Rating: 
Summary: Very objective review here!
Review: There are already too many reviews about this novel and some of them are positive the others are not. Listen, it's a great book if you like this kind of WW2 romance stories (if you enjoyed watching The English Patient, then this book is for you). There's gonna be a movie released soon and my prediction is that it's gonna be as good if not better than the book because in this novel there are a lot of wonderful scenes of the Island and I've seen the trailer of the upcoming movie on the "internet movies database" it looks great: the soundtrack, the imagery...Anyways I'm not to talk about the movie but about the book. Some have found the last part and the end to be disappointing, let me reassure you that it isn't, it only might be controversial, it's up to you to decide after reading this enchanting book. But please remember to savour every section every page throughout because therein lies the charm and the magic that will transport you back in time and space to live through the experience of Corelli, Pelagia, Iannis, Carlo.... Unforgettable, very lovable characters.
Rating:
Summary: A Heartbreaking Powerhouse of a Historical Novel
Review: Wow. I just finished this book today, and must say that I'm overwhelmed by the experience. Corelli's Mandolin was selected by a book club that I'm in; I don't think that I would have read it otherwise because books and movies about wartime tend to sadden me too much. As did this one, but it was well worth it. I've seen many synopses that paint the novel as a story of a woman torn between two men, and that's not really accurate at all. The book is so much more broad than that, and Pelagia, the book's heroine, never actually debates which man to "choose."I learned so much about the history of Greece by reading Corelli's Mandolin; it really is a historical novel. De Bernieres paints the atrocities of war so clearly that there were a few passages in the book where, I must admit, I cried. Hard. Very few books are able to illicit that sort of emotion from me, but this one definitely did me in. The writing is phenomenal; De Bernieres has a true gift of creating pictures for his readers with his words. Each character is finely chiseled out, clear and immensely memorable. I'm planning to recommend this one to everyone that I know; I read constantly, but I have a feeling it's going to be a while before I come across another book so intense. Very highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: well worth it!
Review: I found this book utterly fascinating. I knew I was onto something good when I re-read a paragraph on the first page because is it was so thought-provoking. What you have heard about the book is true. It is challenging (a dictionary is certainly needed), but ultimately very rewarding. I did not have trouble "getting into" the book, as I found the first 100 pages very intriguing, especially his laugh-out loud portrayal of the inept Mussolini. The last 100 pages of the book did bother me. The delighful pace of the book was lost in effort to cover fifty years of events. The wonderous character development was sacrificed to span history. Overall, this meaty book is a must read. History and literary buffs in particular, will enjoy reading this love story by an author with alot of powerful ideas to share.
Rating: 
Summary: Let Down
Review: To me, it was apparent from the first chapter that Corelli's Mandolin would typically be described as "delightful" and "charming." Believe me, I tried to resist liking it, but, yes, I found it...delightful and charming...for the first three hundred or so pages, anyway. More on that later. The prose is wonderful, the tone is lighthearted, and even at times joyous. I found this a great change of pace from most novels. And, again, despite my efforts not to, I found myself caring about the characters. The story is at times predictable, but that didn't really bother me. It should be said at this point that a book described as "lighthearted" and "joyous" can be interpreted as "cutesie," which is why I resisted it so much at first. And then I grew to like it...all, it seems, for naught. You see, the trouble lies in the last hundred or so pages. The story reaches a point where it seems the author was at a loss for what to do, and he slips into a trick I've seen lots of authors pull. He starts condensing time and descriptions into shorter paragraphs, and thus loses his previously established flow. He resorts to banality and predictability. Things were good, things were bad. Oh, my, the characters have aged. But they overcame their weaknesses. Then something unexpected happened, etc. Those last hundred pages just felt aimless and tacked on. Tedious, even. It severly weakened the novel as a whole. After finishing it, I just felt let down. So...I would recommend you avoid this book. It's a shame it started out so great and ended so lousy.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable but strange
Review: This is a strange book, which vaguely resembles One Hundred Years of Solitude. It is about an Island in Greece (presumably fictitious) which is occupied by the Italians during the Second World War. The main focus of the book is a sort of love triangle involving a Greek woman Pelagia her first love a fisherman and Correlli and Italian Officer who gives the book its name. The story is set in a sort of semi-realistic fantasy world. This is only one dimension of the book. It also attempts to present the politics of Greece from 1941 to 1960. Characters such as Mussolini appear and write short narratives for a while as does Metaxas. The book describes the disastrous Italian invasion of Greece in 1941 which required the German Armies commitment to rescue them. It describes the role of the British in setting up resistance movements and the formation and techniques of the Communist Party. It is however the main characters which drive the story. The portrayal of the main characters is probably meant to be both humorous and endearing. There is a scene in which a priest sits in his confessional. The villagers bring him gifts and leave them near where he is sitting. The priest wants to urinate but is worried that if he leaves the flow of gifts will stop. He thus starts to drink wine with the purpose using the empty bottles to urinate in. Progressively he gets drunker and is found by the local doctor in a pool of vomit and urine. Its not a form of humor that will appeal to all. The key to the story is however the relation of Pegalia to Correlli, their finding love, the problems that arise because of the political situation and the obstacles which occur. The book is a reasonably substantial novel of over 400 pages but is readable and keeps you interested. It has many virtues the most significant being the portrayal of the political background. I personally found the main story somewhat grotesque for my taste but no doubt others will love it.
