This book is a masterpiece, I think. It’s about so many things at once: the pursuit of knowledge, blissful ignorance, loneliness versus solitude, trust or the lack thereof, unknowability, and contentment. What makes a person who they are, even when identity seems totally lost. The world around us and how we appreciate it, find meaning in it. All of these themes and questions are conveyed richly and beautifully throughout Piranesi. 

I absolutely adored the title character of this book. I loved his simple sense of personal meaning and awareness of the world around him; his voice throughout the story evokes a keen sense of irony in the reader, as his nonchalance is so dissonant with the perplexity of his circumstances, and this serves to endear him to his audience even more. He is a guide to the magnificent setting of the book, and he both complements it and brightens it with his routine wonder and dedication to his duties. I loved how the audience could put the mystery of his existence together long before he himself could, yet his journey to that knowledge was compelling regardless because of the voice he gave to it. Even as he develops as a character, he holds true to the same duty guiding him: to be kind. It motivates his every action. This is further detailed by the writing style of the novel, which gives him a voice that is distinctly his own, appreciative and curious and simple but in good faith even through the evolution of the story. He is an incredible character.

The plot of this book, its supporting cast, and its setting are intertwined in a deeply satisfying manner. The questions raised by this interconnectedness are answered mostly thematically, bringing conclusion to the philosophical concerns of the novel but leaving a tiny bit of space as gaps in the gaps in the reader’s knowledge of the story. I felt that this kind of conclusion suited the story incredibly well, especially with a main character like this one at the helm. The plot itself was perfectly mysterious and dark to explore the issues it did, and the questions of abstraction and figurativity served its themes in kind. There are so many layers to this book: the surface level of the plot’s events, the motivations of the characters, why the atmosphere and setting of the book is presented as it is, what it communicates about its themes through figurativity, the deeper meaning of all that happens… I loved it all. Piranesi has so much to say about all that it covers on both a surface level and thematically, and it does so with skillful depth and grace. 

Overall, I really loved this book. I can’t think of a better way to describe it than utterly compelling. Everything about this book-- the atmosphere, the protagonist, the mystery, the themes, the writing-- drew me in completely. It’s a relatively short read, but one that holds a lot to consider, and definitely one that I’ll be thinking about for a long, long time. It merits a reread, I think, or two or three or many more.