Imperium

I just finished the historical novel, Imperium, by Robert Harris. It is the story of Cicero's rise to his first consulship, also known as Imperium, in 63 B.C. as told by his secretary Tiro. The novel is a fascinating read about Cicero's rise to power in the political hotbed that was Rome.

I normally need to see swords drawn and armies clashing to find a historical novel engaging, but through Harris' descriptive powers and being able to bring characters to life on the page, he was able to show just how exciting and lethal words and oratory could be.

One only has to look at our recent elections to see how effective an extremely good speaker can be in mobilizing the populace.

I highly recommend this book.

My only lament is that I wanted to see how the next twenty years of Cicero's life played out.

Needless to say I read about it on Wikipedia before I wrote this blog.

I really hope Harris will write a sequel to the rest of Cicero's amazing life.

Pompeii

I finally finished reading Pompeii by Robert Harris. I say finally, because it took me almost a month to finish it.

The first hundred pages were loaded with great details, but so many that I found myself skimming. The lack of connection with any of the main characters in the first third of the story was my principal problem and allowed me to set the novel aside and read something else to often. But then the next two hundred pages blew me away. (No pun intended.)

It wasn't the protagonist who saved the story, but the antagonist and how he impacted/influenced those around him. And whether it just took me awhile to get used to Harris' writing style or finally feeling for his characters, his excessive attention to details really served him well once Vesuvius blew its top.

I'm extremely glad I didn't put the novel down for good before I finished the first third of the book. But man, was I close.