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    Pompeii
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    Pompeii
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    Pompeii
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Pompeii

    Written by Robert Harris

    Narrated by Michael Cumpsty

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Ancient Rome is the setting for the superb new novel from Robert Harris, author of the number one bestsellers Fatherland, Enigma and Archangel.

    Where else to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples. All along the coast, the Roman Empire's richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas. The world's largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii.

    Only one man is worried. The engineer Marius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. His predecessor has disappeared. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line -- somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Marius -- decent, practical, incorruptible -- promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces that even the world's only superpower can't control.

    Pompeii recreates in spellbinding detail one of the most famous natural disasters of all time. And by focusing on the characters of an engineer and a scientist, it offers an entirely original perspective on the Roman world.


    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 18, 2003
    ISBN9780739307908
    Unavailable
    Pompeii
    Author

    Robert Harris

    Robert Harris is the author of Pompeii, Enigma, and Fatherland. He has been a television correspondent with the BBC and a newspaper columnist for the London Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. His novels have sold more than ten million copies and been translated into thirty languages. He lives in Berkshire, England, with his wife and four children.

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    Reviews for Pompeii

    3.5/5

    1,284 ratings76 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Excellent read. Tells the story of the famous Vesuvius eruption from the point of view of an engineer who has to investigate strange problems with the aqueduct. A nice mix of science and intrigue. Brings history to life.
    • 3/5
      This book does an excellent job of reconstructing the Pompeii eruption. The main character is a water system engineer, responsible for maintaining aqueducts, and I appreciated the setting even more for having watched a lecture on Roman water systems. Although we all know how the story ends—do we?—Harris steadily ratchets up the tension, and maintains some suspense about the main characters. The writing isn't fantastic and the characters are a bit flat, but overall "Pompeii" is a fun and educational story.
    • 3/5
      Having recently read "Conclave" by the same author and loving it, I was rather disappointed with "Pompeii." The characters were too underdeveloped and cliche - the hero noble and handsome, the villain really evil and the love interest stunning - and the romance was unbelievable. After just a few encounters the reader was supposed to believe that Attilius and Corelia fell madly in love. Sorry, but this reader is too cynical for that. I never connected with any of the characters and the plot lacked the tension and sense of urgency it should have had.The second-half of "Pompeii" was definitely better than the first but, overall, I found this book lacking.
    • 4/5
      This book was a lot of fun to read, as we just recently went to Pompeii!
    • 4/5
      I found myself discussing this book at dinner recently with a woman who equally remembered the characters. The protagonist and his perspective bring the plot to life and make this an enjoyable read.

