Corelli's Mandolin

Rating:
Summary: Hail Puccini
Review: Not being Greek, I wouldn't presume to judge the accuracy of some aspects of the book's historical perspectives, and I respect the opinions of Greek people who might question some of them.

However, taken as a beautifully woven tale of star-crossed lovers set against the background of the eternal insanity of war, Corelli's Mandolin is unsurpassed.

I agree it's hard to envisage how a movie could do it justice, but I shall eventually get around to watching it.

There are many qualities to be admired in all of the main characters, and if the book has a weakness, it is, as others have said, the degree of acceleration towards the end, which creates an asymmetrical aspect to the story flow.

As a thinking person's romance in time of war, this is as good as it gets, and the intelligent conclusion, which spans decades, is ultimately very uplifting.

Beautiful cover, too.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: This is one of the finest books of the last decade - if not the millenium. A reader will laugh out loud one chapter and be in tears the next. It is a love story that endures the tragedies of the second world war and subsequent Greek civil war. Sited on the Greek island of Cephalonica, the author points a sympathetic eye towards the Italians forced to war, and an unsympathetic eye towards the Germans and communist Greeks. It is a viewpoint still held by many Greeks who lived through the era.

The characters - both main and ancillary are rich and unforgettable.

The image of the elderly lovers riding into the sunset will stay with the reader always. A truly wonderful book! I do not see how a movie could live up to images and character depictions deBerniere's brings to this novel.

A word of caution to those who may have read this author's other books. Corelli's Mandolin is nothing like his South AMerican fantasy trilogy - it is much better. I highly recommend this book. It is humorous and poignant with a touch of historical fiction thrown in for good measure.

Rating:
Summary: An extremely moving piece of escapism
Review: This is a well crafted book. Berniere's style is crisp and simple. His characters are sympathetic and warm, in particular, Corelli, whose sense of humanity shines throughout the book, likewise the good doctor and all the rest.

It is pure and simple escapism with some quite weepy moments thrown in.

There are wonderful little glimpses of war time Greece. OK it is not history as some would like to find it, but it does give us an emotive flavour of the occupied territory at this time.

As for the ending, I note that some people have decried it; but life can be like that, one goes through life without having completed one's devotion to a loved one. One ends up getting by. This at the essence of our humanity.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing blend of literature and history
Review: This is truly an amazing book, and it certainly deserves its spot within the top 20 on the BBC's recent best-loved novel. ...P>This book is to me a brilliant mix of an amazingly heartfelt story, the cold, distressing facts of World War II, and the relentless march of time. The author unravels the tale of a beautiful woman, Pelagia, from the Greek island of Cephallonia. Throughout, she remains her own self, unwilling to be the woman society wants her to be. When her island paradise is overrun by the Italian army, she has to confront her conflicting feelings for the charming musician, Captain Corelli, and her hatred of the army's mere existence on her island. We are invited to watch and sympathize with Pelagia as all the men in her life come and go, unsure of their possible return to her. Time inevitably continues, and so does Pelagia, living through memories of those past and through the hope of new life. We also see the history of the island emerge in its pages, from the horrors of foreign invaders, civil war and natural disasters, to the newer trials of modernization and tourism.

This book is occassionally graphic, yet through the talent of De Bernieres, the words seem natural in their place, and indeed necessary to portray the depth of all that occurred on this beautiful island. The author is unafraid to write the story as he sees it, without tiptoe-ing around an issue or an unpleasant act.

Lovers of history may enjoy the book solely for the authors account of how history has shaped and changed Cephallonia, and readers everywhere may enjoy the book solely for the story contained within. More likely, one will enjoy it for it's seamless mixture of the two, and anyone like me will have more than one opportunity to cry for the island and its inhabitants. However, this book is definitely worth any tears, and it's reading should be taken up by lovers of the humanities, whether it be music, literature, or history.

Rating:
Summary: Propaganda
Review: For all the author's literary accomplishments, "Corelli's Mandolin" suffers from poor research (or even worse: The author's intentional skewing of history in favor of his own nation). For the fact is: Mr de Berniere's take on history is little better than pro-British propaganda. In one sentence, he'll have the Greeks deride the megalomania of people with imperial aspirations and then in the next breath, he'll have them say how great the British Empire is, how it's the most wonderful empire the world has ever known, etc. --This is utter nonsense, since Greeks don't generally tend to rate the British as a great culture. And who would argue with the Greeks? --Greeks invented philosophy, democracy, higher mathematics and even the hot tub. To imagine Greeks going about proclaiming the greatness of the British Empire is embarrassing--especially seeing as how in the 1800s, those noble Anglo-Saxons pillaged Greece, bombed the place and harvested marble from ancient wonders of the world to send back to furnish mansions in England. --One actress in the film version of "Corelli's Mandolin" said frankly, "I was in Greece at the time he writes the book. I don't recognize the things he's written about. But, then, everybody should be allowed to make up stories." --And "make up stories" Bernieres does--with embarrassing slips in his historical knowledge and disgusting takes on the psychology of a people to whom he doesn't belong and clearly doesn't understand. My advice to the author: Read some actual history books. Maybe you'll learn that the British acquired their empire by killing, murdering and plundering--everything you accuse the Italians of, while pretending the Brits inherited all that land around the world because the "natives" loved them.

