Customer Reviews

The Last Days of Pompeii

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If all you know about Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton is the notorious opening sentence of another of his novels, "It was a dark and stormy night ...," and that this is supposed to imply that he wrote overblown purple prose -- I urge you to try The Last Days of Pompeii (first published in 1834). You may be surprised to find yourself in the hands of an expert storyteller and, yes, an often splendid stylist.

Bulwer-Lytton was one of the most popular fiction writers in the 19th century (and his reputation has really only waned in the last 60 years or so). Our ancestors weren't naive dupes; they rightly recognized that there was something exceptional about Last Days. If the book is now out of fashion, it nevertheless remains a fascinating read.

Briefly, the story concerns four people in Pompeii in the period leading up to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the city in ash in AD 79. They are Glaucus, a Greek-born, rich young man who is a bit of a rake (he gambles on the gladiatorial games) but fundamentally decent; Ione, his lover (in the author's words, "The wealth of her graces was inexhaustible -- she beautified the commonest action; a word, a look from her, seemed magic. Love her, and you entered into a new world, you passed from this trite and common-place earth"); Nydia, a blind slave girl passionately and uselessly in love with Glaucus; and Arbaces, a brilliantly malevolent high priest of the cult of Isis.

The reader, too, passes out of "this trite and common-place earth" in the book's pages. The style is of another time, to be sure, one that is unashamedly colorful and romantic. To some poor cynical souls I suppose it will seem corny; to those who still look at the stars and sunsets with awe, the language will resonate with a thousand delicate tints.

Last Days is not only an evocative re-imagination of a historical time and place, and a craftily plotted story; it also touches on deep philosophical matters. Bulwer-Lytton was interested in the Mystery cults of the Roman empire, including that of Isis. Although, probably to avoid offending the conventions of his time, he had Glaucus and Ione eventually convert to Christianity, it's hard to doubt that he was sympathetic to earlier pagan religions. Although Arbaces is the villain, his literary portrait is drawn with keen psychological insight and his religious rites are thoughtfully and strikingly portrayed. (The scene in which Arbaces tries to initiate Ione's brother into the secret -- highly sensuous and erotically tinged -- rituals of the cult is electrifying!) Mystical undertones are not far from the jewelled surface of this novel.

So read this as a period piece, but not in a condescending way; let yourself be drawn into the sun-glazed temples and forums, the loves, the cruelty and the jealousies of ancient Pompeii. See them through a dreamy, extravagant early-Victorian literary sensibility. Give yourself up to Bulwer-Lytton's magic, as so many did in generations before you.

I agree with other reviewers that this is a wonderful story based in 79 AD just prior to Mt Vesuvius' fateful eruption. The characters are vivid and the story is very rich. However, the prose is completely overblown which is sometimes a distraction. I couldn't even read the lyrics of the various songs and odes in the book. Too much to slog through.

My main complaint with this book, however, is the editing. This edition is really horrible. The introduction alone has glaring errors (such as the author lived from 1803 - 1873, but was married in 1927). This mistake is repeated on the back cover blurb. Entire pages in the book are blank. Whole words and phrases are missing in the chapter titles. For a $20 paperback, I would expect a bit more.

I would recommend the book if you have an interest in the ancient Roman empire, but definitely buy a different edition.

I stumbled across this book when I was 14 years old and from that time I've re-read The Last Days Of Pompeii every year or so. And every time my appreciation for the simple beauty and grace of Bulwer-Lytton's story grows. From the frenzied descriptions of supernatural phenomena to the one-dimentional emotions that grip the characters it is possible to simply let your mind flow past the minor character and plot development problems, and instead let the sweet music of his purple prose capture your imagination. I find that conjuring up the images that his writing envokes is far easier than with most other historical writers that I have come across. Now, the minor flaws that I felt dampend the glory of this novel a bit are the shallowness of the characters. While it is lovely that Glaucus is a rake with a heart of gold, and that Ione is the only perfect human ever to exsist; the fact that most people would find it difficult to relate to the main characters is a bit tragic. Actually I found that the most believable character in the novel was that of the gladiator Lydon, who feels a guilty responsibility to his father and who is willing to sacrifice anything to release him from the life of drudgery and sin that are before him. Lydon feels all of the baser emotions that Glaucus and Ione are deprived of-anger, envy, disbelief, and the desire for revenge. But while he does feel these base emotions he is not a low individual, simply human with all of the flaws that youth will bring in abundance. Still, I greatly enjoyed the feeling of reading what is akin to a complex, tragic 400 plus page epic poem. I hope that anyone who takes up the challenge of reading this novel will take my advice to read it every few years-trust me, as you experience more of life your perception of the novel will change. Happy reading!

