Some time last year, my friend group decided to start a book club where we'd meet over Discord to talk about a section of chapters.
For our first book, we decided on Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, with my friend who recommended it noting it has similarities to the hit TV series, Severance.
At the end of September, I've read the last chapter and that marked the end of that chapter of life.
I don't believe anything of note happen during my life in that period, but I do distinctly remember that demarcation. So why am I thinking about this now?
Why am I bothering to blog about this book, and not the book my group finished afterward? This is because the story inspired me to revisit another story that I felt went
underappreciated by me: JoJolion
For those not in the know, JoJolion is the eight installment of a long-running manga series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JoJo's for short), written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Now I don't
expect a lot of
I'm gonna proceed to gush about my favorite aspects of both stories' main characters, specifically their progression in their self-identity. It's a 2-in-1 package baby! Shampoo and conditioner!
Now heads up, I will be spoiling some major plot points and themes Piranesi and JoJolion
The Beauty of the House Is...
Immeasurable
Without a doubt, my favorite thing out of all the great aspects that Piranesi has to offer is the worldview of our titular character. Piranesi's journal entries really convey the upmost respect and care he has for the liminal labryinth. As I read through the story, I started to get really enchanted by the imagery of the statues he marks, and his attempts at interpreting meaning from them. A key feature about his journals is the naming style; every entry beginning with a day offset from the last notable event. It serves to not only show this unfamiliar standard, but also the inherent loneliness of Piranesi's situation: there is only one "Other" alive person that is known in this world.
11/15/2012
Piecing together the mysteries that are told through Piranesi's perspective plays a big part in the reading experience. Some aspects of the world are left to interpretation or never fully revealed, but
we manage to find out a crucial revelation that's been pieced together, page by page. In Piranesi's treks through the halls, we find torn-up pages with a writing style that reflects a world that is grounded
and conventional compared to the musings of our titular character. Many hints can be recalled about this palace having a connection to our world as we know it, and it can be surmised that these entries reflect
the context behind the current situation. Signs of presence of another character besides The Other also appear, seemingly coming from outside the palace's boundaries.
There's an entry that's very affirming to the readers about how 'Piranesi' came to be, but it is equally as shocking to the in-story reader. While we've been soaking up the information presented so far as huge
leads, the protagonist of the story sees this as otherworldly to the beliefs and views borne from living in the palace. The entries with an investigative tone, repeated mentions of other names, and a date system that mirrors our real world.
The cold-set facts of the reality deeply contrasts against the early fantastical interpretations, and it's as this point I believe that Piranesi has their innocence lost. Though he refuses it, Piranesi's past identity is Matthew Rose Sorenson, and
has been trapped in the "palace" after investigating Valentine Ketterly about the events surrounding Arne-Sayles.
It's Kindness Infinite (12/1/2018)
So eventually we reach the climax of the story with the confrontation with Valentine Ketterly, or "The Other" as we now know him, and properly meeting Piranesi's savior, Raphael. In my opinion, this is actually the weakest part of the story for me, but the closure afterwards is very meaningful to me.
The breakdown of the investigative aftermath, treats this phenomenal adventure as an unexplained incident in the public's eyes. But what matters to me is how Piranesi deals with leaving the world he's known all his life.
At this point, it'd be wrong to call the protagonist by that name, but also he's not exactly his old persona — Matthew Rose Sorenson. We can see the blend of his personas starting from the entries detailing the epilogue, with the title taking a fusion of Matthew's conventional dating style and the descriptive headings of Piranesi.
It's apparent that our protagonist is not fully adjusted to the current world, and does miss the sights of the Palace. However, it's because of his experiences he finds beauty in what people might take for granted.
His relationships he had before as Matthew Rose Sorenson can never fully be repaired, but he's been able to form a connection with Raphael; as the person that was responsible for the case, and after learning about her previous heroic stunts,
we can see that she's a large factor in our protagonist's recovery and the most empathetic to his views. My whole point is that there can be miracles on the same side of the messy realities.
The Bizarre Miracle
We'll Call Him "Gappy"
The Wall Eyes is the given name of the geological phenomenon that forms in Morioh, Japan after a major earthquake and tsunami. An amnesiac man awakens from the Wall Eyes in 2011, wearing nothing but a sailor cap and bearing the iconic star-shaped birthmark that marks the lineage of the protagonist bloodline.
He fends off an attacker of the person who pulls him from the rocks, Yasuho Hirose, and we learn about a fun fact that ends the first chapter. The man is given the name Josuke by Yasuho, after her dog, and we start with the lead of his hat. After some trouble, we figure out that there was another body around the Wall Eyes, with the identity of Yoshikage Kira.
We also find out about Kira's mother, Holy, who is hospitalized with a mysterious rock disease that has decreased her cognitive function. We'll touch more on who Kira is later, but his name is identical and in reference to the antagonist of the fourth part of JoJo's.
It is stated from the beginning that JoJolion is a story about breaking a curse, and we learn more about this curse once we get properly introduced to the Higashikata family that houses him, and how it's tied to the story of our protagonist.
