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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
When it is time for our book club, I'm delighted to be joined in the studio by Sinead Cudahy from the Tired Mammy Book Club. And with her is our own David O'Connor from our team here on Newstalk. And David, it was your choice this time for the book club. It's called Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It has been controversial. Shall we just start? I think that's fair, isn't it?
Yeah, I will say, I don't think it was me that recommended it. We'd have to listen back to the tapes on that one.
It absolutely was.
It absolutely was David's suggestion.
Thank you, Sinead. It 100% was you. Let's not argue about that before we start because we've lots to argue about. So while I was reading this, Sinead, every day I would come into work and stare at David. Not in a very nice way. Yeah, death stares. And I just didn't get it.
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Chapter 2: What is 'Piranesi' by Susanna Clarke about?
Did you get it?
Yeah, I actually just said to David outside earlier that I actually enjoyed it. But it is definitely, I don't know if you'd say an acquired taste. It's definitely not for everyone, despite its literary prowess. I don't even know how to talk about it. Yeah, I know. I was sort of dreading that.
I'm not sure what it's about. David, do you want to join us?
Yeah. Not really, no. I'm happy to just sit here for this one.
Did you like it?
So I'm very torn on it. I remember like when I finished the book, I thought that was fine. But there was definitely an urge I had as soon as I finished that last page. I actually went back and I read the first chapter again immediately.
I couldn't have done that. I thought you were going to say you had an urge to throw it out the window or something like that.
But there was honestly, there was so many cool things about the book. So straight away, there's two epigraphs on the book that starts the whole thing off. And the first one is from C.S. Lewis from The Magician's Nephew, the first book of Narnia. And the second one is from an actual character within the book.
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Chapter 3: What were the initial reactions to 'Piranesi'?
And I remember when you're starting reading the book, You see someone called Lawrence Arne Sales had this quote about him. And I never heard of the person. I just presumed there was a philosopher I'd never heard of. But then once you read the book, you finish it, you go back and you read the start again.
You're thinking, OK, there was actually so much more to this book than I realized that I was in the book before the book had even started for me. So I thought, you know, I think maybe it should be our next book club pick as well to reread it again.
That's not happening. That's your book club. You can do that. No, I have to say, to be fair, I actually did quite enjoy it. And it's very different. And I had said that to you the last day. It is very different. You know, that's the joy of book clubs.
It's not something that I would choose to read. And so I enjoyed it. I struggled to say that from that point of view in that it was different. But I don't really get it. No. I don't know what it was trying to teach me. And I'm not sure I liked it. Let's be honest. I don't think I liked it, David. Sorry.
Yeah, I think just to fold the listeners in a bit, they're not aware of the book. Basically, the whole book is set in a house, but it's not your normal house. The house is basically... Infinite. Infinite. Correct. Yeah, it's just halls and rooms like one forever filled with statues. There's only two people in the house. There is the titular Piranesi and then there's someone else called The Other.
Piranesi's not even his real name. No, spoiler alert.
It's not his name. So basically it's just these two people and all they're doing there is kind of exploring the house but they still haven't explored it all and they've been there as long as Piranesi can remember. But then all of a sudden, a third person appears in the house and writing shows up in the house that this third person is leaving behind messages.
It just doesn't make sense of what the world is. And then even Piranesi finds old diary entries, old written letters from himself that he has no memory writing. And it's a question of can you trust your own handwriting if you have no memory of writing it down? Because then I just felt the whole book had a malevolent twist.
See, you were selling it really well. And it sounds much better.
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Chapter 4: How does the setting of 'Piranesi' influence the story?
So it's just maybe he lived in this really stressful as the real world is place. And then this was an escape. Because he's really naive, isn't he? Yeah. But I don't know if that's just after, you know, time, sort of Stockholm syndrome, that maybe after time, maybe he was a different person before he went into this world and that over time his life becomes much simpler.
But there is a definite element of naivety because he doesn't kind of question things. Like one of the first things that was like a big red flag for me was this other person, this only other person in his world He mentions, you know, Piranesi mentions that he doesn't have shoes and the other is like, oh, I'll get you some.
Yeah.
And then the shoes arrive in a box.
And then the guy is really well dressed with all of his different outfits and then he has his shiny screen. Like, oh my God, can you not see what this is?
I'd like to know what you guys think about the style of the book, how it's journal entries, diary entries. Do you like that when reading a book or do you not generally like diary entries?
I liked it, I just didn't like the title of each entry. And I stopped reading them. Yeah, they're quite long. You know what I mean, Sinead? I skipped over the title because I knew, oh, this is just, I can't even remember what it was. Yeah, I do like... The 27th day of the sixth month after the albatross arrived in the house or whatever it was. I mean, my God. Yeah.
And there were some lists, there were some lists in those journal entries that if you're reading it in a physical format, you just want to skim through it. But if you're listening to it on audio, it goes over quite well. And yeah, I quite enjoy books that are either, you know, letters or diaries, things like that, back and forth to that.
You know, there was a whole section about the theory of, what was his name?
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