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Corelli’s Mandolin
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set in the early days of the second world war, before Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn’t so bad—at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of “Heil Hitler” with his own “Heil Puccini”, and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn't long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair--despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyone it touches.
British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island—the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins—would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin works on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.
British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island—the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins—would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin works on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.
437 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Louis de Bernières
63 books1,868 followersNovelist Louis de Bernières was born in London in 1954. He joined the army at 18 but left after spending four months at Sandhurst. After graduating from the Victoria University of Manchester, he took a postgraduate certificate in Education at Leicester Polytechnic and obtained his MA at the University of London.
Before writing full-time, he held many varied jobs including landscape gardener, motorcycle messenger and car mechanic. He also taught English in Colombia, an experience which determined the style and setting of his first three novels, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990), Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991) and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992), each of which was heavily influenced by South American literature, particularly 'magic realism'.
In 1993, he was selected as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists 2' promotion in Granta magazine. His fourth novel, Corelli's Mandolin, was published in the following year, winning the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best Book). It was also shortlisted for the Sunday Express Book of the Year. Set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Second World War, the novel tells the story of a love affair between the daughter of a local doctor and an Italian soldier. It has become a worldwide bestseller and has now been translated into over 30 languages. A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2001, and the novel has also been adapted for the stage. In 2001, Red Dog was published - a collection of stories inspired by a statue of a dog encountered on a trip to a writers' festival in Australia in 1998.
Prizes and awards
1991 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best First Book) The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts
1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book) Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord
1994 Sunday Express Book of the Year (shortlist) Corelli's Mandolin
1995 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) Corelli's Mandolin
1995 Lannan Literary Award (Fiction)
1997 British Book Awards Author of the Year
2004 Whitbread Novel Award (shortlist) Birds Without Wings
2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book) (shortlist) Birds Without Wings
.
Top of page
Before writing full-time, he held many varied jobs including landscape gardener, motorcycle messenger and car mechanic. He also taught English in Colombia, an experience which determined the style and setting of his first three novels, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990), Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (1991) and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman (1992), each of which was heavily influenced by South American literature, particularly 'magic realism'.
In 1993, he was selected as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists 2' promotion in Granta magazine. His fourth novel, Corelli's Mandolin, was published in the following year, winning the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best Book). It was also shortlisted for the Sunday Express Book of the Year. Set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Second World War, the novel tells the story of a love affair between the daughter of a local doctor and an Italian soldier. It has become a worldwide bestseller and has now been translated into over 30 languages. A film adaptation of the novel was released in 2001, and the novel has also been adapted for the stage. In 2001, Red Dog was published - a collection of stories inspired by a statue of a dog encountered on a trip to a writers' festival in Australia in 1998.
Prizes and awards
1991 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best First Book) The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts
1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book) Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord
1994 Sunday Express Book of the Year (shortlist) Corelli's Mandolin
1995 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) Corelli's Mandolin
1995 Lannan Literary Award (Fiction)
1997 British Book Awards Author of the Year
2004 Whitbread Novel Award (shortlist) Birds Without Wings
2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book) (shortlist) Birds Without Wings
.
Top of page
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,451 reviews
July 27, 2021
"Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away."
—Doctor Iannis.
Απαπα!
Why, oh why did I wait twenty years to read this enchanting novel?
Being something of a contrarian, I didn't succumb to the rampant Corellimania that existed after this novel's release in 1994, but I'm especially pleased that I have now righted this wrong.
Bernières serves up a Greek wartime love story that is as multi-layered as a Sunday moussaka.
Set on the Ionian island of Cephalonia during Italian and German WWII occupation, the book hits the ground running. Before you’ve even sniffed the mezze, Louis conjures up a delightful opening scene in Dr Iannis's surgery that should have you chuckling out loud before you can shout taramasalata!
Admittedly, Bernières does go off the rails for a bit, retreating into a one-man word orgy, all too pleased with his own authorial genius. This results in some superfluity in the early chapters.
But don't worry, stick with it, fellow bibliophiles; once this frippery subsides, the main players are introduced and the story gathers momentum.
Doctor Iannis, and daughter Pelagia, are the beating heart of a modern fable that even Aesop would have been proud to put his name to.
Girl-power-Pelagia, whose presence is intrinsic to the story, is brought up to be fiercely independent, as her father knows only too well that wartime Greece is resolutely patriarchal.
We also learn about in-the-closet, Italian man-mountain, Carlo Piero Guercio, who was previously sent on a suicide mission to wintry Albania (where beards became stalactites and soldiers purposely shit themselves in order to savour some momentary warmth).
Happily, Carlo's repressed homosexuality, and his unassailable bravery, is written with the nobility it deserves.
"I am exploding with the fire of love and there is none to accept it or nourish it," he laments.
Apparently, Bernières has done a huge disservice to the memory of the real-life Greek freedom fighters, who fought valiantly against their oppressors; but, from a purely artistic standpoint, the timeless futility of war is exemplified within these pages to such a degree that it makes Catch-22 seem a mere Catch-11 in comparison.
Enter reluctant warrior, Captain Antonio Corelli, heading a ragtag troop of Italian soldiers who march into Cephalonia pulling funny faces and blowing kisses at signorinas.
You might be pleased to know that despite a copious infusion of delightful humour, the author ensures that the stark horrors of war are not expunged. And there is a passage, approaching the last part of the book, that is so lion-hearted, so profoundly sad, and so utterly moving that I had to put the book down to allow my emotion to subside.
The populace, and the soldiers themselves, are starving, but between the rocks of such hardship, fragile love affairs begin to blossom. And, as in all good love stories, there is a great deal of sacrifice and heartache to be found. One such example is that heroic Carlo secretly harbours a profound amore for Captain Corelli which, crushingly, has to remain secret.
By the end of this sweeping, tragicomic epic, I have a feeling that most of you will have grown to love Carlo, Antonio, Iannis and Pelagia as much as I did.
Such was my excitement in the reading of this book I, of course, began smashing plates on the kitchen floor, shouting “Opa!”
God, it was truly a great read, fully deserving of all five stars!
—Doctor Iannis.
Απαπα!
Why, oh why did I wait twenty years to read this enchanting novel?
Being something of a contrarian, I didn't succumb to the rampant Corellimania that existed after this novel's release in 1994, but I'm especially pleased that I have now righted this wrong.
Bernières serves up a Greek wartime love story that is as multi-layered as a Sunday moussaka.
Set on the Ionian island of Cephalonia during Italian and German WWII occupation, the book hits the ground running. Before you’ve even sniffed the mezze, Louis conjures up a delightful opening scene in Dr Iannis's surgery that should have you chuckling out loud before you can shout taramasalata!
Admittedly, Bernières does go off the rails for a bit, retreating into a one-man word orgy, all too pleased with his own authorial genius. This results in some superfluity in the early chapters.
But don't worry, stick with it, fellow bibliophiles; once this frippery subsides, the main players are introduced and the story gathers momentum.
Doctor Iannis, and daughter Pelagia, are the beating heart of a modern fable that even Aesop would have been proud to put his name to.
Girl-power-Pelagia, whose presence is intrinsic to the story, is brought up to be fiercely independent, as her father knows only too well that wartime Greece is resolutely patriarchal.
We also learn about in-the-closet, Italian man-mountain, Carlo Piero Guercio, who was previously sent on a suicide mission to wintry Albania (where beards became stalactites and soldiers purposely shit themselves in order to savour some momentary warmth).
Happily, Carlo's repressed homosexuality, and his unassailable bravery, is written with the nobility it deserves.
"I am exploding with the fire of love and there is none to accept it or nourish it," he laments.
Apparently, Bernières has done a huge disservice to the memory of the real-life Greek freedom fighters, who fought valiantly against their oppressors; but, from a purely artistic standpoint, the timeless futility of war is exemplified within these pages to such a degree that it makes Catch-22 seem a mere Catch-11 in comparison.
Enter reluctant warrior, Captain Antonio Corelli, heading a ragtag troop of Italian soldiers who march into Cephalonia pulling funny faces and blowing kisses at signorinas.
