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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Explica con mucho detalle sobre cómo era la vida cotidiana de los romanos, sus trabajos, relaciones... Narra la catástrofe de Pompeya de una forma increíble!
I really shouldn't have enjoyed this book as much as I did, but nevertheless, it was a very fun read. On a 10-point scale I'd give a 7. Robert Harris will never be known for eloquent prose, but he brings such a unique perspective to everything that he writes and this is no exception. Pantheon of great literature? No. A thoroughly fascinating and unique perspective on what happened in Pompeii? Certainly. I expected light popcorn disaster fare and received a much nuanced take on ancient Rome, its customs, and the disaster. I'm glad I picked this one up to read even if it doesn't rise to the heights of his Cicero trilogy.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Probably not actually 4 stars but these pulp fiction books i just inhale and due to the ease i like. Anyway, a lot like Dan Brown, tbh they both have the same kinda name but this was without the incredibly irritating mickey mouse watch. I thought it was more thoughtful writing though, the actual eruption was written thoughtfully and led the reader through every. excruciating. second. You knew the outcome, but you also didn't know the outcome of the individuals. Impressive, but was screaming with the painful knowledge what was going to happen. The ignorance was well written.
"It killed more than two thousand in less than half a minute and it left their bodies arranged in a series of grotesque tableaux for posterity to gawp at."
However, I wasn't a fan of the odd slight sexualisation of women. It seemed any young woman in this book their breasts were mentioned every 2 seconds. Idk if this was meant to be some kind of portrayal of generic man or something?? but yeah bit weird. Also the need for a love interest UGHHH people can survive reading books without a love interest. it was really not that necessary and just thrown in for a bit of unnecessary plot.
Overall, easy to read and hopefully will have gotten me out of my slight reading slump?? I do want to read the Cicero trilogy now.
"It killed more than two thousand in less than half a minute and it left their bodies arranged in a series of grotesque tableaux for posterity to gawp at."
However, I wasn't a fan of the odd slight sexualisation of women. It seemed any young woman in this book their breasts were mentioned every 2 seconds. Idk if this was meant to be some kind of portrayal of generic man or something?? but yeah bit weird. Also the need for a love interest UGHHH people can survive reading books without a love interest. it was really not that necessary and just thrown in for a bit of unnecessary plot.
Overall, easy to read and hopefully will have gotten me out of my slight reading slump?? I do want to read the Cicero trilogy now.
I'm usually not apathetic towards books, especially historical fiction concerning the Empire, but this particular book was slightly boring. It's supposed to chronicle the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum through the eyes of the Aquarius who is investigating a malfunction on the Aqua Augusta. Instead it ends up being a story about nothing and everything. The actual explosion is incidental but it feels as though most of the book consists of half-explored plotlines and characters that never really develop. There's a romantic interest, a political scandal, a missing person, and an explosion and it still winds up being really anticlimactic.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love historical fiction, although you have to remember the fiction part you always learn something especially after reading about the real life events after finishing books. It helps you imagine what it was like to really be there. This is quite a simple story and had a great ending. The technical details about the engineering and aqueduct I did just skim over but overall a good read.
Boring
Narration just made it feel too.. unrealistic. Would have preferred someone with a Greek accent at least
Narration just made it feel too.. unrealistic. Would have preferred someone with a Greek accent at least
Harris grips the somewhat challenging subject of Pompeii firmly and delivers an exciting thriller set in the ancient Roman world. The abundance of detail makes it absolutely clear that the author is quite familiar with his setting and quite adept at creating a storyline within it. The characters are rather convincing, the prose flows well enough and there's no reason for anyone interested in the era not to read this slightly predictable but very enjoyable novel.
I'm don't generally read historical books of this type, but found this very readable and enjoyable. Given that we all know what happened to Pompeii, there were plenty of twists and turns to the story, and the depiction of Roman engineering was interesting.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced