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Piranesi,
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George
I find the first three answers here comprehensively wrong-headed.
There is no reason to treat this as a "literary" novel rife with ambiguity. I have read it as a fantasy, in which the impossible must be accepted as real, just like any of the thousand other fantasies I've read, including the author's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. And I swear by my B.A. in English literature that that is the only consistent way in which to read the text!
From another standpoint; Consider the entry in Part 7 concerning poor John Ritter. That narrative would be pointlessly cruel were it not as real as everything else within the novel.
There is no reason to treat this as a "literary" novel rife with ambiguity. I have read it as a fantasy, in which the impossible must be accepted as real, just like any of the thousand other fantasies I've read, including the author's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. And I swear by my B.A. in English literature that that is the only consistent way in which to read the text!
From another standpoint; Consider the entry in Part 7 concerning poor John Ritter. That narrative would be pointlessly cruel were it not as real as everything else within the novel.
Kumari de Silva
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Dan'l
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Hirondelle (not getting notifications)
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Wende
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Tom
It certainly crossed my mind throughout as to whether it was all "in his head" but ultimately I think it only really works if he truly was in another world. Much like the Narnia books (referenced at the start of the book).
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