You might be pleased to know that despite a copious infusion of delightful humour, the author ensures that the stark horrors of war are not expunged. And there is a passage, approaching the last part of the book, that is so lion-hearted, so profoundly sad, and so utterly moving that I had to put the book down to allow my emotion to subside.
The populace, and the soldiers themselves, are starving, but between the rocks of such hardship, fragile love affairs begin to blossom. And, as in all good love stories, there is a great deal of sacrifice and heartache to be found. One such example is that heroic Carlo secretly harbours a profound amore for Captain Corelli which, crushingly, has to remain secret.
By the end of this sweeping, tragicomic epic, I have a feeling that most of you will have grown to love Carlo, Antonio, Iannis and Pelagia as much as I did.
Such was my excitement in the reading of this book I, of course, began smashing plates on the kitchen floor, shouting “Opa!”
God, it was truly a great read, fully deserving of all five stars!
March 31, 2008
This is two books. The first half is without doubt one of the best novels I have ever read. The writing (even in translation) is lyrical; clearly, every word was carefully chosen. The characters are exquisitely drawn with humor and humanity. The plot, centering on the Italian invasion of a remote Greek island in WWII, is a wonderfully engaging love story. It flows amiably along to a logical and satisfying, if not quite "happy," ending.
Unfortuntely, things don't stop there. The second half of the book is drek. One gets the feeling that de Bernieres presented his publishers with a perfect novella and was told "make it longer" or, perhaps, "but you have to finish the story." Whatever the cause, the change in pace, use of language, and sheer thoughtfulness is jarring. It's as if the author completely lost interest in his characters, but felt obliged to carry them to some long-term conclusion.
It's a crying shame, because if this book had stopped where it should have, it would be one of the greatest books of the 20th (21st?) century.
Unfortuntely, things don't stop there. The second half of the book is drek. One gets the feeling that de Bernieres presented his publishers with a perfect novella and was told "make it longer" or, perhaps, "but you have to finish the story." Whatever the cause, the change in pace, use of language, and sheer thoughtfulness is jarring. It's as if the author completely lost interest in his characters, but felt obliged to carry them to some long-term conclusion.
It's a crying shame, because if this book had stopped where it should have, it would be one of the greatest books of the 20th (21st?) century.
May 12, 2023
“We should care for each other more than we care for ideas, or else we will end up killing each other.”
― Louis de Bernières, Corelli's Mandolin
The sheer beauty and emotion that coats the pages of this book are breathtaking. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love, and my heart was broken. Eavesdropping on the horror of war, I found heroes in the unlikeliest places and, at the end, I wanted to hurl the book across the room!
To evoke such passion is the true sign of a great writer.
The setting is the Greek island of Cephalonia, and life is relaxed. As I became invested, the monster of WWII rips its way through the lives of our new-found friends. I felt the horror of war, the strength of those left at home and the bravery of men on the front line. Even in the despair of battle, love and compassion can be found.
The plot followed several key players as their lives unfold and, at the risk of giving too much away, I will merely urge you to read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
This absorbing novel blurs the lines between comedy and tragedy. The writing is poetic; the story, epic.
― Louis de Bernières, Corelli's Mandolin
The sheer beauty and emotion that coats the pages of this book are breathtaking. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love, and my heart was broken. Eavesdropping on the horror of war, I found heroes in the unlikeliest places and, at the end, I wanted to hurl the book across the room!
To evoke such passion is the true sign of a great writer.
The setting is the Greek island of Cephalonia, and life is relaxed. As I became invested, the monster of WWII rips its way through the lives of our new-found friends. I felt the horror of war, the strength of those left at home and the bravery of men on the front line. Even in the despair of battle, love and compassion can be found.
The plot followed several key players as their lives unfold and, at the risk of giving too much away, I will merely urge you to read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
This absorbing novel blurs the lines between comedy and tragedy. The writing is poetic; the story, epic.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
August 25, 2021DNF at 20% (page 100).
I bought this in a 2nd hand bookstore because I enjoyed the writing on the first few pages. After many years sitting on my shelves I brought it with me on vacation in Kefalonia because it was set there. I hoped it will make the reading experience a lot more interesting. I am not sure what went wrong. The writing seems funny and elaborate but it was such a chore to advance. I felt I was running in the sand. I almost never opened the book with anticipation and I preferred to finish another book instead. I think the writing is too flourished, it gave me the impression that the author thinks too much of himself and his book, trying too hard to be funny and serious at the same time. The result was tedious for me but many seem to like his writing.
I bought this in a 2nd hand bookstore because I enjoyed the writing on the first few pages. After many years sitting on my shelves I brought it with me on vacation in Kefalonia because it was set there. I hoped it will make the reading experience a lot more interesting. I am not sure what went wrong. The writing seems funny and elaborate but it was such a chore to advance. I felt I was running in the sand. I almost never opened the book with anticipation and I preferred to finish another book instead. I think the writing is too flourished, it gave me the impression that the author thinks too much of himself and his book, trying too hard to be funny and serious at the same time. The result was tedious for me but many seem to like his writing.
April 23, 2020
The presence of--& intrepidly sudden breaks from--romantic conventions is what makes "Corelli's Mandolin" (alongside its romantic older brother, book two of his Latin American trilogy, the devastating love tale "Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord") one of the MOST ROMANTIC novels of ALL TIME. On par with "Gone With the Wind," & other epics like "Cold Mountain" & "The English Patient," it truly was, to this impressionable-though-selective reader, what is the equivalent of a wondrous trip to Adult Disneyland, where surprises loom ever-near, and whimsy runs amok.
But what makes this utterly brilliant is the prose (on top of an unpredictable and thrilling plot). The writer is this supernova de Bernieres (all 4 of his novels at this point are in my Must-Read List). Here, you realize exactly WHY you read. WHY people bother to write--if you are Louis De Bernieres you simply cannot not keep producing. The gift is almost mythical, and you are compelled to feel that the auteur has had the TIME of his LIFE writing this, writing and falling head-over-heels in love with his creation which, indeed, depicts LOVE and is, itself, wholly a product of love--the love of beautiful prose.
In "Corelli", the tricks and poetics already explored in the often-lauded Latin American trilogy, collaborate once more to make a solid work of art. As is customary, just as this tale takes one of its manifold dark turns, when times in the Greek island are dire, desperate and almost-hopeless, the titular character appears & drives the darkness away. This, as if a gift from the Greek gods themselves. Or the gift from a master to his drooling spectator.
This, his fourth (amazing!!!) concoction, puts in evidence the fact that not ALL magic realism belongs to sir Garcia Marquez. Louis de Bernieres' brand is all his own: humorous, unpredictably playful and savagely biting. The effect lasts outside of the book; the novel is a rotund success. My favorite of Louis de Bernieres (so far).
I devoured Corelli's Mandolin like some bon vivant living in the 20th century. Like a character in one of his novels, in fact. I became for a full two days, a blissful accomplice, just grateful to be nothing but a hoodwinked voyeur.
But what makes this utterly brilliant is the prose (on top of an unpredictable and thrilling plot). The writer is this supernova de Bernieres (all 4 of his novels at this point are in my Must-Read List). Here, you realize exactly WHY you read. WHY people bother to write--if you are Louis De Bernieres you simply cannot not keep producing. The gift is almost mythical, and you are compelled to feel that the auteur has had the TIME of his LIFE writing this, writing and falling head-over-heels in love with his creation which, indeed, depicts LOVE and is, itself, wholly a product of love--the love of beautiful prose.
In "Corelli", the tricks and poetics already explored in the often-lauded Latin American trilogy, collaborate once more to make a solid work of art. As is customary, just as this tale takes one of its manifold dark turns, when times in the Greek island are dire, desperate and almost-hopeless, the titular character appears & drives the darkness away. This, as if a gift from the Greek gods themselves. Or the gift from a master to his drooling spectator.
This, his fourth (amazing!!!) concoction, puts in evidence the fact that not ALL magic realism belongs to sir Garcia Marquez. Louis de Bernieres' brand is all his own: humorous, unpredictably playful and savagely biting. The effect lasts outside of the book; the novel is a rotund success. My favorite of Louis de Bernieres (so far).