      The downside - the characters act more like 19th century Brits than Romans sometimes and the comparisons between the decline of Rome and contemporary America are a bit heavyhanded . . . but if you can read through all that (not difficult) this is a page turner that will allow you to take a walk back in time!
    • 4/5
      Not a bad book. I have visited Pompeii several times and it was nice to connect a story to what I have seen. Writer needs to loosen up a bit though.
    • 3/5
      Bought the book in the Naples airport after visiting Vesuvius and Pompeii. Good color and history lesson. Very maudlin story with wooden characters and no real suspense.
    • 4/5
      Lively, highly readable and informative. Somewhat predictable at times, but still very enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      The new engineer Attilius arrives in Misenum after the disappearance of the aquarius, Exominius. Attilius takes great pride in overseeing the aqueduct that runs water to Pompeii, Misenum and the surrounding towns, but during a drought the water is suddenly not arriving properly and a slave discovers sulfur in the water killing fish.This read to me much more like a thriller, with the reader knowing that there's a countdown to the eruption of Vesuvius even while the clueless characters are divining signs and getting ready for the celebration of Vulcanalia. The action takes place over the course of four days. I had a hard time engaging with the characters and, while period details about the baths, aqueducts, and Pliny's studies were interesting, I found it putdownable most of the time.
    • 4/5
      Not a bad book. I have visited Pompeii several times and it was nice to connect a story to what I have seen. Writer needs to loosen up a bit though.
    • 5/5
      This was a fantastic telling of what happened in August 79 AD to the city of Pompeii, but it is so much more than just about the eruption, it also had wonderful history of the aqueduct work that the Italians constructed, and a wonderful fictional story flowing through it.
      Excellent book.
    • 4/5
      Informative historical fiction. Story of Pompeii has always intrigued me, and I found the information in this book very interesting. Read it for book club and had a great discussion - also researched additional information regarding the eruption.
    • 5/5
      This crime thriller is enjoyable on multiple levels. It has mystery, plus history and science. I also appreciated that the ending avoided any of several possible tropes that seemed to be guaranteed.
    • 4/5
      Good story, drama with history.
    • 4/5
      Who wasn't fascinated by the the island nation of Pompeii as a child? Well, if you were as well, this book won't disappoint. Like a magician, Robert time-travels you right into the ancient Italian civilization. The Roman baths are definitely eye-opening and memorable. I love a novel that both entertains and teaches, and Harris fills both bills with this engaging story.
    • 3/5
      I picked this up having recently visited Pompeii, thinking it might be interesting to read something set in that city. I had such optimism, despite this looking more like the sort of book my husband would read. It occurred to me that setting it in the last few days before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius meant there weren’t many readers out there who didn’t already know the ending, but surely a good author can find their way around a problem like that.It was interesting to read the author’s take on Pompeii in its heyday. He’s obviously been round the red light district same as me and seen the carvings in the road! And it was interesting (up to a point) to learn about the business of constructing aqueducts. And if there was a stand-out section it had to be the multi-course meal which is perhaps the only thing in literature that has come close to making me spontaneously vomit. But otherwise this was a rather dull account of lots of people with similar names prancing around in tunics, culminating in lots of rock falling on those people, this last event being drawn out to a wholly unbearable degree. Should have gone with my instincts.
    • 4/5
      Harris is a reliable writer who I can count on for a good story. Pompeii does not disappoint. This was published in 2003 and tells us stories of people beginning two days prior to the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79. It is however, primarily the story of one man and his experiences. The book starts off a little slow as an Aquarius and aqueduct engineer, Marcus Attilius, searches for water in the midst of a severe drought, but the story picks up considerably. We know of course how the big story ends. What we have here are smaller stories, woven around Attilius's investigation of what is suddenly going wrong with the aqueduct that has very recently come under his responsibility. He is the latest of several generations of engineers who have been building and caring for the Roman aqueducts. I also really liked the portrayal of Pliny in this book.A nice history lesson woven into this tale. Once this got going, it turned into a real page turner that was very hard to put down. I have a few minor quibbles with the book that bothered me a little, but I won't detail them since I suspect they vary by reader.
    • 3/5
      I put off reading this book for a while, being afraid it would be rather boring. But the opposite was true. It was an enjoyable read.

      Harris is very good at mixing history and fiction, although the ending is a bit too good to be true. I liked the way he started each chapter with quotes from academic resources explaining what happens before and during a vulcanic erruption, although some used a bit too much academic and scientific language for me to fully understand.

