[HN Gopher] A Labyrinth for Our Time
___________________________________________________________________
A Labyrinth for Our Time
Author : lermontov
Score : 28 points
Date : 2021-04-26 05:35 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.publicbooks.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.publicbooks.org)
| jfengel wrote:
| Piranesi is a very good book that has the misfortune to come
| after an even better book.
|
| Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of the great books of the
| last half-century. It's a stunning achievement, the kind that
| seems like it would take an author's entire lifetime. It begs
| rereading to connect all of the dots, and craving more.
|
| Piranesi isn't that book. It's an entirely different book, so
| much so that it's hard to evaluate on its own. On its own, it's a
| very good longish novella, meditative in a way that was perfect
| for the early pandemic times when it came out. Reading it during
| lockdown was a lot to handle.
|
| So while I know it was very good, I mostly remember
| disappointment that it wasn't better. Unlike the OP, I felt that
| it was structured as a mystery, one whose result wasn't entirely
| satisfying. _Strange_ was set in awesomely consistent magical
| world (including consistent inconsistencies). _Piranesi_ rather
| hand-waves at a magic that doesn 't bear any scrutiny but bears
| too much weight of the plot to wave away.
|
| It begins so, so well, and the first half sets up an excellent
| enigma and rich world. Maybe others will feel that the second
| half carries it off better than I did; maybe early pandemic
| wasn't the time to read it.
| efsavage wrote:
| I thought Jonathan Strange was ... OK, and Piranesi was maybe a
| bit better, or at least cuter, and mostly redeemed because it
| was short and didn't try to turn itself into an epic. I've
| found both books to be finely crafted, but unable to really
| deliver, like a dessert that looks _amazing_ but just tastes
| like cake.
| jfengel wrote:
| _Strange_ is definitely a case where the journey is more
| important than the destination. The pace is languid to the
| point of lethargic, and then rushes through an ending that 's
| almost literally a flurry of flapping birds.
|
| I really like your analogy. I wouldn't have put it that way,
| but it beautifully evokes what the novel felt like to you.
| It's a helpful case where I can say, "Ya know, if it's not
| grabbing you 20 pages in, maybe don't bother." (I resent all
| those times people tell me, "Oh, you just have to slog
| through the first novel/first season and then it gets good.)
| choxi wrote:
| This looks interesting. If you're into surrealist fiction,
| Labyrinths by Jorge Louis Borge is a great classic and Exhalation
| by Ted Chiang is sort of like sci-fi surrealism.
| selimthegrim wrote:
| Appropriate username.
| wincy wrote:
| Piranesi is a really excellent book. It's the first book I've
| read in a long time where I fell asleep reading it, then woke up
| the next day and finished reading.
| beepy wrote:
| Piranesi was very enjoyable and refreshingly novel. The setting,
| the "house" which is the real star, has stayed with me even
| though I read it months ago. While it may technically be a
| mystery, it felt more like a fantastic and exquisite space that
| you get to inhabit for a time an examine from every angle. It's
| short and light enough that it's not much of an investment --
| well worth the small risk to pick it up.
|
| I happen to be re-reading Jonathan Strange and am enjoying it
| even more than the first time.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-04-27 23:02 UTC)