Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is one of those books where half of the beauty is having zero spoliers. So how to talk about it without breaking the spell? Piranesi si living alone inside infinite maze. He’s fishing and cooking seaweed, his own existence is tied to surrounding environment and being in service of Great and Secret Knowledge. Many things are unknown. He is exploring and studying in detail what he sees and what is happening to him. And while not much happens at first, the story soon starts to pull you into some kind of magical golden sequences:

Many things are unknown. Once – it was about six or seven months ago – I saw a bright yellow speck floating on a gentle Tide beneath the Fourth Western Hall. Not understanding what it could be, I waded out into the Waters and caught it. It was a leaf, very beautiful, with two sides curving to a point at each end. Of course it is possible that it was part of a type of sea vegetation that I have never seen, but I am doubtful. The texture seemed wrong. Its surface repelled Water, like something meant to live in Air. (p17)

It is really good. Would love to read this in my older teens and I’m not surprised that animated film adaptation is in the works.