      This book has motivated me to look for more books set in (Roman) history.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating details about the volcano erupting make this an interesting read.
    • 4/5
      Pompeii is a novel set in the last days of...you guessed it, Pompeii, the Roman town that was the largest of those wiped out by a pyroclastic flow following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. The book opens with a slave facing execution because of the death of some prized fish in a pond owned by an aristocratic former slave. He pleads for the Aquarius -- the engineer responsible for the city's water -- saying the Aquarius knows what caused the problem, it wasn't his negligence. However, the Aquarius is mysteriously nowhere to be found, and another is pressed into service. Too late, he confirms that the fish were killed by an infusion of sulfur into the water, and demands to be excused so he can address a "real" emergency. That emergency, as it turns out, was the sudden lack of flow from an aqueduct feeding the town. Conferring with a traveler from Pompeii who confirmed the fountains were in operation there, he leaves to locate the break, promising remediation in two days.The break is found, the ground under the aqueduct thrust upwards, blocking the water flow. Naval commander Pliny the Elder rages at the lack of water, but comes to realize something is going on with the mountain and, as a man of science, begins to catalog his observances. Town officials try to reassure the people, forcibly preventing some from leaving. All the while, emanations from the mountain are getting worse. The little dramas within seem trivial compared with the ending we all know is coming. Pliny and the Aquarius were the two most interesting characters in this story. When the final firestorm arrives, most characters of consequence simply die where they are...any attempts at shelter being fruitless. Pliny too is killed, but his notes survive and are given to the care of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who was off shore at the time. Harris did some good research into volcanos for this book, and we learn about them apace with Pliny.
    • 4/5
      Pompeii, a novel by Robert Harris, combines Roman history, political and civil structure swamped by corruption. Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken on responsibility for the Aqua Augusta, when the line begins to spew for sulfur and then fails. The Augusta supplies 9 towns which are baking under the hot August son in the midst of a drought.Attilius is an incorruptible man, following in the footsteps of his family business and all but worships the powerful system of aqueducts his family has designed and built. He is young enough to still be fully confident in his abilities to overcome local corruption. Harris provides an interesting analysis of Mt Vesuvius' eruption as well as information about the process of a building crisis and its warning signs.
    • 3/5
      Pompeii gives a feel for what it might have been like leading up to and after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. I found the bits about the aqueducts fascinating. The descriptions of the depravity of the elite were hard to handle, but not so bad as to ruin the story.
    • 5/5
      Admittedly I am a Robert Harris fan since reading Fatherland and being unable to put it down until I turned the last page. I've also read Enigma, Archangel & Imperium which were all also pleasurable reads. In Pompeii Harris once again takes a historical event and weaves a story around it that is both captivating and intriguing.I have no complaints and it has earned itself a place, with the other Robert Harris novels, in the permanent library.
    • 3/5
      The eruption of Vesuvius from the eye of a local water engineer. Great light fiction - good historical setting, fast paced, rising tension. Great stuff.Read Dec 2006
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this more than I expected to, given that we all know how it comes out. The aquatic engineering for the aqueducts was fascinating, and the underlying mystery was good too.
    • 4/5
      A nice reconstruction of the eruption set to the tune of fiction, even if the end was a little cheeseball.
    • 5/5
      An excellent read, plausible historical storyline set around a Roman Plumbing Engineer during the time leading up to Vesuvius erupting.

      As a retired Engineer I was delighted!
    • 4/5
      I listened to this audiobook to give me some background about Pompeii since we are visiting in a few weeks. Good story and excellent background description of the life in Pompeii and all the events leading up to its destruction by Mt. Vesuvius.
    • 3/5
      Robert Harris schildert in seinem Roman die Geschichte der römischen Stadt in den Tagen vor und während des Ausbruchs des Vesuv. Es ist ganz interessant sich zu überlegen, ob und wie man die Zeichen hätte deuten können. Festgemacht wird die Geschichte am Wasserbaumeister Attilus, der nach Pompeji kommt um einen Schaden zu beheben. Das Buch ist streckenweise sehr spannend. Es liegt eher an meinem eigenen Geschmack, dass ich es nicht besser bewerte.
    • 4/5
      3 ½ starsI have wanted to read this book for a decadeI’ve loved science, and particularly geology, from a very early age, and chose a science class in 5th grade that focused on volcanoes, so my interest is long standing. I think a non-fiction book about this eruption, if it contained all the known information and conjectures, might have been an even better choice for me.I got used the fictional story and it did provide a fairly good backdrop for the setting and happenings in that time and place. There is a very long build up though. At times the story had me rolling my eyes and laughing in places where I’m sure it wasn’t meant for the reader to laugh, which surprised me given the author. It read very much like a cheesy soap opera at times. Particularly at the end there were things I both loved and hated in the historical fiction story. I was left conflicted about whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. I suspect that I might be upping it a star because I’m so fascinated with the events, and perhaps it should be the other way around and I should downgrade it. I did like the characters and events that seemed to be based on history, and was touched a few parts at the end, but overall the whole narrative seemed like something I had to get through to find out exactly what happened at Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. I’d already read some accounts so I had an idea of what to expect. For me the story did drag at times, and that shouldn’t happen with this subject matter! For all my complaints, the fictional story was a good vehicle to tell the geological story and its toll on the area and its inhabitants.I was impressed by the Romans’ accomplishments, and learned quite a bit about their culture. Of course, I loved the map (I frequently referred to it) and the description/names of time keeping and calendar in that era Rome, and really appreciated the informative quotes from non-fiction books that are at the beginning of every chapter.I was dismayed that in the last few pages the author’s words/musings has me suspecting that he might be a denier of human caused climate change.I am still eager to read his book Fatherland.