I devoured Corelli's Mandolin like some bon vivant living in the 20th century. Like a character in one of his novels, in fact. I became for a full two days, a blissful accomplice, just grateful to be nothing but a hoodwinked voyeur.
February 19, 2023
It was great in parts but dull at times that it bored me to death. I am just glad that it's over.
November 13, 2016
The ancient Greeks treated tragedy and comedy as separate genres. But this Greek drama is a hybrid. Tragedy on the large and small canvas; comedy from individual characters. Such contrasts can strengthen one's reaction to both extremes, but for me, this particular book might have worked better if de Bernières had focused primarily on one or the other.
I see its charm. This is a feelgood book, filled with bucolic delights, entertaining Characters (borderline caricatures and slapstick), and saccharine sun. But they are contrasted with war, loss, and the pragmatics of making do. Humour, love, and music soften the graphically portrayed toll of war and tectonics.
Some of the writing is beautiful, and some of it is funny. I was captivated by the opening paragraph and loved the first chapter. But I was bored by the second chapter, and nervous when I started the third. The final, near contemporary, chapters were simultaneously predictable and implausible. It’s as if de Bernières wanted a happy(ish) ending, but not a happy middle, and went to ludicrous lengths to achieve it.
That patchy experience, with many different voices, styles, and genres, was repeated throughout: a bitty book, hence a bitty review. Like a visitor to the island, I ambled from beautiful beaches to rocky outcrops, along smooth pavements and disintegrating paths, from mountains to fields, from tourist towns to ancient villages, ever unsure of what I would encounter next. Maybe the rose-tinted hues of sangria would have helped.
I think this is probably an objective 4*, but my experience ranged from 2* to 4*, averaging 3*.
The Distorting Lenses of History and Ideology
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then again as tragedy.”
More… (no plot spoilers).
Love of All Kinds at its Heart
“Love delayed is lust augmented.”
“Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away… But sometimes the petals fall away and the roots have not entwined.”
More… (no plot spoilers).
L’Omosessuale
“I am mentioned almost nowhere, but where I find myself, I find myself condemned.”
More… (no plot spoilers).
The Changing Role of Women
The story stretches from 1941 to 1993, a period of great social change on the island, especially for women.
More… (no plot spoilers).
Excusing Evil?
There’s a chapter titled “The Good Nazi”.
More… (no plot spoilers).
Sesquipedalian Vocabulary
How can anyone be “hyperbolically bisexual”?!
More… (no plot spoilers).
Satirising a Demagogue
A leaflet trashing Mussolini is anonymously written, printed, and distributed on the island. I read it in the final days of the US election of 2016, and finished my review the day Donald J Trump was declared President Elect - a man whose candidacy was first treated as comedy, but now feels more like tragedy:
More… (no plot spoilers).
National(istic) Stereotypes
The first batch were mildly amusing and the style was reminiscent of Yes, Prime Minister, for example: .
But as they kept coming, they lost their sheen.
More… (no plot spoilers).
Enchanting Isle - Quotes
“An island so immense in antiquity that the very rocks themselves exhale nostalgia and the red earth lies stupefied not only by the sun, but by the impossible weight of memory.”
More… (no plot spoilers).
Other Quotes
“A gibbous moon slid filaments of eerie silver light through the slats of the shutters.”
More… (no plot spoilers).
Why I read this
In accordance with comment #25: here, I read this and Kevin read Galapagos.
Image source for tragedy/comedy masks:
http://aguera.com.br/wp-content/uploa...
April 8, 2008
De Bernieres style falls between Vonnegut and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and if that doesn't make your head spin and pants feel hot then I don't know what will. It's ridiculously European, in every good sense of the word. It's an epic romance for nihilists and atheists.
The only two horrors come from the realization that the book is now out of print, and that it was already filmed with Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. Satan's hand is everywhere unseen...
The only two horrors come from the realization that the book is now out of print, and that it was already filmed with Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. Satan's hand is everywhere unseen...
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April 14, 2020
Read as part of The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.
I've had this book for years after accidentally stealing it from College (we were asked to pick two books on a table to take home over the Summer to read and I chose this and Catch-22, but when I returned the following term I was in a different class and simply forgot, about half a dozen times, to return them and subsequently have had it since) and have finally gotten around to reading it after starting and stopping it a few times.
It is kind of a story of two halves, one concerning the Second World War occupation of the Greek island of Cephallonia and the other concerning the inhabitants of said island as they deal with the war, love and attempts at writing Greek histories.
It is sublimely written in places: there were times when I was completely lost in the prose, especially when Beriniéres wrote about love in exactly the way I feel about it and not many authors have ever been able to convey before:
“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”
But then there were times when it was just dull and uninviting and I felt like it had dived too hard to the bottom of the ocean and it didn't seem like it would ever rise to the surface again. It was an odd journey to go on, not only as we follow the plot and the various love interests of the characters, but how the writing could go from the sublime to the rather ordinary.
It is a beautiful book, but it was just let down by trying to be far superior with every single word, instead of having its moments and being satisfied with that. Definitely one to pick up and, if you do, really try to stick with it through to the end because it will touch your soul, but you have to work for it.
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I've had this book for years after accidentally stealing it from College (we were asked to pick two books on a table to take home over the Summer to read and I chose this and Catch-22, but when I returned the following term I was in a different class and simply forgot, about half a dozen times, to return them and subsequently have had it since) and have finally gotten around to reading it after starting and stopping it a few times.
It is kind of a story of two halves, one concerning the Second World War occupation of the Greek island of Cephallonia and the other concerning the inhabitants of said island as they deal with the war, love and attempts at writing Greek histories.
It is sublimely written in places: there were times when I was completely lost in the prose, especially when Beriniéres wrote about love in exactly the way I feel about it and not many authors have ever been able to convey before:
“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.”
But then there were times when it was just dull and uninviting and I felt like it had dived too hard to the bottom of the ocean and it didn't seem like it would ever rise to the surface again. It was an odd journey to go on, not only as we follow the plot and the various love interests of the characters, but how the writing could go from the sublime to the rather ordinary.
It is a beautiful book, but it was just let down by trying to be far superior with every single word, instead of having its moments and being satisfied with that. Definitely one to pick up and, if you do, really try to stick with it through to the end because it will touch your soul, but you have to work for it.
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January 10, 2022
الحب جنون مؤقت يفور كالبركان ثم يخمد
الحب ليس انخطاف الانفاس؛بل هو الجذور التي تبقي عقب انخطاف الأنفاس
ميلودراما رومانسية حربية في عصر الحرب العالمية الثانية؛
بيلاجيا شابة يونانية ريفية مخطوبة تقع في حب ظابط ايطالي مرح شخصيته اكبر من الحياة
ليبدا مثلث حب مستحيل بين الاغريق و الرومان
صدرت الرواية في منتصف التسعينات و تلاها الفيلم مباشرة
لكن اختلاف النهاية بينهما يثير جدلا طويلا الي اليوم؛
الحب ليس انخطاف الانفاس؛بل هو الجذور التي تبقي عقب انخطاف الأنفاس
ميلودراما رومانسية حربية في عصر الحرب العالمية الثانية؛
بيلاجيا شابة يونانية ريفية مخطوبة تقع في حب ظابط ايطالي مرح شخصيته اكبر من الحياة
ليبدا مثلث حب مستحيل بين الاغريق و الرومان
صدرت الرواية في منتصف التسعينات و تلاها الفيلم مباشرة
لكن اختلاف النهاية بينهما يثير جدلا طويلا الي اليوم؛
July 27, 2012
This is the first time I've ever given a book one star...I actually feel sort of bad doing it. Despite it being well-written, it's pacing was terrible, and I really had to fight to get through it. And then the ending -- oh the ending. After trudging through nearly 600 pages, the ending was about the most unsatisying I have ever read. I literally threw the book against the wall when I was done. And some idiot decided to make a movie out of it, with Nic Cage as Corelli? I can only imagine how awful it must have been.
