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Title: Pompeii: A Novel by ROBERT HARRIS ISBN: 0-679-42889-5 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.7 (80 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Surprisingly entertaining
Comment: I have heard so many good comments about this book, that I decided I had to read it, even though I feared that it may be a little bit boring by giving too many details on the Roman aqueducts. What I found instead was a highly entertaining story, which merges historical facts with fiction in a well thought out way. It is clear that the author went through great trouble to research the topics: aqueducts, volcanoes, Roman civilization, etc; and he presents the information proficiently and without losing the reader in the myriad of facts. Some of the findings exposed are incredible; for example, in the first century AD the Roman Aqueducts supplied Rome with more water than New York received in 1985!
The story starts two days before the eruption of the Vesuvius and focuses on Attilius and Ampliatus. Attilius is an engineer in charge of the Aqua Augusta, an aqueduct in the south of the Campania, which provides the cities of Pompeii, Nola, Neapolis, Puteolis, Cumae, Baiae and Misenum with their water supply. Attilius comes from a long line of engineers, notable for their work with the aqueducts. Ampliatus is a liberated slave who has become extremely wealthy after taking advantage of the destruction of Pompeii by an earthquake seventeen years ago.
At the beginning of the book we find Attilius looking for additional sources of water due to the drought that is affecting the Aqua Augusta. In one of his errands he is interrupted by a young lady, Corelia, asking him for help because her father is punishing a slave that was in charge of feeding his red mullets. Corelia's father is Ampliatus, and upon arrival Attilius discovers that the fish were killed because the water from the aqueduct is contaminated with sulfur. At this point the aqueduct's engineer embarks in a journey to Pompeii, where the suspected failure is located, to find the source of the problem and fix it.
Even though the action is not fast-paced through most of the book in terms of the writing, Harris makes the plot so interesting that the reader is drawn to the story as a scrap of metal to a magnet. There is a very impressive presentation of the aqueducts of Rome as well as of the main traits of the civilization, its politics and the interaction between the different social strata. As most stories dealing with the Roman Empire, this one does not lack in conspiracies and betrayal. It is impressive that the book has such a high level of suspense and tension considering that the reader knows what is going to happen in terms of the eruption of the Vesuvius. This is the first Robert Harris's book I read, but it definitely woke an interest in me to read his previous works.
Rating: 5
Summary: Pompeii Comes Alive
Comment: Pompeii by Robert Harris has received some excellent reviews, and it was on the strength of these that I decided to read the book. I was not disappointed. Mr. Harris does have the gift of giving his reading the feel of a place and time. He breathes life into the late first century and presents the many facts and customs in a way that sparks interest and not boredom. The novel begins on August 22, 79 CE, and the chapters are cleverly organized following the Roman hours of the day and also give the actual hour when the events are taking place. Each chapter is prefaced with an excerpt from a technical work on volcanology that provides the reader with an idea of the activity going on inside Mount Vesuvius.
The story revolves around the Aqua Augusta, an aqueduct that the protagonist of the story, Marcus Attilius Primus, first becomes the aquarius (the person responsible for maintaining the structure) of the aqueduct and then searches for a break that prevents the flow of water to the drought stricken countryside. Atillius is a noble character, an imperial official who takes pride in his work and is incorruptible. But he is now in the self-proclaimed city-on-the-make: Pompeii.
Along the way we meet Ampliatus, a wealthy freedman who is, ironically, marrying his daughter to Popilius, his old master. Ampliatus represents a long line of uncouth and ambitious freedmen that came to dominate the principate in the early empire under Claudius and Nero. Mr. Harris paints a probing and revealing portrait of Ampliatus and draws an inevitable comparison with Trimalchio of Petronius' Satyricon, with the freedman presiding over a similar overly sumptuous banquet Ampliatus. As a classicist, I found the banquet scene a little too reminiscent of the novel by Petronius. The characterization was a little too close and I did not want a parody of that famous literary banquet scene. However, I think Mr. Harris more than makes up for identifying his character so closely with Petronius by giving him a darker and more ruthless side.
Ampliatus' daughter Corelia is the conscience that her father does not have. She is a teenager of marriageable age and chafes under the ruthless nature of her father and her own helplessness before her own loveless marriage. The novel presents an interesting portrait of Pliny the Elder that I found captured his interest in the world around him and his battle of filling his days with as much activity as possible. We also have the embittered Corax; the overseer of the men who maintain the aqueduct, an enemy of Attilius, who is ready to do anything to get rid of the "new man in town."
A central part of the story is the mysterious disappearance of Atillius' predecessor Exomnius. Is he alive or dead? Little by little Attilius pieces together Exomnius' background and his association with Ampliatus, a revelation that places his life in jeopardy. In the background is Vesuvius. We know the catastrophe that is about to happen and look on as the trembling of the earth raises the curiosity of Pliny and the rumblings of the volcano remind people of thunder and giants.
Pompeii is a well-conceived novel that presents a plausible story populated with flesh-and-blood characters. It is a fast-paced book that is a joy to read; a book that is hard to put down, and a must read for people interested in ancient history or who find the city of Pompeii a fascinating place.
Rating: 4
Summary: If You Love Historical Fiction and Thrillers
Comment: If you love history, thrillers, human drama, this is a very good book. The research is impeccable, the action very strong, the characters interesting. I read voraciously and just finished Pompeii; Isaac's Storm, about the Galveston hurricane in 1900 (excellent); and James Dalessandro's 1906, about the great San Francisco Earthquake, which I discovered after reading a review on Bookideas.com. I highly recommend all three, particularly 1906, which is one of the best novels I have read in years.
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