94. (November 2020) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke — The Tabletop Roleplayers' Book Club

Question 1

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:21:38 +0000

When I nominated this book, I suggested it was best to know as little as possible going in, and the fun was the slow unfolding of the mystery of the world and people. Do you agree with this assessment? Was the way the mystery unfolded engaging for you?

Question 2

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:25:10 +0000

I'll put the obligatory RPG question here, and apply it more generally to fiction writing. It's a small world - with just two living people in it, and intrusion of two more. The world is effectively empty. There are environmental hazards, but they're easy enough for the protagonist to navigate.

How, in fiction and RPGs, can we make such small worlds satisfying? Is this something you want to do?

Question 6

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:32:55 +0000

Did the structure of the book, in terms of the diary entries, and the forgetful narrator who was himself a mystery work for you?

Question 5

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:31:10 +0000

For me, there was something very appealing about the protagonist, and his innocence. Did the protagonist appeal to you? In a first person narrative, how important is the character of the narrator?

Question 4

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:28:54 +0000

For me, there was an element of timeliness with the book, in these Covid-19 times when the group of people we tend to interact with directly is quite small. There's something in it about loneliness and solitude. Did these themes resonate with you? What other themes were there? Did they resonate?

Question 3

dr_mitch — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 13:26:29 +0000

In the rooms, with the statues, and a few pieces of detritus, there's a lot of symbolism, right? Did anything symbolic stand out for you?