Rating: 
Summary: Page turner
Review: I'm hesitant to ascribe the term "page turner" to a book (since everyone seems to do it nowadays) but what else can you call this work? Fast-paced like Brown's DA VINCI CODE and well-written and plotted like McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, this stellar piece of fiction hits the mark. Only Harris could create a work this good around a subject that could possibly turn so bad. My first thought was, "Oh, no, a book about a volcano," but as another reviewer stated, the giant earth-pimple doesn't really rear its ugly head (excuse the imagery) until toward the end of the book. It is as it should be, for everything up until that point is a build-up to the climax. And what a climax it is! Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and COLD MOUNTAIN
Rating:
Summary: It's not about the volcano...
Review: The Roman aqueducts get best supporting oscar in this fascinating historical fiction piece. The volcano doesn't get center stage until the last few chapters - it's the amazing workings of the waterway that keeps the reader mezmerized. If you like an intelligent read that tells you something you didn't already know, you're in for a treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Vesuvius in Heat
Review: The world's only superpower, an abundance of advanced technology, rich people who cheat on their taxes, corrupt functionaries, a huge gulf between the have's and the have-not's. All of this plus an event so horrendous no one could ever have imagined it. How very much Rome, AD 79, resembles a certain other place we all know. This sense that the world Robert Harris creates in "Pompeii" is at once alien (when was the last time you feasted on flamingo tongues?) while at the same time familiar is a part of the appeal of this book. "Pompeii" concerns an aquarius (an engineer in ancient Rome who specializes in aqueducts) who has just taken over responsibility for the aqueduct that supplies a quarter of a million people in towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has mysteriously disappeared, and he is noticing some very funny goings-on in the functioning of his aqueduct. I loved Harris's descriptions of Roman hydraulic engineering, his blow-by-blow account of the eruption, and the scenes in which Pliny the Elder - scholar, commander of the Roman navy, and eyewitness to the big event of AD 79 - is present. The book has been painstakingly researched, as the acknowledgements attest. However, I thought that the book dragged a bit in the middle, and that the love story could have been given a bit more substance. But I put that aside when I came to the book's last memorable chapters. The last sentence of this book is one of the best book-last-sentences I have ever read. But it won't mean anything to you until you've had the pleasure of reading this fine work, which I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly entertaining
Review: 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:
Summary: Six stars please
Review: Perhaps it was because I was expecting this book to be some semi-historical stody account of long ago, or perhaps it was becuase I was only midly interested in the era the action takes place, but for whatever reason, I was (pardon the pun) blown away. For what happend was this: I got a fun, easy-to-read, interesting and well-written work of fiction, peppered with interesting facts and some great writing. Homosexuality? Nudity? Sex? Hellooooo?!!! This is Pompeii we're talking about. The only thing better than reading this book is actually going there to see the ruins. Would also recommend another great read, though it's nothing like "Pompeii" in setting or plot, and that is a book called "Bark of the Dogwood" by Jackson McCrae. Also check out "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," for something really different.
Rating:
Summary: Fast paced and vivid!
Review: I love Ancient Rome, and I greatly enjoyed "Pompeii". It was a fun, light, lively, quick read. Robert Harris manages to vividly recreate the era - the imagery of day-to-day life in 1st century Pompeii was outstanding. I have to vehemently disagree with Anthony D'Amico's comment about the nudity and homosexuality. There are hardly any occurrences of such scenes in the book, and what little that appears is indicative of the Roman attitudes and times.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: I've read many books, in all genres, but I can only remember a few which made me throw the story aside half way through. The story set up far too many scenes dealing with nudity, homosexuality, and sexual fantasy. I thought the story was about a very entertaining aquarius and his quest to get the water running again in Pompeii. This story was too much for me, and I would never suggest this novel to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Stellar!
Review: Three books you have to read: Brown's "Angels and Demons," McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood," and Robert Harris's "Pompeii." All three are stellar reads but by far, "Pompeii" is my favorite. I was prepared for this draggy novel with stilted dialogue and characters I couldn't relate to. Not so. "Pompeii" is brilliant and one of the best things I've come across in years.
Rating:
Summary: Great premise
Review: Great premise--great follow through. Robert Harris is so much better a writer than many others out there. He's taken a subject that's remained interesting over the ages, given it new twists, shown us what life was like in Pompeii, and somehow woven it all into a great read. The characters were well-developed in this book, and the settings were so well described that I actually felt I knew what it was like to live in a time so long ago and far away. Just great fun. Also recommended: THE DA VINCI CODE and McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating:
Summary: A Fun "Read"
Review: Harris wrote a great novel for those of us who can not get enough of the Vesuvius story of 79 AD. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It borders on being considered "faction".
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