December 6, 2021
Lyrical. Took my breath away and broke my heart. Greece. War. Decency of soldiers. Indecency of war. Monsters. Humans. Where. Cats. Young girl's bed. Old woman's dream. Ending. And of course the Mandolin. Did I mention, Greece ? It is never too late. Love may get ole but if it is real then it's never forgotten nor forgiven. It can survive a war, it did and it survived them, in spite of each other. It survived the shuffle in the company of humans.
July 12, 2021
What de Bernieres does so well is paint a picture of contrast. He inserts the reader into a simple Greek village of contented people only to have it torn apart by politics, prejudices, and megalomaniacs, thus turning the populace into victims.
de Bernieres’ humor includes sharp mockery of invading governments. The village residents and the Italian, German, and communist characters are complex and evolving. With clearly drawn landscapes and climate of Cephalonia Island, one is envious of those who swim with dolphins and sing with the boys of La Scala. In contrast, the historical context of the story is grim and tragic.
I have a small quibble with a weak ending, but this beautiful story deserves a strong 5 stars.
de Bernieres’ humor includes sharp mockery of invading governments. The village residents and the Italian, German, and communist characters are complex and evolving. With clearly drawn landscapes and climate of Cephalonia Island, one is envious of those who swim with dolphins and sing with the boys of La Scala. In contrast, the historical context of the story is grim and tragic.
I have a small quibble with a weak ending, but this beautiful story deserves a strong 5 stars.
August 14, 2021
I don't often reread books, but, first of all, I realised that it's been nearly twenty-five years since I originally read this (which is mildly terrifying), and second of all the chance to read it while I was on Cephalonia seemed too good to pass up. And it was a transcendent experience to be able to walk along the seafront of Argostoli (where I could imagine Pelagia's grandchildren had one of their souvenir shops) and past the little monument to the fallen soldiers of the Acqui division, where you could connect fiction to historical and geographical reality in a visceral way.
I loved this when I first read it as a teenager, though I didn't know much about the history behind the story. This time round, I was even more impressed by how brilliantly de Bernières combines interpersonal drama and historical exposition by means of that finger-snapping, multilingual prose style. It's all done with a massive dose of chutzpah, not just in de Bernières's willingness to appropriate the voice and feelings of people living in a very different country and time (for which, inevitably, he drew criticism from some quarters), but also in his willingness to ventriloquise so many specific historical figures, from Mussolini and the Greek dictator Metaxas to a host of minor (but real) ambassadors and military commanders, many of whom I was reading about recently in books of Greek history.
In fact it's the chutzpah that lets him get away with it: even at his most controversial, there is always a sense of heartfelt stylistic exercise to his writing, a conviction that his intent is as much playful as it is serious. I realise now, looking back, how much of an impression this left on me, and how much I measured other writers by this ability to enter into ‘foreign’ societies and mindsets, and to balance comic elements with moments of extreme tragedy.
Violence in de Bernières (at its most extreme, I think, in the nightmarish male-on-female mutilation of Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord) is often shocking but it never has the bleakness of, say, some of the passages in Cormac McCarthy, despite an outlook that can be equally pessimistic. (‘History repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then again as tragedy,’ he writes here.) Somehow the blackness of his stated outlook is contradicted by the wit and fizz of his prose style. He seems motivated not by despair but by a steely sense of outrage – he shocks you with the air of trying to slap awake someone in a burning building. Behind everything is this tremendous sense of wise, well-travelled humanism (embodied in this novel by Dr Iannis, one of the great characters of modern fiction) which I find more inspiring than ever when I think about how little I've encountered it in other writers since.
Back in the day, the consensus on this was that it was let down by the ending, which I'm now going to talk about briefly, so feel free to stop if you haven't read it. After spending three hundred and fifty pages to describe the four years of Axis occupation, he spends the final fifty pages racing through four entire decades. The effect is, indeed, a little jarring, but it always worked really well for me as a way of squaring the circle a writer is faced with in a book like this. After a military occupation, a brutal civil war and a colossal natural disaster, it would have been not just saccharine but offensive to have our romantic leads come together in a happy ending. It was something I was very aware of when I read it the first time: how's he going to end this? To crush their dreams would seem unbearably cruel, but to fulfil them would seem a betrayal, or at least an undercutting, of the tragedy of the historical experiences the book has been trying to evoke. De Bernières's solution is to locate a happy ending of sorts, but to position it outside the actual parameters of the story. He says, in effect: you want a happy ending? Fine – but no cheating. You'll have to wait half a century to earn it.
Far from being out of place, it's this final flourish that reinforces the sense you get from the whole book, and from a lot of his writing, that he is determined to offer up as much hope and happiness as possible – but not to offer more than history justifies.
I loved this when I first read it as a teenager, though I didn't know much about the history behind the story. This time round, I was even more impressed by how brilliantly de Bernières combines interpersonal drama and historical exposition by means of that finger-snapping, multilingual prose style. It's all done with a massive dose of chutzpah, not just in de Bernières's willingness to appropriate the voice and feelings of people living in a very different country and time (for which, inevitably, he drew criticism from some quarters), but also in his willingness to ventriloquise so many specific historical figures, from Mussolini and the Greek dictator Metaxas to a host of minor (but real) ambassadors and military commanders, many of whom I was reading about recently in books of Greek history.
In fact it's the chutzpah that lets him get away with it: even at his most controversial, there is always a sense of heartfelt stylistic exercise to his writing, a conviction that his intent is as much playful as it is serious. I realise now, looking back, how much of an impression this left on me, and how much I measured other writers by this ability to enter into ‘foreign’ societies and mindsets, and to balance comic elements with moments of extreme tragedy.
Violence in de Bernières (at its most extreme, I think, in the nightmarish male-on-female mutilation of Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord) is often shocking but it never has the bleakness of, say, some of the passages in Cormac McCarthy, despite an outlook that can be equally pessimistic. (‘History repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then again as tragedy,’ he writes here.) Somehow the blackness of his stated outlook is contradicted by the wit and fizz of his prose style. He seems motivated not by despair but by a steely sense of outrage – he shocks you with the air of trying to slap awake someone in a burning building. Behind everything is this tremendous sense of wise, well-travelled humanism (embodied in this novel by Dr Iannis, one of the great characters of modern fiction) which I find more inspiring than ever when I think about how little I've encountered it in other writers since.
Back in the day, the consensus on this was that it was let down by the ending, which I'm now going to talk about briefly, so feel free to stop if you haven't read it. After spending three hundred and fifty pages to describe the four years of Axis occupation, he spends the final fifty pages racing through four entire decades. The effect is, indeed, a little jarring, but it always worked really well for me as a way of squaring the circle a writer is faced with in a book like this. After a military occupation, a brutal civil war and a colossal natural disaster, it would have been not just saccharine but offensive to have our romantic leads come together in a happy ending. It was something I was very aware of when I read it the first time: how's he going to end this? To crush their dreams would seem unbearably cruel, but to fulfil them would seem a betrayal, or at least an undercutting, of the tragedy of the historical experiences the book has been trying to evoke. De Bernières's solution is to locate a happy ending of sorts, but to position it outside the actual parameters of the story. He says, in effect: you want a happy ending? Fine – but no cheating. You'll have to wait half a century to earn it.
Far from being out of place, it's this final flourish that reinforces the sense you get from the whole book, and from a lot of his writing, that he is determined to offer up as much hope and happiness as possible – but not to offer more than history justifies.
May 3, 2011
Would you think less of me if I said I loved this book? Will you defriend me and publicly mock me if I said it made me cry a little bit? Anyway as I stand over the shadow of my former self and see my fearsome blue monkey avatar in a crumpled heap like a soggy tear covered kleenex I stand by what I say. Seriously, I'm not an overly emotional person but I loved this. Maybe I loved it because really this story is not a story with a happy ending. This book symbolises the waste of time, the waste of life and love and a missed opportunity for happiness which can be created by one decision or chance event. Maybe that's all life is... a series of missed chances. Did you take your chance when you saw it coming?