Rating:
Summary: saved by the characters and the author's perspective
Review: I love to read but rarely find time to sit down with a book any more. I do, however, enjoy many books on tape; and this one rates near the top of those that have transported my mind whilst the rest of me was stuck in traffic.

Granted, the author may have tried to accomplish too much with this story. Like Shakespeare and Melville, he includes passages that could practically stand alone as good advice on living or doing something. There are some high-level summaries of historical developments that perhaps do not belong here, at least in that format. There is a certain amount of technical detail about music that left me behind. I for one would have recommended just deleting the early chapter on Mussolini. And if I wanted to be picky (I don't) I could point out developments that felt a little contrived. Those are my reservations.

But on the other hand we have the depth and appeal of the principal characters, and the author's affectionate and benevolent view (while not failing to acknowledge their human limitations). The story opened my eyes to a region and to events that were new to me, brought a range of heartfelt responses including laughter and tears, and kept me riveted from start to finish. I was sorry to reach the end. This may not be a great novel, but it's very, very, very good -- certainly better in terms of character development than others of a similar genre (say, Doctor Zhivago or Gone With the Wind).

Rating:
Summary: Even made this tough guy cry!
Review: As with all books that have been made into movies, I would recommend reading first, if at all possible. Why? Because this is the kind of book that you just want to lay down in bed with all night long. It is the type of novel that glues you to your pillow and keeps you reading until the sun comes up because it has such a wide range of characters that, either you spend half the time wishing that your favorite one would re-appear, or you revel in the variety of the people presented in the novel.

Some of these characters may be archetypes, the girl waiting for her loved one to return from the war, the boy gone wrong because of the difficulties of life, the father who is forced to raise his daughter on his own against the odds, but the book also presents new types of characters and situations like the gay soldier who finds courage and solace in the unspoken love he feels towards first one lover who is killed, and then towards the brilliant Captain Corelli whose character is not at all the most deeply explored. I cried for Pelagia and for all the characters, but I did so only after reading this novel non-stop, in two sittings! Have a good read!

Rating:
Summary: Even made this tough guy cry!
Review: As with all books that have been made into movies, I would recommend reading first, if at all possible. Why? Because this is the kind of book that you just want to lay down in bed with and make love to all night long, even if its characters rarely, if ever, get the chance to do so. It is the type of novel that glues you to your pillow and keeps you reading until the sun comes up because it has such a wide range of characters that, either you spend half the time wishing that your favorite one would re-appear, or you revel in the variety of the people presented in the novel. And you wouldn't want this to be ruined by knowing what is going to happen beforehand.

Some of these characters may be archetypes, the girl waiting for her loved one to return from the war, the boy gone wrong because of the difficulties of life, the father who is forced to raise his daughter on his own against the odds, but the book also presents new types of characters and situations like the gay soldier who finds courage and solace in the unspoken love he feels towards first one lover who is killed, and then towards the brilliant Captain Corelli whose character is not at all the most deeply explored. I cried for Pelagia and for all the characters, but I did so only after reading this novel non-stop, in two sittings! Have a good read!

Rating:
Summary: Crosses every genre
Review: Wow, what a tour de force. Corelli's Mandolin is history, romance, mystery, tragedy, comedy, literature, a war story, odyssey, yada-yada. Read it; you won't regret it. Just don't make the mistake of seeing the movie; it's the worst piece of miscasting of Nicholas Cage you can imagine. Once you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.
Set on the Greek island of Cephalonia, the story begins in the early days of WWII before Mussolini's invasion. The 'heroine' Pelagia, daughter of the island's doctor, is being taught the healing arts by her father. Then comes the invasion, and Corelli, the Italian commanding officer who takes a cynical view of war (says Heil Puccini instead of Heil Hitler and has his troops singing opera at every opportunity), is quartered in the doctor's house. An affair ensures, but the ugliness of war affects them, as it does everyone else.
To say more would be to say too much, for remember: it's a bit of a mystery.
Louis de Bernieres's other novels soar off into magical realism, but Corelli's Mandolin is grounded in reality, showing, as it does, the nature of war from many different perspectives.
Highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Magical Realism on a Greek Isle
Review: The book combines the beauty and humor of Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits ... and the cruelty, too. I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this one in a very long time. The unhappy ending seemed a little forced, however. Not that a completely happy ending in view of what everyone suffered would have struck the right note either. But the explanation of Corelli's seeing her with a baby and spying on her for almost 50 years just doesn't ring true. The relationship between Pelagia and her father is the best thing in the book. The doctor is an unforgettable character.