birds are not difficult to understand. Their behaviour tells me what they are thinking. Generally it runs along the lines of: Is this food? Is this? What about this? This might be food. I am almost certain that this is. Or occasionally: It is raining. I do not like it.

-Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

Got my Pfizer booster shot yesterday, so between the fever and the body aches this has pretty much been my weekend.

This book has given me all the feels. I have a pile of “to be read” books but can’t start on them because of this novel.

I’ve been in a reading frenzy this past month, here’s what I’ve actually finished.

Piranesi is the most recent book I’ve read, and I’ve got the biggest book hangover now. Review coming soon, cannot recommended it enough. Drop you current reads and recommendations, cozy book season has officially begun.

The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I finally read Piranesi! I first started reading this book in 2021, but I just could not get into it. It just felt like I was forcing myself to get past the first few pages, and so I decided to leave it to one side for a bit.

I recently re-visited it again, after being encouraged by my friend to do so, and I am so glad I did, because this time, I loved it! I took my time with the story, letting Piranesi guide me through the house, as he discovers more about its inhabitants, and how they came to be there. It is truly a strange but fascinating tale of one man and his relationship with the place he inhabits.

The prose is charming, and while I initially found it to meander quite a bit, as I got comfortable with the writing style, I did find that it suited the story it was a part of. It reminded me a bit of Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun both in terms of the way the writing flowed, and in the way Klara and Piranesi viewed the world around them. There is a marriage of joy and melencoly to both their stories, which I found to be quite beautifully done.

The character of Piranesi is so easy to fall in love with. He sweet, curious, and so at peace with himself, and so open to learning and discovering the world around him. There is a lot we could learn from him.