Susanna Clarke's Piranesi: Gaslight gatekeep girlboss

The beauty of this book is immeasurable, and its kindness is infinite. We all love Susanna Clarke's 2012 metaphysical thriller, which feels like a mashup of Borges/C.S. Lewis/Gone Girl.  Venture deeper into the labyrinth with us: Piranesi as amateur scientist: On indigenous knowledge, the dangers of naïve empiricism, achieving dominion over nature, and whether the Other kind of had a point. Metaphysics of the House: Are abstractions real, revisiting Plato's world of perfect forms, and whether the world is fundamentally Good. Identity and mental illness: The illusion of stable personhood over time, repressed memories as trauma response, and how a person with dementia or psychosis can maintain a consistent internal worldview.   CHAPTERS (00:00:00) meet the Beloved Child of the House (00:09:55) Piranesi as amateur scientist (00:19:48) metaphysics of the House and Plato’s theory of forms (00:38:13) C.S. Lewis allusions (00:41:21) The BIG REVEAL (spoilers) (00:46:30) The illusion of stable personhood (00:55:02) Internal consistency of dementia or psychosis patients (01:02:30) Piranesi’s escape and reintegration (01:09:11) Is the world (or the House) fundamentally Good?   SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: We wanna start reading listener feedback out on the pod, so send us a note at [email protected] to correct our bad takes or share your own.    NEXT ON THE READING LIST: Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky (reading in three parts over six weeks)