Like many others before me, I find myself at a loss. There’s no earthly reason why this book should be interesting, but it is. It didn’t take long for me to fall into Piranesi’s narration, which is highly logical yet leaves you with more questions than answers.

This book is about a man named Piranesi who lives in a sprawling classical building complex surrounded by the ocean. The building is bursting with statues depicting all kinds of things. Its lower floors are flooded. It’s filled with birds. You can see the stars.

Piranesi calls himself a beloved child of the house. He’s content to live a rather survivalist life in this lonely place, yet he’s not unhappy. He keeps a daily journal. He meticulously maps the house. He lovingly cares for the dead bodies in the house. Twice weekly, he meets with The Other, another man who inhabits the house. The Other is on a quest for deeper and higher knowledge.

That’s the setup. I know. Weird!

Even though it may seem like this book is about nothing, it is about life. Probably? We try to make sense of where we find ourselves in the world. No matter how large or small the scope of life, we seek to understand it, document it, and sustain it. Piranesi is a master at living in the moment.

But what happens when an external force challenges what we believe to be true about the world? What happens when there is more to the world than we thought? How do we react when we realize we have been wrong, that we’ve forgotten things?

Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of this book, but it sure was an interesting foray into a non-cheesy fantasy world.