inside the pasta bowl

one of the things i love the most about piranesi is how the main character is this kind, inquisitive person who loves the world he inhabits and feels loved by it in turn, and how this is not something he needs to grow past, rather it is what saves him and keeps him alive. being observant, curious, wanting to learn about the House, being grateful for all it gives him, this is what keeps him alive and what helps him through the events that take place

Oh piranesi. You most beautiful of people. I anyone else's hands, piranesi could have been a thriller or a horror, but in your hands I wonder at the endless halls and the albatrosses and the tides. I think of the statues and the reeds. Of companionship, loneliness, and the fulfilment found in the work of my hands.

My favorite part about Piranesi (the book) is that it's honestly told from the wrong perspective. The main character should be Raphael, the maverick cop who overcomes public doubt to solve a cold case and take down a cult. But Susanna Clarke was like hmmm actually what if we watched the missing guy talk to birds for 300 pages as the plot takes place offstage. and it was fire