Reading the Cards: Book Pairings for Tarot Cards
In this series, our bookseller Anthony is pairing books with the Major Arcana tarot cards. The first reading pairs The Fool, The Sun, and The Moon with some of their favorite books.
Much like the first card of the Tarot, The Fool, I am jumping blindly into this series headfirst, really winging it as I go along. I'm no expert in tarot, but much like how a card reading can bring insight into your life, I believe a book can find you when you most need it and reveal the unknown to you. For these blog posts I'll be connecting titles I've recently read to the 22 cards of the Major Arcana of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Each card has its own specific meanings associated with it, and it's up to the reader to interpret the meanings in the context to the reading. *Spoilers Ahead*
written by Anthony Piacentini
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke & The Fool
The Fool depicts a youth walking joyfully into the world. He is taking his first steps, and he is exuberant, joyful, excited. He carries nothing with him except a small sack, caring nothing for the possible dangers that lie in his path. Indeed, he is soon to encounter the first of these possible dangers, for if he takes just a step more, he will topple over the cliff that he is reaching. But this doesn't seem to concern him - we are unsure whether he is just naive or simply unaware. The dog at his heels barks at him in warning, and if he does not become more aware of his surroundings soon, he may never see all the adventures that he dreams of encountering. (Via labyrinthos.co)
It is almost uncanny how well The Fool represents Piranesi. Written through entries in his journal dated “In the Year the Albatross Came to the South-Western Hall” we follow our main character Piranesi, in his travels he is determined to catalog the many unknowns of his world. He calls this world “The House” which is made up of three levels of seemingly endless corridors that are filled with thousands of surreal statues, and it is populated only by him and an enigmatic figure he calls “The Other”.
Piranesi is free to roam these halls even though many dangers lurk in the halls for him–from the fog of the upper level that hides the crumbling paths that would send Piranesi plummeting to the levels below to the somewhat unpredictable tides of the oceans that pass through the halls and have flooded the lowest level. In his entries we learn the many aspects and ways of his mysterious world, and take everything he says at face value, in many ways the reader inhabits the role of the Fool as well. Many of the things Piranesi mentions of his circumstances don’t seem to add up, and that some knowledge seems to be ignored, hidden, or even overlooked by him. As a reader you can’t help to start reevaluating these oddities and the slow turn from a fantasy novel to a mystery/thriller starts.
Much like the dog pictured on the tarot card, Piraesi is warned of danger, which he chooses to ignore, and his grip on reality starts to unravel and the truth is revealed. The images Clarke creates are so incredibly vivid they feel as though you’ve walked through the house yourself, climbing the stairs not made for the average sized human, listened to the echo of your footprints reverberate through the endless halls, or stared into the eyes of the statue of the Woman carrying a Beehive. Some things are never explained to the reader, keeping you as innocent as Piranesi himself, adding to the mystery and magic of the world you’ll immediately want to revisit and search for more clues.
Fun Fact: For fans of 18th century Italian art Piranesi is a reference to Giovanni Battista Piranesi, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons".
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro & The Sun
The Sun card presents a feeling of optimism and fulfillment. This card represents the dawn which follows the darkest of nights. The Sun is the source of all the life on our planet, and it represents life energy itself. There is a child depicted in the card, playing joyfully in the foreground. A symbol of our innocence, it represents the happiness that occurs when you are in alignment with your true self. The child is naked, meaning that he has absolutely nothing to hide. The card also depicts the childhood innocence and absolute purity. This is particularly emphasized through the white horse upon which the child is riding. The horse here is also a symbol of strength and nobility. (Via: labyrinthos.co)
The Sun is a prominent symbol and even seen as a character in Ishiguro’s latest novel, suitably its tarot card holds a perfect example to Klara and the Sun. We are asked throughout the novel, What does it mean to love and to be loved? What does it mean to be truly alive?
“When we were new” —these are the first words spoken to us as we are introduced to Klara, an “Artificial Friend” with outstanding observational qualities, as she sits in wait hoping to fulfill her purpose to be the companion to a child. Klara watches the customers, passers-by on the street, and especially the other AFs with their companions and how they are treated. Klara is able to sense the relationships between the AFs and the children, and whether they are loving or even toxic. Klara and her soon-to-be owner Josie are still both “new”; Klara still has much to learn about the world outside of the store, and Josie is still just a child with the rest of her life ahead of her.
Even learning at their first meeting Klara is aware that Josie is not well, Klara unconditionally “loves” Josie and chooses her. The reality of their world is that one day these children will outgrow their friends and go on with their lives and leave them behind, much like the fact that we have loved people who are no longer in our lives and have lost some close to us. Klara's love for Josie is unconditional, she knows the reality of potentially losing Josie and even being mistreated doesn't change that fact. Throughout the novel, Klara regularly gives thanks to the Sun for his nourishment that powers her, and it is the Sun she eventually pleads to to make Josie better. Towards the end, Klara truly embodies the spirit of The Sun and is fulfilled with her life with Josie.
Verge by Lidia Yuknavitch & The Moon
When we encounter the Moon, we see a path that leads off into the distance. On either side of the path stand a wolf and a dog, representing our animalistic nature - one is civilized, and the other wild and feral. There is a crawfish that is crawling out of the pond from which the path stems from. In the distance, we can see two towers flanking the central path, once again alluding to the doubles visible in this card. Everything in this card seems to echo the other, as if to allude to two possibilities. When we walk down the path, we walk the fine line between conscious and unconscious, between the tamed side of civilization of the dog, and the forces of nature represented by the wolf. (Via: labyrinthos.co)
Originally inspired by the wolf on the cover of Verge to match the one presented on The Moon, I found more than a just visual connection between the two. The characters of Verge are torn between two worlds, those who fit neatly into society and those that are cast out of it. The characters who are queer, trans, children, misfits, drug addicts, assualt survivors, and almost all of whom are female. Just like the light of the Moon shows what’s hiding in the darkness, these stories show what's lurking under the surface of the characters and the true reality of their circumstances.
These subversive stories echo into one another and use the subject of the body to explore comfort, wholeness, connections, worth, and even be treated as an object. The characters exist in the dark of the night with the low light of the Moon shining upon them to reveal their true selves, and they are on the balance of the line cast between the dog and the wolf and try to overcome the instability of their lives. Fittingly just like how water cuts it’s way through all of Yuknavitch's writing, these stories allow her characters dive deep into the pond of the tarot card, and explore the depths of their subconscious to truly understand themselves.
