A book that disappointed me - 30 day book challenge

A book that disappointed me - Day 13 of the 30 day book challenge

I went on a college trip to Italy in March this year (2014) for Ancient History which is a subject I do. In preparation, I was told to read a book called 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris. In case it wasn't obvious from the title, the book is about the disaster of Pompeii - the volcano that erupted and destroyed the whole ancient town of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

I am a massive fan of ancient history and would even go so far as to call myself a history geek; this meant I was very exited to read this book this year and see how the author would have expressed the ancient culture of Pompeii and how the disaster effected them.

I was very disappointed. The book was very boring in the way it was written in my opinion and I felt nothing for the characters because nothing was told about them. We discovered their names and their relationships with each other, but no depth was given. There was no context as to why they were living in Pompeii or how they came to work in the jobs they had. I feel that if the characters had been explored better, then the book may had been better as a whole.

Give the author credit where it is needed, the details about the history itself is very well done. The town has been described as it would have been - paved paths, stepping stones in the roads, massive boats ready to sail out to sea whenever they needed and market stalls selling the bare necessities for everyone and anyone. The author has clearly done research in the disaster itself to make this even better.

At one point, people tried to escape the ash and rock falling from the sky by using the boats to sail away. This did not work as the boats simply sunk due to the sea being out of control from the earth shaking from the volcanic eruption. The poor people of Pompeii did not realise this was a volcanic eruption; this is a point in time in which everyone is very much religious. The volcano erupting was a punishment from the gods for a sin that the town has made.

The idea of the book is wonderful - history coming alive is a reality here. If a better narrative was used to tell the story then it may have interested me more; it may even by the age I read the book. I am 16 years old and I read books that are very (if not too much) mature for my age. This one was aimed at adults above the age of 19, at my guess. If I had read this book in 5 years time, at the age of 21, I may have been able to appreciate it more and I would not have been as disappointed. I would recommend at least trying the book to any ancient history fans, or anyone who is just interested in this particular event, although the older you are, the better it will probably be for you.

If anything, I think that the new film 'Pompeii' which was released this year was better than the book as it followed the disaster through the eyes of a young man named 'Milo' and it told a story of love and hope - he loves a girl in another class to him which is keeping them apart; when the disaster occurs, everything goes pear shaped. Typical. (Any fans of ancient history - I recommend watching it).

Do you have a book that you were really looking forward to but just let you down? Let me know!