August 12, 2018
I have had this book in my possession for probably 20 years. A friend had highly recommended it and I actually had it signed when Louis de Bernieres came to Calgary in 2002. I'm not sure why it took me so long to read it, but I finally did.
Was it worth the wait? I'd have to say yes and no. This book was like a roller coaster ride. It was a slow climb to build any momentum ( it took me ~85 pages to get into the book), and then I was in love with it, and then it plummeted downwards and eventually had me enthralled again , till the ending, where it left me happy but mad at the same time.
The story of Pelagia and Antonio and the supporting characters was the story that I loved. When the author went off on other tangents, it fell flat and left me uninterested. Luckily the last 100 pages or so drew me in again, or I could not reflect on it fondly.
The author is a very accomplished writer, but his use of obscure "big" words annoyed me. I did not feel any of them were necessary to the story.
A couple of memorable lines that I would like to share:
"...she realised suddenly that there was something about music that had never been revealed to her before: it was not merely the production of sweet sound; it was, to those who understood it, an emotional and intellectual odyssey. She watched his face, and forgot to attend any more to the music; she wanted to share the journey."
" When loved ones die, you have to live on their behalf. Seeing things as though with their eyes. Remember how they used to say things, and use those words oneself. Be thankful that you can do things that they cannot, and also feel the sadness of it."
Overall, an uneven book, but one that I still enjoyed because of the main players and my connection with them!
Was it worth the wait? I'd have to say yes and no. This book was like a roller coaster ride. It was a slow climb to build any momentum ( it took me ~85 pages to get into the book), and then I was in love with it, and then it plummeted downwards and eventually had me enthralled again , till the ending, where it left me happy but mad at the same time.
The story of Pelagia and Antonio and the supporting characters was the story that I loved. When the author went off on other tangents, it fell flat and left me uninterested. Luckily the last 100 pages or so drew me in again, or I could not reflect on it fondly.
The author is a very accomplished writer, but his use of obscure "big" words annoyed me. I did not feel any of them were necessary to the story.
A couple of memorable lines that I would like to share:
"...she realised suddenly that there was something about music that had never been revealed to her before: it was not merely the production of sweet sound; it was, to those who understood it, an emotional and intellectual odyssey. She watched his face, and forgot to attend any more to the music; she wanted to share the journey."
" When loved ones die, you have to live on their behalf. Seeing things as though with their eyes. Remember how they used to say things, and use those words oneself. Be thankful that you can do things that they cannot, and also feel the sadness of it."
Overall, an uneven book, but one that I still enjoyed because of the main players and my connection with them!
July 9, 2010
Stunning. Mesmerizing. Remarkable. Beautiful, beautiful love story. I just scanned the 121 books that I've already read belonging to 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and there seem to be not too many books that could be considered as predominantly love stories. There is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but we all knew about it even before actually reading the book so there was no element of surprise. There is Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart but it has fantasy interwoven in the story like people disappearing in trees, people being transformed while riding a ferris wheel, etc. so it is not a straightforward pure honest love story. Also Sputnik fell out from the list in its 2010 version.
Set in the beautiful island of Cephallonia (now Kefalonia) in Greece during World War II, Louis de Bernieres' (British, born 1954) Captain Corelli's Mandolin, first published in 1993, sizzles with love, music and honesty. Love here is not just the usual erotic love between a man and a woman. The main protagonist, the beautiful Pelagia is in love with the handsome gentleman, Mandras who joins the Greek guerilla. Then Pelagia meets the mandolin-playing Italian captain, Corelli and falls love for him too. Theirs is a forbidden love since Pelagia is still betrothed to Mandras and Corelli is an Italian whose country is at war with Greece and the Allies. Although living in the same house, they choose not to make love so as not to complicate the situation. When they say their dreams they are always prefixed with "After the war...". Love so painfully forbidden yet so pure and honest. Right love in a wrong place and time.
The other love is fatherly love between Pelagia and her doctor-father, Dr. Iannis. Theirs is a nurturing love based on respect and trust. There is a scene where Dr. Iannis is telling Pelagia that he sees the love blossoming between Pelagia and Corelli. He does not condone it. He just gives the consequences of continuing that love. Pelagia takes it maturely. When the time comes that my own daughter falls in love with a man, I hope I'll have the same fortitude and maturity that Dr. Iannis has in that scene. Powerful.
The last significant love that this novel includes is the homosexual heroic love that Carlo, one of the Greek soldiers, has to his fellow but subordinate soldier, Francesco. Carlo keeps his love within himself (they are in the Army so that kind of love is taboo). When the latter dies, Carlo is devastated because he failed to save him. Then Carlo meets Corelli who is his superior. This time he shields his body that spared Corelli's life during the Aqui Massacre (September 1943) when German soldiers killed by open fire 400,000+ Italian soldiers. This was the time when Germany was about to lose the war to Allies and they went into killing sprees everywhere in Europe. That historical scene is depicted in details in this book that you will surely feel numbed to read another gigantic monstrosity the Germans did during WWII.
I spent 4 days reading this 436-page book. It's an easy read and I could have normally finished this in 2-3 days but Bernieres' prose is so delectable that I decided to savor each word closing the book every now and then and imagine myself in that island, hearing the music of mandolin and seeing the face of the sumptuous Penelope Cruz (who played the role of Pelagia in the 2001 film based on this book).
I have the pirated copy of that film. Many years ago, when I tried viewing it, I stopped after 5-10 minutes. It was boring. Now that I've read and liked the book, I should dig my cabinets and give it another chance. I just think that the balding Nicholas Cage was a miscast as Corelli. BTW, De Bernières strongly disapproved of the film version, commenting, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards." He does however state that it has redeeming qualities, and particularly likes the soundtrack.
My lawyer-brother says that the books belonging to 501 Must Read Books (yes that's another list and this book is in there too) are those that are controversial and not necessarily well-written. After this book's publication in 1993, the island of Kefalonia became one of the island tourist destinations in Greece. Also, obviously, this is well-written and as it also landed #19 (among 200 listed) in Big Read, the 2004 survey done in UK where people voted for their favorite novels.
Maybe writing about Alabat island, where I grew up, in Quezon will not be a bad idea. Oh maybe someday.
Set in the beautiful island of Cephallonia (now Kefalonia) in Greece during World War II, Louis de Bernieres' (British, born 1954) Captain Corelli's Mandolin, first published in 1993, sizzles with love, music and honesty. Love here is not just the usual erotic love between a man and a woman. The main protagonist, the beautiful Pelagia is in love with the handsome gentleman, Mandras who joins the Greek guerilla. Then Pelagia meets the mandolin-playing Italian captain, Corelli and falls love for him too. Theirs is a forbidden love since Pelagia is still betrothed to Mandras and Corelli is an Italian whose country is at war with Greece and the Allies. Although living in the same house, they choose not to make love so as not to complicate the situation. When they say their dreams they are always prefixed with "After the war...". Love so painfully forbidden yet so pure and honest. Right love in a wrong place and time.
The other love is fatherly love between Pelagia and her doctor-father, Dr. Iannis. Theirs is a nurturing love based on respect and trust. There is a scene where Dr. Iannis is telling Pelagia that he sees the love blossoming between Pelagia and Corelli. He does not condone it. He just gives the consequences of continuing that love. Pelagia takes it maturely. When the time comes that my own daughter falls in love with a man, I hope I'll have the same fortitude and maturity that Dr. Iannis has in that scene. Powerful.
The last significant love that this novel includes is the homosexual heroic love that Carlo, one of the Greek soldiers, has to his fellow but subordinate soldier, Francesco. Carlo keeps his love within himself (they are in the Army so that kind of love is taboo). When the latter dies, Carlo is devastated because he failed to save him. Then Carlo meets Corelli who is his superior. This time he shields his body that spared Corelli's life during the Aqui Massacre (September 1943) when German soldiers killed by open fire 400,000+ Italian soldiers. This was the time when Germany was about to lose the war to Allies and they went into killing sprees everywhere in Europe. That historical scene is depicted in details in this book that you will surely feel numbed to read another gigantic monstrosity the Germans did during WWII.
