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I thought our club's rule about reading the whole novel was pointless
For years, I argued we could just read half and still talk about the themes, like we did with 'The Goldfinch' last fall. But our leader, Sarah, made us finish 'Piranesi' before meeting, and the last third completely changed what the first part meant. The big reveal about the House made our whole first-hour debate feel silly. Has your group ever had a book where the ending flipped everything?
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the_emery3mo ago
You mentioning the last third of "Piranesi" flipping the whole book is spot on. I used to think skimming was fine, but a twist like that proves you have to finish. It makes the whole first read a different experience.
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anna9832mo ago
Oh, I have to push back on this one a bit. I get why people love that twist, but I actually think you can appreciate "Piranesi" just fine without finishing it. The beauty of the book is in its atmosphere and the slow build of the House itself. I found the last third a little too neat and almost too conventional, like it tried to explain away the mystery instead of letting it breathe. So if someone skims or even puts it down early, they still get the haunting, dreamlike quality that makes the book special. The ending didn't flip anything for me, it just wrapped things up in a way that felt a bit forced.
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