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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
There's a reason I delayed starting this book for so long: you know how it ends!
And indeed that did spil most of the surprise for me, and even though the protagonists are good enough, and the way their personal stories are interwoven with historical events is brilliant!, I just can't give this book more than 3/5 stars here.
And indeed that did spil most of the surprise for me, and even though the protagonists are good enough, and the way their personal stories are interwoven with historical events is brilliant!, I just can't give this book more than 3/5 stars here.
I read this book after visiting the ruins and wanted to learn more. It’s an easy to read book and includes a good amount of accurate characterization of the aqueduct and eruption. The characters are simplistic vessels for telling the story of the main star, Vesuvius.
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm calling it: I cannot finish this book. I got about halfway through on a family vacation in the summer of 2023, when reading a paperback felt less exclusionary than staring at my phone and I therefore had restricted options, and every time I have tried to pick it up since, I have put it down again. I don't find the characters particularly interesting and the setting and tone make it clear that it's all building towards a depressing climax.
Great read! Fascinating detail of Roman aqueducts and volcanoes excellently incorporated into an exciting story.
A historical fiction, looking at the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius from the eyes of an engineer, Marcus Attilius.
It's kind of a mystery (but hard to really think of as a mystery since all of us know what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum) that the engineer gets to piece together after trying to discover why it is the water is not flowing along one of the great Roman aqueducts. There's also a bit of some drama regarding local politicians and crooked people.
I am a huge fan of novels featuring the Roman empire, and this book has been on my to-read list for a long time and seemed really exciting since I've liked anything about Pompeii since I saw the exhibition of Pompeii come through the Natural Science museum when I was a kid (complete with the casts of the victims of the disaster that were left in hollows in the flow).
Harris does a great job of research, using contemporary sources along with classics, such as Pliny. It's a decent solid historical novel, just not very exciting or compelling.
It's kind of a mystery (but hard to really think of as a mystery since all of us know what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum) that the engineer gets to piece together after trying to discover why it is the water is not flowing along one of the great Roman aqueducts. There's also a bit of some drama regarding local politicians and crooked people.
I am a huge fan of novels featuring the Roman empire, and this book has been on my to-read list for a long time and seemed really exciting since I've liked anything about Pompeii since I saw the exhibition of Pompeii come through the Natural Science museum when I was a kid (complete with the casts of the victims of the disaster that were left in hollows in the flow).
Harris does a great job of research, using contemporary sources along with classics, such as Pliny. It's a decent solid historical novel, just not very exciting or compelling.
Pompeii is one of those books that you can go back and forth deciding how many stars it deserves. I have vacillated between 2, 3 and 4 stars all depending on what part of the book I am thinking about. If I stick strictly to what Harris wrote regarding the history of the building of the Roman aqueduct system and the geography of the Campania it is a 4 star read. However, because it is historical fiction it seems that Harris threw in characters and situations to make it a more sexy, gritty read, but then the story just comes off as being nonsense and unnecessary - taking away from the factual content. Mount Vesuvius exploded with a force 100,000 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima – that’s gritty enough.
To be fair I think the story about the destruction of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius probably is best read as non-fiction. While reading Harris’s Pompeii I kept thinking about the 1997 movie Dante’s Peak- change the characters, time, and location and it is pretty much the same.
To be fair I think the story about the destruction of Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius probably is best read as non-fiction. While reading Harris’s Pompeii I kept thinking about the 1997 movie Dante’s Peak- change the characters, time, and location and it is pretty much the same.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Brilliant. Just visited Pompeii and to read this after made the ruined come to life. Great story, brilliantly written.