The only things he says are outside the House are the sun, moon and stars. The narrator has not found windows that look out at the end of the House – in fact, the House seems to be without end. The narrator tells us that the House has windows, but they look out on courtyards, so there is more of the House all around them. The narrator continues, referring to the House as the World. The reader is immediately asking questions. Its walls are lined with marble statues, hundreds upon hundreds of them, tier upon tier … The statues, which the reader eventually learns fill the House, are first mentioned a few sentences later. This is the very first line in the book, and from this first sentence the mystery and other-worldliness of the story is immediately established. When the Moon rose in the Third Northern Hall I went to the Ninth Vestibule to witness the joining of three Tides. It is very much like a dream, a depiction of another world that doesn’t appear to make much sense, except in a sort of dream logic. This book is not overly full of action, and some might find it slow. The story is told through a series of journal entries he makes. The main character, referred to as Piranesi (though this is not his name) lives in the House, and is alone except for one other living person and thirteen dead ones. “Piranesi” is a novel about a House, with no end, and no exit.
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