Piranesi

I almost DNFed this one at about 20% but I'm so glad I didn't. This was a spectacular read, a little reminiscent of [b:House of Leaves 24800 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403889034l/24800.SX50.jpg 856555] but at its core it was very different. The mystery took a while to get going, but once it did, it was hard to put down. A solid 4.5 stars for me.It's pretty difficult to summarise anything about this book without giving important plot points away. Piranesi is a person who wanders around the infinite Halls of the House, occasionally meeting the only other person who also wanders those Halls, appropriately nicknamed The Other. The House provides them with whatever they need, and Piranesi views himself as the Beloved Child of the House. But who is The Other, and what is this endless House that they are in? Most importantly, who is Piranesi himself?As mentioned above, the first 20% was very bewildering and I couldn't get my bearings in the story very well (and almost DNFed!). It's only after that the the mystery element of the book came on fast and furious. The pacing was good, and the ending was fairly satisfactory. I'm on the fence on whether I wanted more in-depth explanations, or whether it was perfect the way it is.About overall themes and the ending:When I was reading this book, I was strongly reminded of dissociative identity disorder, and perhaps that's deliberate? I haven't read up on interviews with Clarke yet to figure out if that was her intention, but when Piranesi began talking about Matthew as someone who was "asleep within him", it seemed like a very clear reference to DID. It makes sense since Piranesi was "born" shortly after Matthew was trapped in the Labyrinth by Ketterley, and it's likely that the whole ordeal with your entire perception of reality being challenged could very well have caused Matthew to dissociate.What's even more interesting is at the end when Piranesi returns to the Other World with Raphael. At first, we get Piranesi's perspective, but then it shifts to yet another identity that doesn't seem to have existed before. It's like Piranesi's transition into the Other World was enough of a shock to have caused yet another dissociation, creating a new identity that "oversees" both Piranesi and Matthew, is aware of the workings of the House and the Other World, and is now the primary entity.I wonder if Raphael knows this about him? It's also interesting that Raphael chooses to go back over and over again to the Labyrinth, and I'm wondering if she would choose to live in the Labyrinth at any point.What I kinda wished was more fleshed out was the whole idea of the ancient knowledge/magic that the House was made out of. I guess it might have been deliberately left unexplained since the book seemed to be about the futility and silliness of men fighting other men to get a grasp on knowledge that was infinitely bigger than them. I just wish I had a better handle at least on what kind of knowledge and magic this was about, even if there wasn't an in-depth explanation on how it worked.I'd recommend this for fans of fantasy mysteries, speculative fiction, and stories that break the mold. This might also be a good recommendation for fans of House of Leaves, if you don't expect as much gritty darkness and horror because ultimately this book is more about the wonder of things infinitely bigger than oneself than it is dealing with the existential horror of it.