This was such an atmospheric read! I loved the depiction of the House with all its wonders, especially as Piranesi had such an endearing way of describing it all. The vastness of the House makes it difficult to orient alone on Piranesi’s description but I feel that this also is a great part of this mystical and magical air around the house and everything inside. Piranesi’s way of living and his whole mindset was also so very sweet and wholesome to witness 🥹. I love the way he truly embraced living with everything in harmony, showing respect and love to everything he encounters! His endless respect and care and constant wonder with which he meets his environment might be somewhat childlike but, in my opinion, is something to strive for! How wonderful a way of living it would be, how fulfilling and cozy! I have to admit I would have been just as happy, maybe more even, if this whole book would not have solved this mystery of the house as I so loved the whole atmosphere that was build before.

In this book mundane everyday life in the 20th century is deeply interwoven with absurd and very creative elements. Be it the way food is cooked (I only say eel from the tap that is baited with toothpaste), houses and clothes are behaving or what inventions exist (like the super fun sounding pianocktail!). But the most striking is how absurd and alien the people sometimes behave in this world. This especially is striking when it comes to poor people or a lot of working people. Poor people are out of principle treated worse than all others and we can especially see that when it comes to the church. All throughout this book, there is no care when it comes to death. Killing or witnessing death is at most a minor inconvenience (if even), when one has to replace workers or so. I think these aspects are a nice over exaggeration of humans behavior, especially seen through the lens of capitalism. I also liked the criticism on the police through over exaggeration of its behavior. It almost surprised me I had such a great time as I did with the book but the whole crazy world had so much creative elements in it that hooked me (while human behavior often put me a little off but that was the point of it I would say).