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Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I think I'm sitting somewhere between you and your dad's opinion on this one Sadik!
The experience of reading this reminded me of the experience of reading
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and that's not really a compliment. There's a lot of repetition, in
Piranesi this takes the form of descriptions of places, routes and years at the beginning of diary entries, you're thrown into a different universe with no clue as to what's going on or where you are. Slowly, slowly some sense seems to be forming of what's happened to whom. By the middle I was thinking there was going to be a clever denouement that brought all the strands together into a stunningly imaginative and satisfying whole, but actually by the end I wanted to hurl the book across the room. (Not possible as it was a Kindle edition!)
In retrospect though I am impressed with the world building here, so cinematic and well realised was the setting that I became convinced I had seen a painting that Clarke had based her world upon, although googling suggests this isn't the case. (Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons", but having looked at his etchings they are completely unfamiliar to me and didn't fit my minds eye vision of Piranesi's world at all.)
Done well this could be an amazing film and would be a perfect book club choice as it's quite short, thought provoking and has a lot of different interpretations. I've no doubt it would split readers opinion and be a good source of debate. This Reddit discussion, for example, is interesting but contains spoilers so don't look at it unless you've already read the novel :
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/isgq5q/piranesibyysusannaclarkeespoiler_discussion/
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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. Much reviewed novel that examines an abusive relationship between a 15 year old pupil and 42 year old teacher, that endures off and on for 17 years. Vanessa is desperate to view the grooming and rape she experienced as a teen through the lens of romanticism always believing she was fully consensual, but she has to reassess her opinion when other victims come forward.
A difficult read that looks at agency, consent, complicity and victimhood in the light of the #metoo movement.
Beautifully written look at an important topic, but I did feel it could have said what it needed to more concisely, a little overlong. And on a personal note having had
Lolitta on my Kindle since it was on 99p deal it irritatingly reveals major plot points for that novel, although having spent far too long in the company of Jacob Strain I have no intention of meeting Humbert Humbert for a little while yet so maybe I'll forget the spoilers!