The story fits in the "lost worlds" genre. Piranesi lives in a world of statues. He obviously has background of living in a more normal world, but he has forgotten it and is in the moment in the statue halls. He contentedly keeps a journal of his findings on the statues, and meets with The Other, the only other living person in the world, who is attempting to find Great and Secret Knowledge.
Bit by bit the story gets darker as Piranesi discovers or remembers more about where he lives. The Other accuses him of losing track of time, and what he is doing. He starts to question how he knows about things he has not seen, like the police, or more people than the 16 he knows about (14 of them dead). He eventually discovers that he is in a place that others (including The Other) only visit. And the dark past of the world, mostly dark because of its discoverer (a practitioner of "transgressive thinking", scholarship for perversion) and how he manipulates people.
So it's not my normal kind of read, but it is something that as it unfurls I can say I have seen before. I think Clarke brings it off quite well, and the protagonist's awakening by slow degrees is very well done. Another reviewer said this book would appeal to "a certain kind of reader". I think that's true, and I don't think I'm it, but I can still appreciate the craft involved.
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