Episode 91: On Susanna Clarke's 'Piranesi'

In this episode, Phil and JF explore the vast palatial halls of Susanna Clarke's novel Piranesi. Set in an otherworld consisting of endless galleries filled with enigmatic statues, Piranesi is the story of a man who lives alone -- or nearly alone -- in a dream labyrinth. As usual, our discussion leads to unexpected places every bit as strange as Clarke's setting, from Borge's infinite library and Lovecraft's alien cities to Renaissance Europe, where the art of memory was synonymous with wisdom and magic. SHOW NOTES Susanna Clarke, Piranesi Joshua Clover, 1989: Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About , The Matrix (BFI Modern Classics John Crowley, Little, Big Christopher Priest, The Prestige (+Christopher Nolan's screen adaptation) Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell JF Martel, "The Real as Sacrament" (forthcoming?) Frances Yates, The Art of Memory Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture Plato, Phaedrus Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory Jorge Luis Borges, "The Library of Babel" Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'invenzione Maurits Cornelis Escher, Duch artist H. P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos Emerald Tablet, foundational Hermetic text Joshua Foer, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything Weird Studies ep. 42 - On Pauline Oliveros, with Kerry O'Brien Giovanni colleague? Allen Ginsberg, "America" Rodney Ascher, A Glitch in the Matrix Walter J. Ong, American philosopher Weird Studies ep. 71: The Medium is the Message Thomas Ligotti, "The Night School" Thomas Aquinas, Christian philosopher and theologian Erasmus, Christian philosopher Marsilio Ficino, Christian philosopher