Rating: 
Summary: Good read but weak ending
Review: The books first two thirds are outstanding but its weak ending leaves one with a dissappointing feeling of what could have been.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: A big disappointment. Starts out well, but the author deevolves into history lectures and finally into an irrelevant 100-page ending. I am as susceptible to blurbs on the cover as any one else, but I advise the reader to resist the ones here.
Rating: 
Summary: Probably the best book I have ever read!!
Review: I am an avid reader and have enjoyed many wonderful books but I must say that I have never been as engrossed by a book as I was with Louis de Bernieres' Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I absolutely loved this engaging and superbly written novel. The characters are wonderfully developed, unique and remarkably human. Their voices are moving, heroic and often extremely humourous. I encourage anyone who enjoys intelligent, thought-provoking fiction to give this book a try. I know many people who have read it and have yet to meet one who has been disppointed by this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Something special
Review: A friend urged me to read this book, and for some reason I was reluctant to start it-- the plot synopsis sounded oddly similar to an Italian movie called 'Mediterraneo.' However, when I finally did pick it up, I became quickly and utterly caught up in it, and then I reached that ecstatic point where I hoped it would never end. I have often laughed out loud when reading a book, but this is the first time a book brought genuine tears to my eyes as well. Absolutely unforgettable!
Rating:
Summary: Among the Best I Have Ever Read
Review: This story, so wonderfully woven together and driven by the distinct voices of its rich characters, just blew me away! It reads so lyrically, like something Homer might have written. Each character was so poignant--I could not believe how much my emotions were stretched, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying. I did not want it to end. This is the first time I have even bothered to write a review on this site. This is a MUST read!
Rating: 
Summary: Toatally inaccurate historically
Review: The author has grossly changed the history of the region and the roll the resistance plaid in that war. His lock of knowledge is evident when he calls the Greek alphabet Cyrillic. And a host of other unfortunate claims.As far as the novel goes, it starts well but it becomes flat and the ending is a total disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: A timeless masterpiece
Review: Many reviews have criticised the ending that de Bernières chose. Having spent the past four months studying the book as part of my English A-level course, I would argue that the ending is absolutely superb. How can an author finish a book like this, that is so wonderfully woven together that it begs to continue ad infinitum. I think what de Bernières has done is immensely original and inventive, and a wonderful way of twisting the timeless tragedy into a semi-comic ending. The whole point of the book is clear: love endures! Do the readers want to be driven to tears once again...I think not! The significance of the final scene is hard to interpret but it is worth re-reading as each time it seems more congruent with the course of the novel. This is perhaps the best book I have ever read, and it will, I hope, go down in the modern canon. Congratulations must go to the author for getting on to the A-level syllabus....the normal pre-requisite for this is at least 50 years of rigor mortis.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Novel!!!
Review: Read this novel! It will make you laugh and cry. This is an amazing story of a few brilliant characters and how they live through WW2 Greece. This book combines history and fiction in a way that inspires its readers to live fuller and richer in the present--with a greater understanding for having read the book.
Rating:
Summary: A journey among lives touched roughly and tenderly by life.
Review: Deeply moving. All characters are so well-developed. This is a book that is not afraid to tell the truth about war, love, disease, youth and age, simplicity and complexity, wisdom--and De Bernieres tells the story in a way that his audience can truly connect with it. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical & graphic, touching the extremes of the human heart
Review: This is a book that I wanted never to end. De Bernieres is a master of story-telling who takes the reader to places in the heart which are alternatively a joy and a horror to behold. The love among the Greeks for each other and their tolerance for their inept and totally charming Italian "occupation force" is in stark contrast to the atrocities of the Germans. I really cared for the characters de Bernieres created and mourned for them: I left a flower in the book at the page where Psipsina died. The prose is totally engaging, at turns witty, ironic, and mercilessly graphic: the war scenes are among the most dismaying I have ever read. The joy of Corelli and Pelagia in their courtship and finally in each other's arms will bring a smile to any lover. I heartily recommend this book - and the author's South American Trilogy ("The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts", et seq.) as well.
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