Not-Line

god I'm such a slut for Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce *decides it’s inaccurate to refer to myself as a slut in light of my minimal sexual activity* if The Enemy discovered my ardor for Chinese eggplant in garlic sauce, they would gain a significant strategic advantage

i loved the part of the book where piranesi resolves to take better care of himself while he's rediscovering his own history. he just has so much compassion for himself! the journal upsets him so he takes a week off and does things he enjoys and then he settles into a safe place when he wants to tackle the subject again. and he doesn't believe The Other when he's told about his amnesia! he values his own insights and his own knowledge of the House even when fucking ketterley is actively trying to undermine his sense of self. piranesi's gentle treatment of himself and the person he used to be is genuinely so moving.

sparkle on! its the first day of the fifth month in the year the albatross came to the south-western halls. forget who you are

ketterlys complete contempt for piranesi and his only real positive emotion towards him being fascination when piranesi demonstrates how truly distant he has become from the real world vs piranesi’s complete and utter forgiveness of him for what he’s done even after incandescent murderous fury towards him

I finished piranesi a little bit ago and loved it—also appreciated that mc is explicitly a biracial Ghanaian man bc it added another layer to the horrors of what happened to him (kidnapped, taken to a strange world, stripped of his identity, has to perform labor for his captor). ketterley is an imperialist; he sees the world as something to be conquered and its resources to be extracted. piranesi/matthew, beloved child of the house, views it as something with inherent value and not just a means to an end. he studies it with love and admiration and is deeply acquainted with it and the creatures who live there. the world cradles him, it drowns ketterley. rly good