Talk:Piranesi (novel)

fantasy or science fiction?
I thought Piranesi was clearly science fiction rather than fantasy. Everything within the House operates by entirely natural processes, and while its existence and connection with the real world are unexplained, they are assumptions more like (say) faster-than-light travel than a system of magic. And the main character is a scientist trying to understand the world. Danny Yee (talk) 13:23, 7 July 2022 (UTC)


 * I think you could argue either way, but to me it feels like fantasy. JH (talk page) 15:27, 7 July 2022 (UTC)


 * And now I see someone has questioned our describing it as fantasy, arguing that it's "surrealist lit fic". Even if it is, isn't that a subgenre of fantasy? The novel has been nominated for a number of awards for fantasy literature, as listed in the article, so it seems to have been generally accepted as such. JH (talk page) 07:24, 27 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Fantasy is a category of genre fiction, fiction written to meet a market demand for certain types of stories or settings, literary fiction is written to explore the artistic possibilities of the medium regardless of content, see also Margaret Atwood's distinction between SF and speculative fiction. The novel's awards do not follow any one category of writing too closely (in fact the Hugos previously awarded "best dramatic presentation" to the Apollo 11 footage so they wouldn't even be limited to fiction) and it simply isn't the same as an author or critic outright stating "this is a fantasy novel and nothing else", the WP:BURDEN is still unmet. Orchastrattor (talk) 16:10, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

The novel's title
The Wikipedia article Imaginary Prisons begins: "The Prisons (Carceri d'invenzione or Imaginary Prisons) is a series of 16 prints by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi in the 18th century. They depict enormous subterranean vaults with stairs and mighty machines." It looks as though those prints may have been the inspiration for the book and that the artist's name provided its title. But I suppose we'd need a citation before we could put that in. JH (talk page) 08:34, 27 September 2020 (UTC)
 * I've found two sources stating that the novel's title comes from the Italian artist's name, NPR and The Guardian. Wired suggests that the artist's prints may well have inspired Clarke's story, but I'm sure there are other sources out there verifying this. —Bruce1eetalk 09:44, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Serialisation on BBC Radio
This is being/was broadcast on weekday nights as (I believe) their "Book at bedtime" (22:45-23:00) on BBC Radio 4 in ten 15-minute episodes over the period 2022/02/07-18. SlySven (talk) 23:12, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I've added the radio adaptation now. JezGrove (talk) 00:15, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

References to the minotaur
I've just read the book and now this entry... how is there no discussion of the numerous references to the minotaur, which are far less "veiled" than what is discussed on this page? and nothing in discussion, unless the Wikipedia app is failing me somehow? It's been a long time since I've done any official literary analysis, surely someone out there can do this topic justice? 2601:206:8102:7CA0:7002:3F24:8A7D:42B8 (talk) 08:13, 7 April 2022 (UTC)
 * In the novel, there is no minotaur in the sense of a monster in the maze, but the First Vestibule - that is, where one arrives in The House from our own world, there are eight, massive statues of minotaurs, which are the chamber's most distinctive feature. They don't play an especially thematic role in the narrative, are not a dominating presence, and aren't mentioned because, while present, don't actually do more than provide scenery and, just possibly, underscore the labyrinthine nature of The House. 2600:2B00:9214:4800:1C04:992F:1592:D078 (talk) 19:01, 18 September 2022 (UTC)