I spent 4 days reading this 436-page book. It's an easy read and I could have normally finished this in 2-3 days but Bernieres' prose is so delectable that I decided to savor each word closing the book every now and then and imagine myself in that island, hearing the music of mandolin and seeing the face of the sumptuous Penelope Cruz (who played the role of Pelagia in the 2001 film based on this book).
I have the pirated copy of that film. Many years ago, when I tried viewing it, I stopped after 5-10 minutes. It was boring. Now that I've read and liked the book, I should dig my cabinets and give it another chance. I just think that the balding Nicholas Cage was a miscast as Corelli. BTW, De Bernières strongly disapproved of the film version, commenting, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards." He does however state that it has redeeming qualities, and particularly likes the soundtrack.
My lawyer-brother says that the books belonging to 501 Must Read Books (yes that's another list and this book is in there too) are those that are controversial and not necessarily well-written. After this book's publication in 1993, the island of Kefalonia became one of the island tourist destinations in Greece. Also, obviously, this is well-written and as it also landed #19 (among 200 listed) in Big Read, the 2004 survey done in UK where people voted for their favorite novels.
Maybe writing about Alabat island, where I grew up, in Quezon will not be a bad idea. Oh maybe someday.
June 27, 2008
Captain Corelli's Mandolin has, unfortunately, become victim to it's own success. It has become one of those books that anyone who is anyone has read and so nobody now wants to read for fear of being a fashion victim. It even features in Notting Hill, Hugh Grant is reading it at the very end of the film when he and Julia Roberts are sitting in the garden. However, don't let this put you off - it's a brilliant book.
The story, briefly, is a typical love story.During the 2nd World War, the inhabitants of a small greek island, Cephalonia, have their lives disturbed by the arrival of an invading Italian army. The main characters we are concerned with are the local doctor, Iannis, and his daughter, Pelagia, they are forced to billet the commander of the Italian army, Captain Antonio Corelli, in their home. The islanders do everything they can to make life difficult for the Italians, forming a quiet sort of resistance group, and Pelagia does her bit by making life uncomfortable for Captain Corelli. Despite their natural resistance to an invader, Dr Iannis finds a kindred spirit in Corelli and they develop a mutual respect. Iannis is a poet at heart, he is working on a History of Cephallonia and Corelli too is a natural poet. Corelli is naturally averse to a life in the army, he is a musician (playing the mandolin of the title) who wants nothing more from life than to play and write music. He is not a natural military leader, preferring to organise his men to sing opera than to set patrols, but he gains their respect through his strong character.
We don't meet Corelli till half way through the book but he is instantly likeable and the electricity between him and Pelagia can't be missed.
What is it about this book that makes it so brilliant? The odd-ball characters, like the strongman Megalo Velisarios or Father Arsenios the overweight priest?;is it the wonderful descriptions of the Greek Island of Cephalonia?; is it the love/hate relationship between Corelli and Pelagia?
Louis de Bernieres has a wonderful style of writing, interspersing the main thread of the story with what seem at first sight to be unconnected anecdotes. In this book these anecdotes centre around Prime Minister Metaxas of Greece, Mussolini and a soldier named Guercio amongst Saints and madmen!
These sidetrackings initially deterred my mum from reading this book - after I had read it and raved to her that she "had to read it" but if you take them at face value, eventually you begin to see their significance to the story. It's a bit like life, I guess, no one story exists in isolation, de Bernieres seems to say, everything is influenced by what has happened in the past or what is happening elsewhere in the world. "No man is an island" John Donne said, and even on the island of Cepphalonia, where things seem not to have changed since the time of St Gerasimos, the outside world encroaches and people are effected by the events outside their own sphere of existence.
Read this book and you will be caught up by the story of Corelli and Pelagia and you will feel the warm Greek sun on your face. However I'm sure you will never imagine Nicholas Cage as Captain Corelli.
The story, briefly, is a typical love story.During the 2nd World War, the inhabitants of a small greek island, Cephalonia, have their lives disturbed by the arrival of an invading Italian army. The main characters we are concerned with are the local doctor, Iannis, and his daughter, Pelagia, they are forced to billet the commander of the Italian army, Captain Antonio Corelli, in their home. The islanders do everything they can to make life difficult for the Italians, forming a quiet sort of resistance group, and Pelagia does her bit by making life uncomfortable for Captain Corelli. Despite their natural resistance to an invader, Dr Iannis finds a kindred spirit in Corelli and they develop a mutual respect. Iannis is a poet at heart, he is working on a History of Cephallonia and Corelli too is a natural poet. Corelli is naturally averse to a life in the army, he is a musician (playing the mandolin of the title) who wants nothing more from life than to play and write music. He is not a natural military leader, preferring to organise his men to sing opera than to set patrols, but he gains their respect through his strong character.
We don't meet Corelli till half way through the book but he is instantly likeable and the electricity between him and Pelagia can't be missed.
What is it about this book that makes it so brilliant? The odd-ball characters, like the strongman Megalo Velisarios or Father Arsenios the overweight priest?;is it the wonderful descriptions of the Greek Island of Cephalonia?; is it the love/hate relationship between Corelli and Pelagia?
Louis de Bernieres has a wonderful style of writing, interspersing the main thread of the story with what seem at first sight to be unconnected anecdotes. In this book these anecdotes centre around Prime Minister Metaxas of Greece, Mussolini and a soldier named Guercio amongst Saints and madmen!
These sidetrackings initially deterred my mum from reading this book - after I had read it and raved to her that she "had to read it" but if you take them at face value, eventually you begin to see their significance to the story. It's a bit like life, I guess, no one story exists in isolation, de Bernieres seems to say, everything is influenced by what has happened in the past or what is happening elsewhere in the world. "No man is an island" John Donne said, and even on the island of Cepphalonia, where things seem not to have changed since the time of St Gerasimos, the outside world encroaches and people are effected by the events outside their own sphere of existence.
Read this book and you will be caught up by the story of Corelli and Pelagia and you will feel the warm Greek sun on your face. However I'm sure you will never imagine Nicholas Cage as Captain Corelli.
September 17, 2011
This book is spectacular. There were whole sections that I read over and over because they were so beautifully written and even one particular chapter that I made my whole family read - and even though none of them are readers they all thought it was fantastic!! I can honestly say I have never read a book that could move between genres so easily, with comedey and tragedy completely interwoven. Read it Read it!!!
August 14, 2017
“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides… That is just being ‘in love’ which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident” – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
Take an idyllic Greek island that “smells of pines, warm earth, and the dark sea” where its hardworking inhabitants eke out a quiet living. Throw in a lonely mountain goatherd, a wise and kindly doctor, and his beautiful but willful daughter. Add a mandolin-playing Italian Captain (as suggested by the title) and the story promises music and romance. The stage seems set for a charming, bucolic story because Louis de Bernieres introduced Cephallonia as a place “where vicious emotions could not exist”.
Wrong. Corelli's Mandolin tells a devastating WWII story of Cephallonia being pillaged and despoiled during the occupation by, first the Italian, then the German armies, and finally their own guerilla fighters. War stories are extremely painful to read and this one is equally horrific in its depiction of brutality and wartime atrocities.
Yet this story shines in many ways. It is a moving insider perspective of war (a mix of first- and third-person narratives) as reported by the soldiers who are compelled by duty, against their will, to be party to the official conspiracies propagated by paranoid dictators. Soldiers, like Carlo Guercio, come to realize with deep shock and revulsion there is no reasonable excuse for the cause they are fighting. It is also remarkable how enemies become friends when they recognize the human impulses, motivation, and fears they share in common. It is marvelous to read about the islanders' grudging acceptance giving way to affection for the Italian invaders.
De Bernieres created a cast of wonderful characters in this novel. Dr. Iannis is the sweet and kind doctor one would love to have as a father. Carlo Guercio, the gay thespian, deserves to be celebrated for the magnanimity of his love for his comrades in arms. Captain Corelli, more a musician than a soldier, has an irresistible and irreverent personality. He forms a latrine opera club among his men, which endeared him to me. Pelagia, the attractive village lass and apple of every soldier’s eye, is much more than just a pretty face. Evil befalls each of these characters and I kept reading and hoping they would be spared.
