Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Weird and wonderful

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

by 6 Comments

Piranesi is an odd and engrossing little book that feels both similar and entirely different to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (especially in terms of page numbers). Our titular character (although he’s not sure that’s really his name) lives in the House, a labyrinthine structure with waves thundering through its statue filled halls. Piranesi spends his time exploring, fishing, foraging and calculating the tides while recording everything that happens in his journals, ready for his meetings with the Other. The Other is the only other […]

A labyrinth…. an ocean…. references to Narnia…. everything I’ve ever wanted

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

by 2 Comments

The Other calls him Piranesi, but he’s fairly certain that isn’t his name. But he’s not sure what else it could be, so he supposes that will do for now. Piranesi is alone (except for the Other) in the House, made up of infinite Halls and Antechambers and Vestibules, populated by only the fish and birds and massive, incredible statues. Oh, and 13 skeletons. Piranesi spends his days fishing, exploring, documenting, and tending to the House. There are Tides to calculate and seaweed to gather […]

The ones that I couldn’t finish (NOT my double Cannonball!)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Trelegemeproblemet (The Three-Body Problem) by Liu Cixin

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

American Demon by Kim Harrison

by 1 Comment

Dear readers, I’m not going to lie, I’m racing against the clock to get all of my reviews finished in time for the CBR12 deadline (12 noon EST – or 6 pm Oslo time). I also need to finish 25% of the final novel I’m reviewing, co-parent my autocratic, demanding, and rather clingy almost-three-year-old, plan and prep a three-course New Year’s meal, and possibly do some last-minute shopping. No pressure, right? So when fellow Cannonballer Pixifer posted a review with all of her DNF’s for the year, […]

A labyrinth of isolation and connection

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

by Leave a Comment

Piranesi live in the House. The House is expansive and full of many mysteries. Piranesi lives, for all intents and purposes, alone though the House is occupied by one other person, The Other. What mysteries does the House hold? What lessons is the House ready to teach? And that’s all I’ll say about the plot because the less you know going in, the better. When we are all isolating and distancing from others as much as we can (at least, I hope we all are), […]

“May your Paths be safe, your Floors unbroken and may the House fill your eyes with Beauty.”

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

by Leave a Comment

I actually read this back in September but let it fall through the cracks, and haven’t rated or reviewed it until now. Part of me also just wanted to sit with it, alone, and see what happened. I will say that I was verrrry close to giving this five stars. I was thoroughly charmed while reading it, very quickly began feeling a deep, affectionate love for Piranesi, and felt weird whenever I put the book back down. It kept pulling me back, and I was […]

Immense beauty and infinite kindness

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

by 1 Comment

I first read Susanna Clarke in my senior year of undergrad. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was a new release, and I decided I could not wait for the paperback edition to read it: I lugged that fat hardback around for two weeks as I slowly worked my way through it, savoring it, never wanting it to end, which I suspect is how many of us who read it felt. Clarke created a world that felt so real, right down to the prose style, that the […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo