SITTING OFF BY ITSELF

Hi,
I wouldd like to know the meaning of this sentence here:

'It was on the second floor, up a long, narrow flight of stairs, in a building SITTING OFF BY ITSELF.'

Thanks in advance, Jo.

Anonymous wrote:

Hi, I wouldd like to know the meaning of this sentence here: 'It was on the second floor, up a long, narrow flight of stairs, in a building SITTING OFF BY ITSELF.' Thanks in advance, Jo.

It's an example of personification, a literary device which gives human characteristics to inanimate objects.  In this case, the reader might be expected to think that the building is lonely, pensive or rejected, as might a person who was "sitting off by himself".