To me he seems like someone who would be rather annoying to be around, in part due to this need to win arguments. We get only brief glimpses of Matthew Rose Sorensen throughout the novel, but we don’t have to struggle too hard to understand the kind of person he was. He opened his mouth to say something, changed his mind, and then: ‘I don’t like you very much,’ he said. That’s not exactly honest, is it?’ There may have been a slight edge of superciliousness in my voice, which I suppose I would have done better to suppress but I have always liked winning arguments. ‘I don’t think you can claim he was intellectually honest. When the reader comes across a journal entry by this personality, the language is self-assured, well-reasoned. Before he is kidnapped by the Other/Dr Ketterley, Rose Sorensen is highly rational and intelligent, potentially quite arrogant. How can a writer depict something like this, so artfully, without confusing the reader? Well, that’s what I want to talk about.Ĭhronologically, this is the first personality in the plot. This character is clearly different from Matthew Rose Sorensen and Piranesi, and yet, all three of them inhibit the same body and mind. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, page 237-238. This, I suppose, is where I differ from both of them – from Matthew Rose Sorensen and Piranesi I find I do not care greatly about clothes. Piranesi frequently wrote about Dr Ketterley’s (the Other’s) clothes in his journal and lamented the contrast with his own ragged garments. This love of clothes was something he shared with Piranesi. He had more than a dozen suits (which I find surprising considering that his income was not large). Rose Sorensen had a great number of clothes, all meticulously cared for. I wear the clothes that were brought to me out of the storage in which Matthew Rose Sorensen’s sisters had placed them. There are no coral beads or fishbones in my hair. A man with his face and voice and gestures moves about the world, and that is enough for them. They have Matthew Rose Sorensen back – or so they believe. Here is a passage towards the end of the book that illustrates my point: These are three separate and distinct identities. Three is the personality that takes over the main character when he is finally able to escape the House. The name “Piranesi” is inspired from Giovanni Battista Piranesi, known for his fictitious illustrations of “Prisons” ( Carceri) with surreal, impossible architecture He is crafty and resourceful in finding food and keeping warm, and above all, believes that “ The Beauty of the House is immeasurable its Kindness infinite“. Piranesi is best equipped to survive the House.
Once inside the House, a terrified and angry Matthew Rose Sorensen’s personality gives way to Piranesi, a character that loves the House and considers it home. He is a little arrogant, but clever, and methodical in his journalling. Very briefly, the Other kidnaps Matthew Rose Sorensen, a young intellectual conducting research on transgressive thinking. The second, is Matthew Rose Sorensen, the man the Other kidnapped, and the third has no name in the text, so I’ll call him Three. He is the narrator for a majority of the book. The first, the one we are most familiar with, I shall call Piranesi. What I found fascinating about this book (aside from everything else, because it’s brilliant), was the three personalities of the main character. The third person leaving messages all over the House is a cop, looking to save Piranesi and bring the Other to justice. Piranesi does not remember this, because the House can do a number on your mental health. To quickly spoil this for you so we can get to the point: the Other had kidnapped Piranesi and held him captive in the House. The House in Piranesi consists of thousands and thousands of strange and beautiful statues The Other claims that they bring madness and destruction. They’re leaving strange messages, and is hunting for Piranesi.
However, a third living person has entered the House.
His friend, The Other, seeks to find a secret and ancient knowledge which he believes lies at the heart of the House. He is one of two living human beings in the House.
It’s through these journals that we experience the story. Piranesi documents the House and its wonders in his journals, which he prizes above all else. An ocean runs through the House, as do clouds. It is a labyrinth, with countless perilous halls and passageways, and thousands upon thousands of statues. Piranesi lives in a strange and beautiful House. If you have not read Piranesi, be warned: spoilers await you! I want to talk about book’s main character(s), and I will be epically spoiling the plot. She’s the much-feted author of Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell (which I have not read and plan to, soon). Last week, I read Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi.
0 kommentar(er)
