Piranesi

What a lovely story! Poignant, melancholy, also compelling and beautiful. I don't want to spoil the plot, it's a bit of a puzzle story, but it comes together in a way that gives the book way more meaning than it seems at first. But not in a tiresome way, I found this compelling on every page and finished it in barely 24 hours.

To take a specific example of the craft; the book is written in the first person and it has an odd writing style that seems stilted, formal, with all the Important Noun Phrases capitalized. At first I thought it was some sort of homage to Library of Babel, which clearly this story borrows from. But then it turns out towards the end it's more of a deliberate voice, to reflect the narrator's new mental state. The style ends up being beautiful on the surface for its lyricism but also a more deeply meaningful narrative device.

I think this book could be made into a good movie. The story is all about tone. So maybe Aronofsky, or del Toro minus the horror, or Natali, the person behind the movie Cube. Really I'd want to see a wholly new filmmaker attempt this, someone young for whom this book has been highly influential.