A review by hazy_amber
Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
3.0
I see how i will be in minority while people are admiring the magic that this book is.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad. It’s good writing and i actually hope it’s picked up as a movie, i can see it turning into a stunning visual. So i can see its merit, but i am not as in awe as most of reviewers appear to be.
So to begin with - recommending it to Ocean at the End of Lane and Circe readers is just a weird combination that doesn’t live to its promise.
Is Circe brought in cause it’s a recent bestseller on Greek mythology and you have mentions of mythology in here?
Why is Ocean... in it i just don’t get altogether, is it water? Is it Gaiman’s more popular thing and he is perceived as a “whimsical” author? Why this recommendation?
Anyway, i absolutely love both Circe and Ocean at the End of the Lane and i think that blurb is doing a marketing disservice when trying to find readers for this book.
So, back to the book - i can see that it would be a perfect read for people who don’t mind uneven narrative and books that don’t attempt to deliver the things that could make it less uneven. This makes it not everyone’s cup of tea for sure.
If it wasn’t for it being my bookclub book, i might’ve just DNFed cause literally nothing happened for like at least one third of a book, and even then it was “something _seems_ to start happening”. I am all in for world building but 100 pages or so in a 275 pages book is a bit of a stretch cause I usually give a book 15-20% to get me into it (but again, bookclub!)
It does create a great romanticized version of how i’d imagine a certain mental condition, but i am not sure how i feel about romanticized versions of mental conditions as of late.
So yeah, i am not disappointed that i read it, but i am not ready to give anything more than a three star.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad. It’s good writing and i actually hope it’s picked up as a movie, i can see it turning into a stunning visual. So i can see its merit, but i am not as in awe as most of reviewers appear to be.
So to begin with - recommending it to Ocean at the End of Lane and Circe readers is just a weird combination that doesn’t live to its promise.
Is Circe brought in cause it’s a recent bestseller on Greek mythology and you have mentions of mythology in here?
Why is Ocean... in it i just don’t get altogether, is it water? Is it Gaiman’s more popular thing and he is perceived as a “whimsical” author? Why this recommendation?
Anyway, i absolutely love both Circe and Ocean at the End of the Lane and i think that blurb is doing a marketing disservice when trying to find readers for this book.
So, back to the book - i can see that it would be a perfect read for people who don’t mind uneven narrative and books that don’t attempt to deliver the things that could make it less uneven. This makes it not everyone’s cup of tea for sure.
If it wasn’t for it being my bookclub book, i might’ve just DNFed cause literally nothing happened for like at least one third of a book, and even then it was “something _seems_ to start happening”. I am all in for world building but 100 pages or so in a 275 pages book is a bit of a stretch cause I usually give a book 15-20% to get me into it (but again, bookclub!)
It does create a great romanticized version of how i’d imagine a certain mental condition, but i am not sure how i feel about romanticized versions of mental conditions as of late.
So yeah, i am not disappointed that i read it, but i am not ready to give anything more than a three star.