Now that I brought that up out of nowhere, we can deduce his name is Josuke Higashikata... but there's a problem with that. In the context of discussing only JoJolion it makes sense to call the protagonist his given name, but in the broader scope of the whole JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, this causes confusion: there's another
protagonist in the fourth installment of the series with the identical name. A popular way to remedy the confusion was to refer to him as "Gappy" due to his tooth gap (Before reading, I assumed this nickname was canon).
Josefumi Kujo and Yoshikage Kira
Now the first major twist to bring up whenever talking about Gappy's identity, has to be the nature of his origin, the Wall Eyes. It's shown that one of the aspects of Wall Eyes is being able to bless people that are "bitten" by it with the power of a Stand. A Stand is the representation of the user and offers them unique abilities (Soft & Wet is the stand of Josuke). Another aspect we find out has to do with it's ability of equivalent exchange, explained by the sister of Yoshikage Kira. A double-spread page highlights his split eyes and tongue which are implied to be from two people, and we know the identity of one of them from Kira's corpse. Yoshikage Kira's stand is Killer Queen, and has the ability to cause explosions. Later in the story, we see Josuke's Soft & Wet utilizing aspects of explosiveness in his bubbles. By the end of the story, the Wall Eyes source of power is never confirmed, but I subscribe to the theory that it's similar to how the Devil's Palm was blessed in Steel Ball Run.
So if you're following along, the second big reveal in this line is just who is this second person? Well we find out the previous owner of Soft & Wet, Josefumi Kujo. Through a run-in with his Josefumi's ex, Karera, we see that he was friends with Kira. So how does this play into the whole story... Well it all started with the flying fish. The flying fish is what the set the events motion, with it leading to Kira finding out about Rock Humans and the Locacaca. To summarize, the Locacaca is a fruit that allows for equivalent exchange to cure many aliments, and Rock Humans have been monopolizing this miracle fruit in order to gain power from the shadows. In order to save Holy's rock disease, he tries to get his hands on the fruit with the help of Josefumi; Josefumi wants to repay his debt of being saved by Holy when he was little. Long-story short, the cartel catches up to them and they get caught up in an earthquake that forms the basis of the Wall Eyes. To cure an injured Kira, Josefumi uses the newly-grafted Locacaca fruit to perform an equivalent exchange. This strange combination of events leads to the birth of Josuke Higashikata. Still with no recollection of events, relying on past witnesses for who he was before, he moves on to figure out the conspiracy behind the Locacaca fruit. It is after this event that the story escalates in revealing the, but also starts Josuke's journey is discovering himself as a distinct person and figuring out his own goals.
"My name is Higashikata Josuke"
I didn't forget to mention the main antagonist, Toru, it's just that his arrival in the story is rather late. One of the other big mysteries besides the identity of Josuke is the head honcho behind the antagonists that aim to thrwart our protagonist's plans. However, he does control the main antagonistic faction of the story and plays a major part in manipulating many characters' past actions.
He represents the desire for his species to acquire the same type of love that humans experience, and leave a mark on the world. His power helps him conceal his identity and it controls the flow of calamity to cause unfortunate events to happen to his pursuers.
In attempts to survive against calamity, Josuke gets badly injured. Fortunately Josuke was in the hospital that houses Holy, and she was able to cure him with the Locacaca medicine before falling back into her coma state. She offers him advice on how to fare against the villain (By letting Toru's power to pursue Josuke) and gives him a new lease on life.
Alright, so this moment is one of my favorite character moments for Josuke; though he realizes that he can't be her real son again, he is confident in his self and the love provided from Holy causes him to claim her as his mother. I always loved the idea of love being able to defy logic and surpass boundaries.
As Josuke steels his resolve in his battle with the main antagonist, he realizes an ability of himself that defies the phenomenon of calamity.
The true nature of Soft & Wet's soap bubbles is that they're actually comprised of a infintely thin string that rotates rapidly.
This ability "Go Beyond", well it goes beyond the mold the battles have set, where his abilities showcased were a fusion of Josefumi's Soft & Wet and: something that is unique to Josuke Higashikata.
The last chapter is titled "Higashikata Fruit Parlor", named after the establishment owned by the family the story has been centered along. The end of calamity and the sacrifices along the way, there was finally hope. For the first time in a while, it felt like there was unity among the surviving members of the Higashikata family.
The series ends off with Josuke Higashikata being embraced by his family, and the acceptance of his present identity. The fate of Holy is left unchanged because the Locacaca fruit has been destroyed. Though Josefumi's mother was found, Josuke decides to not tap the glass. Though we as readers know the past events, Josuke doesn't ever recover
the memories from either of his past identities. Despite some writing choices I find oddly handled, the themes of memories, curses, sacrifice, and connection all gel together to form a fitting theme that ties together Josuke's character.
Conclusion
After having read Piranesi and another few years of life lived, I've come to see beauty in JoJolion during my reread; it's a part that's been mixed in reception by the general fandom, and I think I'm on the defense team now.
It may not be a perfect story, but there's so many great things about this part that I feel like gets overshadowed due to the well-deserved praise of the previous part. With the upcoming anime adaptation of Part 7, I anticipate
new readers, and I hope more fans of one of the more bizarre parts of this series come to spawn.
P.S. I should really catch up on Part 9!