The Last Days of Pompeii/ The World's Greatest Literature/ Volume 16

by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton

Hardcover, 1940

Status

Available

Call number

823.8

Publication

The Spencer Press (1940)

Description

The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834.The novel was inspired by the painting The Last Day of Pompeii by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of 1st-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt. Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favourably but not uncritically. The Witch of Vesuvius, though she has no supernatural powers, shows Bulwer-Lytton's interest in the occult - a theme which would emerge in his later writing, particularly "The Coming Race".… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member lbowman
"Ho, Diomed, well met! Do you sup with Glaucus tonight?" I have never been able to get past this line. It's the first line.
LibraryThing member Pferdina
A romance with a classical setting, this is (sort of) the story of two expatriate Greeks who discover each other while living in Pompeii. It is also the story of how Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of the volcano, Vesuvius. Daily life of the residents is described-from banquets to baths-as
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well as some of the religious aspects of life in this time period (first century CE). Apparently the author based his book on the excavations of Pompeii, because he frequently mentions that you can see there the houses and other objects which appear in the story. It is a slow-moving tale, with many side trips, but some readers will forgive all when the bad guys get what they deserve and the good guys live happily ever after.
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LibraryThing member Schmerguls
904 The Last Days of Pompeii, by Sir Edward G. E. Bulwer-Lytton (read 4 Jul 1967) When I finished this I said "though the description is so overdone, and the plot rather creaking, I was caught up by both: description and story. Glaucus, an Athenian in Pompeii, loves Ione, as does Arbaces, an
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Egyptian of evil. Nydia, a blind slave, also loves Glaucus. Arbaces kills Apaecides, brother of Ione, who has become a Christian, and then blames the killing on Glaucus who had been temporarily crazed by a supposed love potion given him by Nydia--after Nydia took it from Julia, who had gotten it from a witch at Arbaces' urging. Glaucus is to be devoured by a lion on the day Vesuvius erupts." To illustrate the fulsome style: "The eyes of the crowd followed the gesture of the Egyptian, and beheld, with ineffable dismay, a vast vapour shooting from the summit of Vesuvius, in the form of a gigantic pine-tree, the trunk, blackness,--the branches, fire!--and a fire that shifted and wavered in its hues with every moment, now fiercely luminous, now of a dull and dying red, that again blazed terrifically forth with intolerable glare!" I will not soon forget this awesome book!
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LibraryThing member ari.joki
Wordy, broadly descriptive prose was fashionable once in the world. Even for that time, Bulwer-Lytton in this work is exessive. He does carry the plot pretty well, though.
LibraryThing member browsers
Amazingly good, considering what a bad name poor Lytton has in modern times, what with the whole "dark and stormy night" thing. Very entertaining all around, very interesting perspectives on religion considering the times. This edition has excellent plate engravings which add a lot to the story.
LibraryThing member browsers
Waaaay better than I thought!
LibraryThing member PallanDavid
Not a story so much about the Pompeii volcanic event, but a love story set in Pompeii in the months leading up to the eruption and eventual destruction of Pompeii.
Long rambling soliloquys concerning religions, personal feelings, descriptions of the busy life of the times in that city.
For a modern
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reader, can be very boring (I merely scanned much of these passages that often ran two or more pages). The love story itself in interesting and there is great flavor of the times.
Dialogue is Shakespearean... thee, thow, dost....
I recommend based on the historic interest of the. book.
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LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is a richly written early 19th century novel. While the setting is suitably dramatic as per the title, the actual events of the impending eruption of Vesuvius and destruction of Pompeii are very much in the background, against the central plot of the rivalry between the Egyptian priest Arbaces
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and the Greek Glaucus over the same woman, Ione. Another priest Apaceides (who has converted to Christianity) is murdered by Arbaces and Glaucus is framed it. About to face a hungry lion in the arena, he is only saved by the apocalypse itself. This novel is very melodramatic and theatrical to the modern reader, but I enjoyed its richness, despite some occasional overlong digressions - though even these had their poignancy when compared to the ruins found in recent times.
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Original publication date

1834

Physical description

8.1 inches
Page: 1.195 seconds