Rating:
Summary: Challeging "Corelli" Worth Some Effort
Review: It is difficult to add to the reviews that have already been posted for this novel as most readers seem to have had similar experiences as myself. I only got through "Corelli's Mandolin" on my third attempt. As many reviewers have cautioned, the first 100 pages or so are intimidating with various seemingly disjointed story lines, character introductions, points of view, and language (a dictionary, at times, seemed to be a suitable companion while reading). I would like to consider myself a well-read person but was self-admittedly overwhelmed by the "thickness" of the novel. Perhaps, I was just too well-trained over the years with more conventional narratives. For example, the title character, Captain Corelli, does not make his first appearance in the novel until you are well into the novel and another character, Carlo Guercio, is giving a lot of pages in the beginning only to play a fairly limited role in the second half (though ultimately becomes one of the spiritual centers) of the novel. I was only strongly motivated to finally finish this novel with the impending movie version hitting theaters in this spring. Now having read it, I fear what Hollywood might do to it. It is bound to lose the novel's rich character development and many of its storylines. While the romance between the main characters is at the heart of the novel, it is its many parts that create the "whole" of this epic tale of love, war, family, and sacrifice. With the movie, I anticipate there will be a revived interest in Des Bernieres' work. I encourge potential readers to give the novel a chance. However, if you are looking for an "easy read" (which the movie will certainly suggest), perhaps this is not the book for you. But as dozens of reviewers have already said, perseverance ultimately pays off with a quite rewarding reading experience.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant Love Story
Review: The love story between Captain Corelli and Pelagia, during WWII was poignant and heartbreaking. The captain is a member of the Italian Army who is being billeted with a family on the Island of Cephallonia, during the occupation. I loved the characters, the setting, and the romance. I did not like the protracted chapters about the history of the island of Cephallonia, or the involved stories of Il Duce. Overall those were minor complaints. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a timeless love story set in the midst of history.
Rating:
Summary: A flawed but seductive read. Heart-filling.
Review: Corelli's Mandolin seduced me from the first episode, in which the learned and kindly Dr. Iannis is able to bring about a spectacular healing by removing an ancient pea lodged in his neighbor's ear. The gradually darkening plot rang exactly true , especially from what I have heard from Greeks about their families' sufferings during WWII. Only two things disturbed me about the book. De Bernieres seems to have a deep prejudice against religion, which I am sure the Greek islanders of the 40's did not share. The obese and ridiculous priest bears no resemblance to any priest, Orthodox or other, who ever tried to serve his flock. He is the only character, with the exception of Il Duce himself, in whom De Bernieres seems to find no redeeming nobility. (The incident in which he plays a starring role in the first few chapters of the book is, however, hilarious.) The other bothersome thing is that the author's use of Greek words is full of inaccuracies. My Greek is not perfect, but I know enough to find it annoying when he uses the plural form of a word when he means the singular, and the object form to address someone. The power of the book is in the eccentric charm of the characters. The people of this small town derive their Life from their connections to one another and to the land and sea that feed them, connections that we of the computer era--to our poverty--do not share. Details, like the healing and taming of the pine marten, and the hunt for snails help give a sense of wholeness and solidity to the lives of Dr. Iannis and Pelagia. In fact, it is the wealth of earthy details, as well as the general decency of the people to one another that drew me into the story. I laughed heartily at one incident after another, and loved these people as if they were representatives of all the kind and humble people who suffered and died in rural, strategically unimportant villages throughout Europe. Which they are.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond page 150
Review: You can all read the other 237 reviews for a more detailed description of the book. I'm only writing to add that to REALLY understand what a great book this is, you must get past page 150.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: Corelli's Mandonlin starts off by bringing us into a wonderfully magical world of pre-invasion Cephalonia, where a drunken priest, a sage doctor, a hermit, and a strong man inhabit a world that has managed to enter modernity remarkably untouched. Poignant historical details (and a horrendously funny tirade by Mussolini himself) give us an inkling of the world outside this wonderland. The book continues very successfully in this vein, up until the romance between Pelagia and Corelli. The romance is agonizingly generic, especially after the wonderful creations and characters and interactions that lead up to it in the first 150 or so pages. From there the book descends into something approaching predicability, until the last climax revives our sense of suspense and wonder. Overall, I felt disappointed, because I was transported to a place of wonderful fancy, only to be brought crashing down by a romance that shows little creativity. Wonderful potential, and a wonderful read if you can ignore the scenes where Corelli plays his mandolin for Pelagia and Dr. Iannis, or when the two of them discover their mutual attraction.
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