# Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 17, 2022, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260 "2022-03-17T17:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/21 "2022-03-23T15:48:35Z")
I didn’t know about her health issues. Can you please expand a little? * * * I enjoyed the book and it was a nice quick read, but it was also a far cry from her masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/22 "2022-03-23T17:22:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I didn’t know about her health issues. Can you please expand a little? She started this book back in the mid 2000s and it took something like 14-15 years to complete largely due to her health. Nobody is really 100% sure what her underlying issue is, but the symptoms she’s suffered include exhaustion combined with bouts of nausea, migraines, and such. I think the latest diagnosis was chronic fatigue syndrome but I don’t think anybody would be surprised if it was something else entirely. I don’t remember where or when I saw the interview, but she certainly saw the irony in a modern English writer of 19th century fiction suffering from a 19th century style affliction. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/23 "2022-03-25T16:35:52Z")
Here’s an article that is a review of Piranesi but also incorporates interviews with Clarke, where she speaks about her illness. > **[Susanna Clarke: ‘I was cut off from the world, bound in one place by illness’](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/12/susanna-clarke-i-was-cut-off-from-the-world-bound-in-one-place-by-illness)** > > Her debut, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, sold 4m copies. Now 16 years on, Clarke is back with a second novel that is even more peculiar ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/24 "2022-03-25T18:49:17Z")
Wonderful article - thanks, **Hoops**. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/25 "2022-03-30T22:23:41Z")
I somehow missed when this book was published. I totally _adored_ Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. I loved Piranesi, too, but it’s a completely different book. I’d just finished an 800+ page book before reading Piranesi, so I was ready for something more digestible. Thanks for the reco for _The Power of Three._ ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/26 "2022-03-30T22:54:07Z")
Oops. Forgot to mention that it’s a physically beautiful book. I loved the dust jacket, so I bought the hardcover. But the book cover under the jacket is great, too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260/27 "2022-04-01T18:18:15Z")
Yes, although the centaur statue shown is not the same as the one described in the book (pp. 15-16 in my paperback edition). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piranesi-by-susanna-clarke-open-spoilers/961260.md?page=1)