I bought this battered old book at an antique shoppe because I was intrigued by the title, and the obvious age of the novel. I sat down to "skim" the book a couple of days ago, and was delighted to have found such a gem! The writing is intelligent and for an intelligent reader; something that we almost never get to expeience anymore. The story is rich in historic details and mythic references. But, the saga is truely nail-biting excitement and suspense! What a wonderful surprise! If you want to take a vacation from watered down superficial writing and what passes for suspense too often today, if you want to experience something noble of your time and enriching, read with pleasure, this book!

Lord Lytton could write historical novels, and this one is actually one of his best. Lytton was a very prolific writer, but quality was not sacrificed for quantity. This particular book though is the one that has stood the longest. Lytton does a pretty good job with the strange names in this book. We still learn to know and enjoy all the characters in spite of the unfamiliarity of the names and the places. He wrote this book and his other historical work "Rienzi" after he had made a trip to Italy, and when he was experiencing major difficulties with his marriage. In spite of these personal problems, Lytton wrote on and the people of the time snapped up his work. His books are certainly worth the effort and the time. Some may say that he is melodramatic and typecasts his characters. He does do this, sure, but he still gets his story across.

Bulwer-Lytton was a notoriously bad writer, and I can't honestly say that this book does anything to save his well-earned rep. However, it's a lot of fun, partly because it's so melodramatic. The bad guys almost hiss, the good guys shine and sparkle, the damsels are definitely placed into distress. Good prevails, evil is punished. You can almost hear a rinky-tink piano player off to the side of the stage, plink-plunking out chords meant to signal suspense, then fear, then true and undying love, then imminent disaster. Don't model your prose on this, unless you're hoping to win the Bulwer-Lytton prize for lousy writing -- but it's definitely worth reading. You may find yourself gritting your teeth, or laughing out loud -- not because of the realism, but because it's all just SO awful!

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton is best known for coming up with the immortal phrase that Snoopy is always typing: "It was a dark and stormy night." Unfortunately, he's never that concise in "Last Days of Pompeii," a bloated and melodramatic historical novel that takes a volcanic eruption and makes it.... boring.

It focuses on the final days of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. In particular, it focuses on a virtuous young Roman man, Glaucus, who is stuck in a love quadrangle with a beautiful, equally virtuous young lady, a blind slave girl, and a sinister Egyptian who beguiles the lovely young lady.

In the background is a turmoil of religious and social problems, with a deadly volcano smoldering behind it all. Then, a murder is committed -- and Glaucus is arrested for the crime, and sentenced to be sent into the arena. When Vesuvius blows, will any of them survive?

"The Last Days of Pompeii" is one of those novels that had immense promise. Unfortunately, Bulwer-Lytton turns it into a Roman soap opera. Rather than focusing on the more interesting aspects of Pompeii, Bulwer-Lytton decided to focus on a contrived romantic web of very boring people.

It doesn't help that "Last Days of Pompeii" is also written in a chokingly dense style, very ornate and full of bad poetry. The dialogue is even worse, with lines like, "'With all his conceit and extravagance he is not so rich, I fancy, as he affects to be, and perhaps loves to save his amphorae better than his wit." Okay, whatever. The story might be more palatable, had Bulwer-Lytton not tried too hard -- many Victorian authors managed to communicate their stories without smothering the readers in faux-ancient prose.

Bulwer-Lytton also seems to have been showing off his knowledge of Roman architecture and clothing, since the descriptions of the atrium and triclinium are more complex than any character. He regularly interrupted the narrative just to lecture readers on historical trivia, on everything from medieval necromancy to Italian herbs -- not just annoying, but often irrelevant to the story at hand.

Apparently in the interest of keeping the novel "human," Bulwer-Lytton introduced some romantic tension. Unfortunately, his characters don't act like real people -- really, who would fuss about their love lives while escaping from an erupting volcano that has killed hundreds and destroyed two cities? It's hard to imagine anyone so oblivious and self-absorbed, but the annoying blind slave Nydia apparently can't think of anything else.

Glaucus is a paragon of virtue, despite what Romans of the time were like; he even converts to Christianity for no apparent reason, in keeping with the attempt to make him fit the Victorian ideal. On the flipside, Arbaces is a rather cartoonish -- even slightly racist -- villain, who is just there to make trouble because he wants to.

"The Last Days of Pompeii" is an intriguing idea for a novel, but a flop as Edward Bulwer-Lytton actually wrote it. Too bad the volcano didn't blow a lot sooner.

This book is painful to read....and even more painful to listen to (Audible). This book is so far off culturally it really is funny. The evil dark Egyptian...my god, if this weren't assigned to read I would never have read it. For those of you that love Victorian books, I'm so sorry to diss this, but I'd rather get beat to death with banana peels than read this book again.