Book review: "Pompeii", by Robert Harris

Synopsis: Based around the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79A.D.,  the story follows Marcus, a fictional hydraulic engineer who is sent to the Bay of Naples to sort out the recent problems of the local aqueduct system after his predecessor goes missing. The signs of the imminent eruption are all there, if only they can be interpreted correctly. The threat that Marcus faces of a jealous and murderous employee and a corrupt and arrogant business man pain in significance compared to the fate that they all face from the increasingly active volcano, which is preparing to demonstrate that an act of nature can be the deadliest enemy of all...

Review: An excellent read, especially for anyone who's new to historical fiction. Gripping from the start, and with the the countdown to the inevitable (yet unknown) fate slowly ticking, you won't be able to put it down until you've finished! Harris has an enviable way of taking a historical character and bringing them to life for a 21st century reader, while still keeping them historically convincing. The characters feel tangible, yet also ancient... but most importantly, they feel real. The book is greatly assisted by the fact that there are well documented historical reports of the eruption (principally by Pliny the Elder, who features as a character in the book), and this does a great service of convincing the reader that this fictional story COULD have happened.

Furthermore, he plays the reader between the two giant chasms, the first being Marcus's mission, along with it's trials and frustrations (fixing the aqueduct, exposing corruption and avoiding assassination being his principal concerns!), and the second being the inevitable fate that we all know so well from the history books. Just as you feel comfortable being dangled of the one gorge, he'll send you hurtling towards the other, just to remind you that it's still there, looming below you with grave solemnity. The question that you find yourself asking throughout is "WHERE is Harris going to place these various characters when the fateful moment arrives???". It is a cunning tactic that he uses magnificently, and which turns a piece of history into one of the great works of historical fiction.

Score: 9/10

Book review: "The Pilgrim's Progress", by John Bunyan

"He that lives in sin, and looks for happiness hereafter, is like him that soweth weeds, and thinks to fill his barn with wheat or barley."

Synopsis: Christian discovers that he, along with everyone else in the City of Destruction, is going to die. In his despair, he's shown a scroll and a wicket gate by which to enter the path towards the Celestial City, and eternal life. Discouraged by his family (who he's forced to leave behind), ridiculed by the townspeople, and abandoned by his friends, Christian believes he must make the uphill struggle towards salvation on his own. However, he's soon to discover that he is not alone on the path towards God, but for every tree bearing good fruits that he finds, there is a wolf in sheep's clothing not far away. Can Christian stay on Christ's path no matter what... to the very end?

Review: John Bunyan (1628-1688) briefly joined Oliver Cromwell and his bunch of merry round-heads in systematically ousting King Charles I during the English Civil War. Life was pretty good after that- Bunyan converted and joined the church. And if there was one thing that puritans liked it was preachers- the purer and more militaristic the better! Then, rather predictably, the British people decided they were lost without SOME kind of monarch, hence the reinstating of "King Charles II: This time, it's personal", later shortened to just Charles II. All this talk about God and the turning away from sins from someone who WASN'T officially Church of England registered apparently didn't sit well with the King, and in 1660, Bunyan found himself on the wrong side of a prison cell (namely, in it).

And as it turns out, being in prison can actually do wonders for anyone suffering from writer's block (just ask Jeffrey Archer. And before you ask- no, I never have nor ever will read any of his 'books'. Thank you). With a 12 year stretch to serve, Bunyan had plenty of time to strengthen his faith and organise his beliefs into a well-structured narrative.

Hence, "The Pilgrim's Progress", which is on-par with Nelson Mandela as the best thing to come out of an undeserved prison sentence, was born. A giant parable, it describes the spiritual journey necessary within the soul in order for a person to turn away from the world and it's wickedness, and return to the arms of God. It probably won't shock you to learn that this is a mostly up-hill battle. To quote;

"The way to heaven is as up a ladder, and the way to hell is as down a hill". 

At the time, America was still a British colony, and before Charlotte Bronte had even coined the term "Wild West", the not-far-off-being-United-States were beginning to look as if the brave pioneers had wandered greatly from the righteous path... and as for Bunyan's OWN countrymen, well, a Civil War is a pretty clear message that attitudes have to change. What better moment, therefore, for a recap of Christian morality on both sides of the Atlantic? Bunyan wrote "The Pilgrim's Progress" as an equally practical document as the Bible both for the good stay-at-homers in Blighty as well as those out there chasing the American dream. It was an opportunity for the reader to reflect on their own life, to see the value in resisting temptation, and generally provoke them into assessing their position as a practising Christian.

Anyone who's even vaguely familiar with Bible teachings will recognise most of the points that Bunyan was trying to warn about. Take the following:

Bible:
 "Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber."- Jesus Christ, John 10:1

The Pilgrim's Progress:
And, as he was troubled thereabout, Christian espied two men come tumbling over the wall on the left hand of the narrow way; and they made up apace to him. The name of one was Formalist, and the name of the other was Hypocrisy...

Christian: "Why came you not in at the gate which standeth at the beginning of the way? Know ye not that it is written, "He that cometh not in by the door, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber?"

Formalist and Hypocrisy: "They said that to go to the gate for entrance was, by all their countrymen, counted too far about; and that therefore their usual way was to make a short cut of it, and to climb over the wall as they have done". 

Christian: "But will it not be counted a trespass against the Lord of the city whither we are bound, thus to disobey His will?"

Formalist and Hypocrisy: "If we get into the way, what matter is it which way we may get in? If we are in, we are in: thou art but in the way, who, as we perceive, came in at the gate; and we are also in the way, that came tumbling over the wall: wherein, now, is thy condition better than ours?"

Anyway, they all continue somewhat together (actually, it's more like Formalist and Hypocrisy following Christian, who's trying to get rid of them)... Until, THIS happens:

I beheld then that they all went on till they came to the foot of the Hill of Difficulty, at the bottom of which was a spring. There were also in the same place two other ways, besides that which came straight from the gate; one turned to the left hand, and the other to the right, at the bottom of the hill; but the narrow way lay right up the hill, and the name of that going up the side of the hill is called Difficulty. Christian now went to the spring, and drank thereof to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill, saying:

"The hill, though high, I covet to ascend;
The difficulty will not me offend, 
For I perceive the way to life lies here.
Come, pluck up, heart, let's neither faint nor fear. 
Better, though difficult, the right way to go, 
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe."

The other two also came to the foot of the hill. But when they saw that the hill was steep and high, and that there were two other ways to go; and supposing also that these two ways might meet again with that up which Christian went, on the other side of the hill; therefore they were resolved to go in those ways. Now, the name of one of those ways was Danger, and the name of the other Destruction. So the one took the way which is called Danger, which led him into a great wood; and the other took directly up the way to destruction, which led him into a wide field, full of dark mountains, where he stumbled and fell, and rose no more". 

 "... just as Christian came up with the cross, 
his burden loosed from 
his shoulders, and fell from off his back, 
and began to tumble..."

You can expect this kind of clear metaphor throughout, with as little room for misinterpretation as possible. As was well pointed out to me recently, "Bunyan was writing to impart understanding, so clarity was everything". It is also believed to be the second most published book ever (after the Bible), and has apparently never been out of print. And both of these facts are utterly believable- it's so resonant to daily Christian life that Bunyan reflects in his work that he must have been a spectacular preacher. As for the ye olde language (which takes a few pages of getting used to!), there are modern translation versions, and even a children's version... which a number of adults might also appreciate. For those who are inclined to develop the soul, "The Pilgrim's Progress" is a step onto solid ground both for those at the beginning of their spiritual journey towards Christ, as well as the veteran pilgrim.

Score: 10/10