The Sword and Laser discussion

Piranesi is a very unique unreliable narrator and probably what makes most of the charm of the novel to me.

Nevertheless, had anyone else the feeling there's a more traditional narrative in the book in there where we follow (view spoiler)[Raphael unraveling the mystery of Matthew Rose Sorenson's disappearance and her struggles in the police (hide spoiler)]?

I mean, Piranesi is unusually passive for a protagonist, I feel, and many would argue you would need a more active force at the center of the story (or at least have it be a dual pov story).

What do you think?

You are probably right, but then the book would not have been as unique and as beautiful as it is. I found Piranesi to be one of the great characters of contemporary literature.

Kevin wrote: "You are probably right, but then the book would not have been as unique and as beautiful as it is. I found Piranesi to be one of the great characters of contemporary literature."

Oh, 100% agree. I brought this up precisely because it's so interesting how a maybe not as traditional POV character makes the story so special.

The concept that a passive protagonist is always a Bad Thing is one of my personal bugbears. While an overly-passive protagonist can get annoying, when written well I find a more reactive and introspective main character can be very interesting to follow through an unfolding story and setting. This was very much the case for me here - I really enjoyed the unusual narrative perspective.

this could be a very wacky police procedural if done from the right point of view.....can we have Kelly McDonald play Raphael?

Ruth wrote: "The concept that a passive protagonist is always a Bad Thing is one of my personal bugbears. While an overly-passive protagonist can get annoying, when written well I find a more reactive and intro..."

Agreed. And he's not even all that passive, really. He has endless curiosity about halls around him, and exercises a lot of agency and effort when it comes to exploring them. He's endlessly inventive when it comes to surviving on limited resources too. He's just not that curious about the things the reader thinks he should be curious about (where he is, why he's there, what's going on).

And Jan is right, the author could have proceeded from taking a "normal" person, like the investigator, into a fantastic world - that's classic portal fantasy. Instead we get a character who considers the fantastic world to be normal, and that's an interesting choice.