"I often look for books that are like medicine, that fit my situation and my thoughts, and I read them over and over again until the pages are tattered, underlining everything, and still the book will have something to give me. Books never tire of me. And in time they present a solution, quietly waiting until I am fully healed. That’s one of the nicest things about books."

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, Baek Sehee

“You’ve lived with anxiety for a long time. Once your new experiences start overwriting your old ones, your view of yourself and others may become far brighter than it is now.”

- Baek Sehee, from i want to die but i want to eat tteokbokki (translated by Anton Hur)

— Baek Se-hee, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki

excerpt: i’m sad, but i’m alive, and living through it. / that is my solace and my joy. 

Perhaps that is what it is like being with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not. Perhaps that is what Raphael means.

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

now reading: piranesi by susanna clarke

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || October 4 || One Word Title:  Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Currently reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I really think that readings of the House as a horror or a wonder depend highly on whether people sympathize more with Piranesi or Matthew Rose Sorensen.

Piranesi wouldn't exist if not for the House. He wouldn't be alive if he didn't love it. In a way, he is truly a child of the House. But Matthew Rose Sorensen was imprisoned and destroyed by the House so deeply that not even the memory of him was left. Looking back, it reminds me of the Hill House and its "insistent hospitality". It's really all a matter of perspective!

In my mind are all the tides, their seasons, their ebbs and their flows. In my mind are all the halls, the endless procession of them, the intricate pathways. When this world becomes too much for me, when I grow tired of the noise and the dirt and the people, I close my eyes and I name a particular vestibule to myself; then I name a hall.

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

i loved the part of the book where piranesi resolves to take better care of himself while he's rediscovering his own history. he just has so much compassion for himself! the journal upsets him so he takes a week off and does things he enjoys and then he settles into a safe place when he wants to tackle the subject again. and he doesn't believe The Other when he's told about his amnesia! he values his own insights and his own knowledge of the House even when fucking ketterley is actively trying to undermine his sense of self. piranesi's gentle treatment of himself and the person he used to be is genuinely so moving.

I was in a house with many rooms. The sea sweeps through the house. Sometimes it swept over me, but always I was saved.

Susanna Clarke, Piranesi

my take on piranesi and the Other

hey don’t cry. the Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite ok?

Industriousness embodied

she is my favorite statue too!

'Piranesi' again, albatross in The Lower Halls. Damn, I'd give everything to find the House

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘈𝘜𝘛𝘠 𝘖𝘍 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘏𝘖𝘜𝘚𝘌 𝘐𝘚 𝘐𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘜𝘙𝘈𝘉𝘓𝘌; 𝘐𝘛𝘚 𝘒𝘐𝘕𝘋𝘕𝘌𝘚𝘚 𝘐𝘕𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘐𝘛𝘌.

-Piranesi