Of course, there is the romance between Captain Corelli and Pelagia. Ironically, it is the war that first installs Corelli in Dr. Iannis’s house as a billeted captain who eventually falls in love with Pelagia. It is also the war that eventually separates them. It is sweetly told (embarrassingly in part) but mostly delightful.
Read Corelli's Mandolin. It is a beautiful story where the horrors of war threaten but cannot deplete the wellspring of love, courage, and goodness that keeps us human.
Thank you, Kevin Ansbro, for the book recommendation. It has, as you rightly pointed out, "humour, pathos, and depth".
Take an idyllic Greek island that “smells of pines, warm earth, and the dark sea” where its hardworking inhabitants eke out a quiet living. Throw in a lonely mountain goatherd, a wise and kindly doctor, and his beautiful but willful daughter. Add a mandolin-playing Italian Captain (as suggested by the title) and the story promises music and romance. The stage seems set for a charming, bucolic story because Louis de Bernieres introduced Cephallonia as a place “where vicious emotions could not exist”.
Wrong. Corelli's Mandolin tells a devastating WWII story of Cephallonia being pillaged and despoiled during the occupation by, first the Italian, then the German armies, and finally their own guerilla fighters. War stories are extremely painful to read and this one is equally horrific in its depiction of brutality and wartime atrocities.
Yet this story shines in many ways. It is a moving insider perspective of war (a mix of first- and third-person narratives) as reported by the soldiers who are compelled by duty, against their will, to be party to the official conspiracies propagated by paranoid dictators. Soldiers, like Carlo Guercio, come to realize with deep shock and revulsion there is no reasonable excuse for the cause they are fighting. It is also remarkable how enemies become friends when they recognize the human impulses, motivation, and fears they share in common. It is marvelous to read about the islanders' grudging acceptance giving way to affection for the Italian invaders.
De Bernieres created a cast of wonderful characters in this novel. Dr. Iannis is the sweet and kind doctor one would love to have as a father. Carlo Guercio, the gay thespian, deserves to be celebrated for the magnanimity of his love for his comrades in arms. Captain Corelli, more a musician than a soldier, has an irresistible and irreverent personality. He forms a latrine opera club among his men, which endeared him to me. Pelagia, the attractive village lass and apple of every soldier’s eye, is much more than just a pretty face. Evil befalls each of these characters and I kept reading and hoping they would be spared.
Of course, there is the romance between Captain Corelli and Pelagia. Ironically, it is the war that first installs Corelli in Dr. Iannis’s house as a billeted captain who eventually falls in love with Pelagia. It is also the war that eventually separates them. It is sweetly told (embarrassingly in part) but mostly delightful.
Read Corelli's Mandolin. It is a beautiful story where the horrors of war threaten but cannot deplete the wellspring of love, courage, and goodness that keeps us human.
Thank you, Kevin Ansbro, for the book recommendation. It has, as you rightly pointed out, "humour, pathos, and depth".
October 7, 2012
They meet, they fall in love, and then they don't see each other for thirty years until they are magically reunited and realize they were intended to spend their whole lives together but somehow misread the instructions on the box. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
Sul filo di una scrittura semplice e immediata si dipana un romanzo assai completo.
Il ritmo è incalzante fino alla fine, i personaggi si fanno amare (sarà perché a tratti mi ha ricordato L'amore ai tempi del colera?), l'ambientazione storica e geografica ben curata, la devastazione della guerra assolutamente realistica (ora che ci penso, un po' mi ha ricordato anche La Ciociara).
Unico difetto: verso il finale l'autore prende ad andare un poco di corsa. Per tutto il resto, non c'è che da ribadire che la guerra tira fuori il peggio dell'uomo, ma fa uscire anche il meglio dalla letteratura.
Il ritmo è incalzante fino alla fine, i personaggi si fanno amare (sarà perché a tratti mi ha ricordato L'amore ai tempi del colera?), l'ambientazione storica e geografica ben curata, la devastazione della guerra assolutamente realistica (ora che ci penso, un po' mi ha ricordato anche La Ciociara).
Unico difetto: verso il finale l'autore prende ad andare un poco di corsa. Per tutto il resto, non c'è che da ribadire che la guerra tira fuori il peggio dell'uomo, ma fa uscire anche il meglio dalla letteratura.
May 2, 2011
This is Benito Mussolini, one-time Fascist dictator of Italy and streetlight ornament of the same:
And this is Mussolini talking.
Unless you understand Italian, you have no idea what he's saying. But I bet, even without the historical context, you understand that he's a major asshole. Just look at the body language.
In a way, Louis de Bernières is a lot like that, a little in love with himself. His authorial blurb tells of his many manly adventures. He holds an advanced degree, but is desperate to come off as some sort of blue collar polymath. His novel suffers from it; just as Mussolini put on a façade to impress, so does de Bernières. At times, the first 150 pages read like a guy going through a thesaurus. The dialogue is solid, but he gets carried away with the narration. He flirts with magical realism, and does so in a manner more effective than most. I would provide an example, but I donated my copy to the local library.
One also gets the sense that he favors the equatorial lifestyle to the exclusion of all others. I have no problem with this (I, myself, prefer said lifestyle), but always casting the natives and Italians in a favorable light and never the Germans? It comes off a bit tidy. Maybe it helps move a love story that takes place during WWII from point to point.
The ending is just about the most unsatisfying thing I have ever read.
And this is Mussolini talking.
Unless you understand Italian, you have no idea what he's saying. But I bet, even without the historical context, you understand that he's a major asshole. Just look at the body language.
In a way, Louis de Bernières is a lot like that, a little in love with himself. His authorial blurb tells of his many manly adventures. He holds an advanced degree, but is desperate to come off as some sort of blue collar polymath. His novel suffers from it; just as Mussolini put on a façade to impress, so does de Bernières. At times, the first 150 pages read like a guy going through a thesaurus. The dialogue is solid, but he gets carried away with the narration. He flirts with magical realism, and does so in a manner more effective than most. I would provide an example, but I donated my copy to the local library.
One also gets the sense that he favors the equatorial lifestyle to the exclusion of all others. I have no problem with this (I, myself, prefer said lifestyle), but always casting the natives and Italians in a favorable light and never the Germans? It comes off a bit tidy. Maybe it helps move a love story that takes place during WWII from point to point.
The ending is just about the most unsatisfying thing I have ever read.
October 7, 2012
Running throughout the novel is a Homeric theme which I really liked. Imbued with a mythic weight and a delightful tragicomic lightness, Louis de Bernieres' Corelli's Mandolin bursts with tenderness and wit.
Corelli's Mandolin is not in the least a simple love story. It is a portrait of a fiercely proud and independent little community rebelling in what small ways it can. It is a snapshot of the horrors endured by the men in combat during the Second World War. It is a damning commentary on the grandiose lack of sense among the leaders who would mold the world to fit their petty desires. It is a witty, charming, intelligent tale that possesses the reader to finish without stopping. It is a tragic story of star-crossed lovers given one more chance at happiness after a lifetime of loss, and it is worth every moment you spend turning its pages. While I love history and historical novels somewhere in the middle of the book I got slightly irate getting though sections of descriptions of war maneuvers when I really wanted to know more about other characters. Still by the end I was grateful to Bernieres for the history of which I discovered I knew so little.
Corelli's Mandolin is not in the least a simple love story. It is a portrait of a fiercely proud and independent little community rebelling in what small ways it can. It is a snapshot of the horrors endured by the men in combat during the Second World War. It is a damning commentary on the grandiose lack of sense among the leaders who would mold the world to fit their petty desires. It is a witty, charming, intelligent tale that possesses the reader to finish without stopping. It is a tragic story of star-crossed lovers given one more chance at happiness after a lifetime of loss, and it is worth every moment you spend turning its pages. While I love history and historical novels somewhere in the middle of the book I got slightly irate getting though sections of descriptions of war maneuvers when I really wanted to know more about other characters. Still by the end I was grateful to Bernieres for the history of which I discovered I knew so little.
