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Pompeii : a novel by Robert Harris
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Pompeii : a novel (original 2003; edition 2003)

by Robert Harris

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
5,2721542,012 (3.61)199
When the aqueduct that brings fresh water to thousands of people around the bay of Naples fails, Roman engineer Marius Primus heads to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius to investigate, only to come face to face with an impending catastrophe.
Member:BCL-ICANA
Title:Pompeii : a novel
Authors:Robert Harris
Info:New York : Ballantine Books, 2004, c2003.
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:Fiction, September 2014, print

Work Information

Pompeii by Robert Harris (2003)

  1. 10
    The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beard (wandering_star)
    wandering_star: A comprehensive and entertaining look at what life in Pompeii might really have been like (and incidentally, Beard namechecks Harris' book).
  2. 00
    The Ghost by Robert Harris (HenriMoreaux)
  3. 00
    Imperium by Robert Harris (rakerman)
    rakerman: Imperium, the first book in Harris' Cicero trilogy, has a very well-framed and grounded tale of elite Romans, heavily based in real history.
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» See also 199 mentions

English (133)  German (4)  Dutch (4)  Spanish (2)  Italian (2)  Danish (2)  French (2)  Swedish (2)  Catalan (1)  Finnish (1)  All languages (153)
Showing 1-5 of 133 (next | show all)
Pompeya
Robert Harris
Publicado: 2003 | 270 páginas
Novela Histórico

Una sofocante semana a finales de agosto del año 79 d.C. ¿Qué mejor lugar para pasar los últimos días del verano que la bahía de Nápoles? A lo largo de toda la costa, los ciudadanos más ricos del imperio se relajan en sus lujosas villas, la flota más poderosa del mundo descansa pacíficamente fondeada en Miseno y los visitantes gastan su dinero en las localidades de Herculano y Pompeya. Solo un hombre parece preocupado. El ingeniero Marco Atilio Primo acaba de hacerse cargo del Aqua Augusta, el enorme acueducto que suministra agua potable al cuarto de millón de habitantes de las nueve ciudades de la bahía de Nápoles, y por primera vez desde hace generaciones, los manantiales se están secando. Su predecesor ha desaparecido y hay un problema en algún punto de los noventa kilómetros de la conducción principal, al norte de Pompeya. Justamente en las faldas del Vesubio. Atilio «responsable, respetable, práctico, incorruptible» asegura a Plinio, comandante de la flota imperial y famoso erudito, que puede reparar el acueducto antes de que los depósitos de reserva se queden sin agua. Pero mientras se encamina hacia el Vesubio, se dispone a descubrir que hay fuerzas que ni el imperio más grande del mundo puede controlar… La trágica erupción del Vesubio, en el año 79 d.C., y la consiguiente destrucción de la próspera Pompeya configuran el marco de esta apasionante intriga entreverada de brillantes y minuciosas pinceladas históricas sobre el desastre natural que asoló la mítica ciudad. Marcus Attilius es el encargado de reparar el gran acueducto tras la misteriosa desaparición del veterano ingeniero que fue responsable de la conducción de aguas durante veinte años. En sus primeras investigaciones, Attilus detecta sulfuro en las aguas de un vivero, y sus pesquisas lo conducen hasta Pompeya, origen de la contaminación. Tras el misterio asoman los turbios manejos de Ampliatus, personaje muy influyente y padre de la hermosa Cordelia. Entretanto, el volcán comienza a despertar.
  libreriarofer | Nov 4, 2023 |
Never saw the Kit Harrington movie adaptation of this movie and I'm glad I didn't. Reading about that doomed city at the base of Mount Vesuvius and the events in and around those eighteen hours before eruption in a fictional capacity has been exhilarating.

Maybe it's because I had just watched Blood of Zeus, the Netflix anime that has so much potential but is shackled by the streamer's indecisiveness. Anyway, for some reason Attilius reminds me of Heron. Not Heron the demigod, son of Zeus and gifted with lightning but the Heron who is in mourning, headstrong, determined and righteous in his science. Attilius has other qualities that would have made him the demigod of aqueducts - he is an engineer of insanely high intellect and a keen and fine tuned sense of intuition.

I'm convinced that just before a natural, catastrophic disaster takes place - >the earth holds a séance with the soon to be departed souls of the inhabitants within the impact radius. The unsettling atmosphere leading up to the event tells me that the spirit almost knows something is about to happen. More often than not, some sort of tension, unrest - even riots occur just before the event. But then there's The Great Tsunami (Bali and surrounds)of our century and how everyone was just in utter shock and of course the Great earthquakes of Hatay in Turkiye - so yeah, maybe the earth is just shrewd and picks and chooses when to give warning before unleashing hell.

In a race against a volcano that he didn't even know he was racing, Attilius is steadfast, focused and in the zone trying to repair the part that is blocking the flow to several towns along the route of the aqueduct. There is love, there is corruption (seriously, corruption is probably the oldest vice on earth right?), there are slaves, there are free men, desperation, ridiculous wealth and an archivist willing to give his life to document the eruption for all in the future to behold.

Mount Vesuvius is the real protagonist here. And what a might and frightening one at that. ( )
  RoadtripReader | Aug 24, 2023 |
Harris spins a vivid tale with varied characters navigating historic and fictional events leading up to and during the eruption of Vesuvius.

Listening to Michael Cumpsty read the story as our summer road trip took us through the volcanic geography of central and eastern Oregon made the story particularly delightful. ( )
  rebwaring | Aug 14, 2023 |
Fantastic...unputdownable ( )
  RRabas | Jun 16, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 133 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (18 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Robert Harrisprimary authorall editionscalculated
Vink, RenéeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
American superiority in all matters of science, economics, industry, politics, business, medicine, engineering, social life, social justice, and of course, the military was total and indisputable. Even Europeans suffering the pangs of wounded chauvinism looked on with awe at the brilliant example the United States had set for the world as the third millennium began.

Tom Wolfe, Hooking Up
In the whole world, wherever the vault of heaven turns, there is no land so well adorned with all that wins Nature's crown as Italy, the ruler and second Mother of the world, with her men and women, her generals and soldiers, her slaves, her pre-eminence in arts and crafts, her wealth of brilliant talent ...

Pliny, Natural History
How can we withhold our respect from a water system that, in the first century AD, supplied the city of Rome with substantially more water than was supplied in 1985 to New York City ?

A. Trevor Hodge, Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply
Dedication
To Gill
First words
They left the aquaduct two hours before dawn, climbing by moonlight into the hills overlooking the port - six men in single file, the engineer leading.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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When the aqueduct that brings fresh water to thousands of people around the bay of Naples fails, Roman engineer Marius Primus heads to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius to investigate, only to come face to face with an impending catastrophe.

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Haiku summary
Honest man observes,
Science-based plans. Acts quickly.
Volcano explodes.

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