Piranesi

How does writing function in the novel? In what ways does the written word verify or refute spoken information?

How does memory loss affect the narrator? How does the isolation caused by memory loss impact the narrator’s thoughts and/or actions?

What elements are present and absent in the labyrinth and how do these elements (or absence thereof) function?

Discuss how different calendars and the structure of dated journal entries shape the novel. 

The narrator uses standard modern capitalization before he loses his memory and after he leaves the labyrinth. What does the unusual and antiquated capitalization in many journal entries teach us about the narrator?

How does the use of lists function alongside the standard prose of journal entries? What does using lists accomplish?

How do the narrator’s triple identities—The Beloved Child of the House, Piranesi, and Matthew Rose Sorensen—surface and interact? How does he evolve as a character?

In what ways is Piranesi a book about art and writing? Discuss some of the allusions that Clarke uses in the text.