Pompeii: A Novel by Robert Harris Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Pompeii: A Novel
Book Review: Pompeii: A Novel
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is a must read for people that are interested in this time in history. It reads like an eye witness account. As I live in volcano country, it makes me wonder if this could happen again today.Book Review: Pompeii: a novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a novel but was very well researched. The author presented
the characters very well and the story line flowed beautifully.
It was a book that I found hard to put down. The setting was also
presented well and even though I was sure that the volcano would erupt,
it did not spoil the story in any way.
Book Review: Pretty good bit of "mass market" fiction
Summary: 3 Stars
Harris manages to write a decent novel with an intriguing "hook". It was the Empire's easy access to water, thanks to its brilliantly engineered system of aqueducts, which kept it together. When the capital to keep the water flowing ran out three centuries after the time in which this story takes place, the empire fell apart.
In the story at hand, it was the disruption of the flow of water to the "Roman Riviera" in the south that first alerted those with eyes to see that something was amiss, though they couldn't quite figure out just what was happening.
The premise is intriguing, and Harris' attention to historical detail is admirable. He doesn't quite have the knack to combine this historical knowledge with writing a good story or in creating good, three-dimensional characters, however. Steven Saylor, in his series of Roman novels and short stories featuring "Gordianus the Finder", is masterful at doing this, combining historical accuracy with writing a good yarn, with flesh-and-blood characters, as Harris is definately not. Harris' characters tend toward wood, his dialogue is stiff, over-dramatic and doesn't sound like speech, and he seems to have run out of creative steam by the book's melodramatic, cop-out ending.
But on its own terms, this book is enjoyable.
Book Review: Quick Travel Read
Summary: 3 Stars
If you're looking for a quick read while traveling, then this would be a good selection. I took a third year Greek and Roman Studies course on the archaeology of Pompeii and Herculaneum and can say that Harris did his research. He uses all the famous names, buildings and graffiti that archaeologists have recovered even down to the lonely gladiator that was found amongst other bodies in the building next to the amphitheatre. Harris even provides accurate detail of Herculaneum which was also buried by Vesuvius half of which has been recovered by archaeologists while the other half remains buried underneath the new town.
I appreciated the amount of detail and research that went into this book, but I did not care for the story or the characters themselves. The story surrounding the characters was as predictable as Vesuvius blowing its top and the characters were one dimensional. Harris even goes so far as to rip-off the banquet scene in Petronius' Satyricon where he satirizes Trimalchio's feast which, as another reviewer pointed out, is lazy writing. However, if you do have even the slightest interest in this area and time period, in archaeology or volcanology give it a read, because the work is in the details.
Book Review: Recommended for lovers of water, volcanoes, or the Roman Empire
Summary: 4 Stars
'Pompeii' is a highly readable historical mystery set in Roman Pompeii in 79 C.E. just before the 'you know what' happens. Robert Harris has an eye for historical detail and can spin a good yarn. The reader of Pompeii learns a bit about Roman aqueducts, the Roman empire and, of course, volcanoes.
The protagonist, Marcus Attilius Primus, is the new 'aquarius' sent out from Rome to take over the care and maintenance of the Aqua Augusta, the immense aqueduct that served the Bay of Naples area. Figure out just what did happen to the former aquarius, why the water has dried up, and how did a former slave become the (apparently) richest, most powerful man in Pompeii. Meet Pliny the Elder along the way.
A fun read. Highly recommended for lovers of water, volcanoes, and the Roman Empire.