July 26, 2017
What a beautifully written book! I wept; I laughed out loud; I was furious; I was anxious and worried; I gasped in horror; I smiled secret smiles; I rejoiced; I LOVED. All the characters, even the minor ones, come to life. I did think a few chapters could have been edited, as they didn't serve the plot (but DID provide background history of WW II), and I found the ending unsatisfactory. But still, after borrowing it from the library I RAN out and bought it - High praise indeed.
I read it first in March 2001, and then recommended it to one of my book clubs and re-read it in Oct 2001.
BTW - The movie was absolutely horrible. Forget the movie! READ the book!
I read it first in March 2001, and then recommended it to one of my book clubs and re-read it in Oct 2001.
BTW - The movie was absolutely horrible. Forget the movie! READ the book!
November 22, 2017
Sublime.
April 3, 2020
I went into this one with low expectations... and probably remain sitting on the fence. Some people love it, others seem to detest it. For me - neither.
(Bit spoilery from here on, but it is based on History, so hopefully most people know a bit about this).
For the first part of the story, set realistically in Cephalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands off Greece in 1941, tells of the Italian and German occupation. It is a relatively peaceful time - the Italians are peaceful and respectful of the Greeks, who are reluctantly led to like some of the soldiers. The main Italian characters are likeable and quite well padded out.
After Italy surrenders to the Allies, the Germans take over and start enforcing a more strict and violent control. The Italians resist the German reinforcements, and are slaughtered by the more powerful Germans with more powerful weaponry.
And finally the Americans arrive to mop up the Germans and bring freedom to Cephalonia, only for the Greeks to commence a civil war in which the Partisans followed the example of the Germans with violence and punishments of the already downtrodden people.
At this point in the novel, all of the characters had been well formed and their stories woven with the facts. But it is here that the novel speeds up - the core character family goes through some changes, a generation is added, then another. It is here that many of the readers become dissatisfied with the story, and I can appreciate why - it really does make a change.
At the end there are loose ends tied up, and while it is not a happily ever after ending, and potentially can be seen as a story of wasted opportunities, at least it wasn't a saccharine Hollywood ending.
There were some very well written parts - particularly the tormented war scenes. Some of the events were really sad, and the author didn't dumb down the gutless violence of slaughter and cruelty. I probably enjoyed this book more than I initially expected.
I haven't seen the film - and probably won't go looking for it. I am not a huge Nic Cage fan, and I can't really see Penelope Cruz in the character I built in my mind.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
Whew, and that is the last of my catchup reviews from my holiday... return to normal service now, and due to 'working from home' and high immersion with my family, that has turned out to be less-reading-than-normal, rather than the more-reading-than-normal that I anticipated!
(Bit spoilery from here on, but it is based on History, so hopefully most people know a bit about this).
For the first part of the story, set realistically in Cephalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands off Greece in 1941, tells of the Italian and German occupation. It is a relatively peaceful time - the Italians are peaceful and respectful of the Greeks, who are reluctantly led to like some of the soldiers. The main Italian characters are likeable and quite well padded out.
After Italy surrenders to the Allies, the Germans take over and start enforcing a more strict and violent control. The Italians resist the German reinforcements, and are slaughtered by the more powerful Germans with more powerful weaponry.
And finally the Americans arrive to mop up the Germans and bring freedom to Cephalonia, only for the Greeks to commence a civil war in which the Partisans followed the example of the Germans with violence and punishments of the already downtrodden people.
At this point in the novel, all of the characters had been well formed and their stories woven with the facts. But it is here that the novel speeds up - the core character family goes through some changes, a generation is added, then another. It is here that many of the readers become dissatisfied with the story, and I can appreciate why - it really does make a change.
At the end there are loose ends tied up, and while it is not a happily ever after ending, and potentially can be seen as a story of wasted opportunities, at least it wasn't a saccharine Hollywood ending.
There were some very well written parts - particularly the tormented war scenes. Some of the events were really sad, and the author didn't dumb down the gutless violence of slaughter and cruelty. I probably enjoyed this book more than I initially expected.
I haven't seen the film - and probably won't go looking for it. I am not a huge Nic Cage fan, and I can't really see Penelope Cruz in the character I built in my mind.
3.5 stars, rounded down.
Whew, and that is the last of my catchup reviews from my holiday... return to normal service now, and due to 'working from home' and high immersion with my family, that has turned out to be less-reading-than-normal, rather than the more-reading-than-normal that I anticipated!
June 2, 2022
Historical fiction set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Axis powers’ occupation in WWII. The first part focuses on a young Greek woman, Pelagia, and her widowed physician father, Dr. Iannis. Pelagia learns medical techniques by watching her father, and she is educated beyond the typical level (especially for a woman of the time) due to being the doctor’s only child. She and a local fisherman, Mandras, fall in love and get engaged. He goes off to fight the war on the Albanian front. During his absence, Pelagia writes to him but never receives a reply. Meanwhile, Captain Antonio Corelli, the leader of the Italian occupying forces, is housed with Dr. Iannis and Pelagia. He is no zealot – his goal is to have “a peaceful war.” At first Pelagia is determined to resist the occupiers, but she gradually begins to admire Corelli, especially when he plays his mandolin. Mandras returns and Pelagia must decide what to do.
The author gradually develops the romantic liaison between Corelli and Pelagia. In fact, this entire story is gradually layered. All of these characters are complex and come across as authentic, with both strengths and flaws. There are a number of secondary characters that complement the primary storylines, and they are beautifully rendered. For example, the (gay) relationship between Carlo and Francesco is both sweet and tragic. There is also a wayward priest and a strongman. They are eccentric and memorable characters, and they add depth to the narrative.
One of the primary themes is the adverse effects of ideologies on ordinary people. It includes real historical figures such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Metaxas. We follow Mandras from happy-go-lucky fisherman to vindictive soldier. Another main theme is the different types of love – brotherly, religious, romantic, familial, and sacrificial. This novel is a condemnation of totalitarianism. The author employs musical themes to offset some of the horrors of war.
This is a five-star read for the first three-quarters. The author took time in developing details and layers of setting and characters during the war. The last quarter takes large leaps in time and feels rushed in comparison. As a warning, war-time atrocities are vividly depicted.
4.5
The author gradually develops the romantic liaison between Corelli and Pelagia. In fact, this entire story is gradually layered. All of these characters are complex and come across as authentic, with both strengths and flaws. There are a number of secondary characters that complement the primary storylines, and they are beautifully rendered. For example, the (gay) relationship between Carlo and Francesco is both sweet and tragic. There is also a wayward priest and a strongman. They are eccentric and memorable characters, and they add depth to the narrative.
One of the primary themes is the adverse effects of ideologies on ordinary people. It includes real historical figures such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Metaxas. We follow Mandras from happy-go-lucky fisherman to vindictive soldier. Another main theme is the different types of love – brotherly, religious, romantic, familial, and sacrificial. This novel is a condemnation of totalitarianism. The author employs musical themes to offset some of the horrors of war.
This is a five-star read for the first three-quarters. The author took time in developing details and layers of setting and characters during the war. The last quarter takes large leaps in time and feels rushed in comparison. As a warning, war-time atrocities are vividly depicted.
4.5
August 31, 2023
Set on the Greek island of Cephallonia during WW2 and its aftermath. German forces and their erstwhile Italian allies’ occupation (including one Captain Corelli and his mandolin). The Cephallonians had a pretty raw deal of it. Contrasting nationalities – Italian, German, Greek, British - through the eyes of the natives. How people act in horribly adverse conditions, which bring out the best and the worst. The story centres around Pelagia and her doctor father, Iannis.
The book rambles along, taking me with it to some scenes that I’d rather not witness. But the backdrop of the story is historically based and I must read more to find out how much so.
Excellent characterisation and a book that will stay with me for a very long time.
The book rambles along, taking me with it to some scenes that I’d rather not witness. But the backdrop of the story is historically based and I must read more to find out how much so.
Excellent characterisation and a book that will stay with me for a very long time.
May 6, 2015
I loved this book. I think a lot of people do.
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