What is going on in Piranesi?
Fiction – Literature
It is a story of a guy, named Piranesi, who lives in a world of marble and sea. His world is a House of corridors, staircases and marble statues crossed with indoor sea tides, sea weeds and schools of fish. Stone and water exist in harmonious juxtaposition. Walls of his House are speckled with innumerable windows allowing glimpses of stars lighting up the sky. The floors of his world are endless. He can climb, come across raining clouds, yet that will not mean the end of stairs. He can traverse, find hitherto unseen statues, still there will be more pathways. The statues dot his whole world, depicting all kinds of people and creatures he has never met. He has only ever met one person in this world: one human, his only friend. He has never been to the barren outdoors–visible through the windows–as his world has no doors.
"Suddenly I saw in front of me the Statue of the Faun, the Statue that I love above all others. There was his calm, faintly smiling face; there was his forefinger gently pressed to his lips."
—Piranesi, S. Clarke
Piranesi's world faces decay from an exposure to elements. Lower floors of his world are being lost to an encroaching sea: kelp and damp coat walls and staircases have fallen through the floors below. This mirrors how unknown threatens to pull Piranesi away from his peaceful life. He discovers that his memory isn't reliable: he has journals he doesn't remember writing; there are strangers from afar, mentioning forgotten events and unknown places. His friend is wary, ready to attack the foreign which he appraises a danger. Piranesi soon finds himself a rope in a tug of war between his friend and newcomers.
We are swept up in a great tide when Piranesi finds that his House is not the only world. The concept of a world where thousands or even more—more than he can imagine—people live together isn't easy to accept. He faces this unknown world and plunges in.
Clarke shows the reader their reflection, for this is a story of leaving the nest; of finding yourself a face in millions.This is a story of a fantastic dream; it's a story of suddenly waking up with a start. It’s about people whom some are quick to call 'others'. Piranesi has tasted a world that lies edgewise to ours. That is, however, a claim that gets one recommended a mental health checkup. Magic is mythical and stories of grand visions, inaccessible by others, leave Piranesi to stumble through his new life cautiously. The story eventually concludes with him coming to terms with the fact that while most people will never believe him, his life in a magical dimension has shaped who he is and will always be.
This work of contemporary fiction erects an illusory statue and then topples it, leaving one to contemplate navigating unfamiliar without a map.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, 2020.