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Summary: Corelli's Mandolin - Unabridged Audio
Review: This book, excellent on it's own merit, is magnificent when read by Stephen Lang. Each character is a living, breathing person speaking to you with their own unique accent and voice. His character reading of Il Duce/Mussolini was fabulously hysterical! As my daily commute spans two and a half hours, I have 'read' many audio books, Lang is by far the most talented of the readers I have thus far encountered. I highly recommend this unabridged audio book. It will have you laughing and crying.
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Summary: Simply one of my all-time favorite books ever
Review: Who could ask for more from a single book? History, romance, mystery, a morality lesson.
Set in Greece in the early days of WWII, the story of Pelagia, the daughter of the village doctor, spans her life into old age.
Corelli is the captain of the occupying Italian forces and he takes over their house and stays with them. But he's not your typical military man: He is an opera buff, responds to Nazi greetings with "Heil Puccini," and his most treasured possession is his mandolin. Love is complicated in wartime, even more so when the lovers are on opposite sides.
Corelli's Mandolin explores all the various kinds of love known to man: love between people (passionate and platonic), parent and child, doctor and patient, love of people for their homes, their country, for life itself.
Buy two, and give one to a good friend.
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Summary: Corellis mandoilin review
Review: Like many people, I heard a lot about this book before reading it. Unfortunately for me, this book really didn't live up to that every body else was saying. I felt like the author didn't know whether he wanted to write a love story, a historical novel, or war novel. A more successful book would have woven all these characteristics together, instead I found the book felt like it went from place to place and it seemed like he didn't know how to mesh the two together. Many parts are long-winded and really boring. And oh, the ending. Was I the only one driven to distraction by the frustrating ending? That said, there are some really wonderful parts to this book, especially the gay love story. However, be prepared. This book, I think, is probably a love it or hates it kind of book. If you like the love story you'll like this book but personally I didn't like this book very much.
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Summary: Complicated love story
Review: I know very little about Greece, so this book opened up a new world to me. War turns a peaceful and idyllic Greek isle upside down, and in doing so brings joy and devastation to a doctor and his daughter. Pelagia falls in love with a charming Italian captain and mandolin player, who promises to return after the war. She endures the German occupation, [end of life] of her father, an earthquake, and raises an abandoned baby, but never recovers from the only love she ever knew. I can't imagine any father allowing a foreign soldier to stay in his home with his attractive daughter, and I found war battle details to be a bit overwhelming, so I gave this only 4 stars. But overall it's a compelling and very interesting novel.
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Summary: The most beautiful book to come along in ages!
Review: Corelli's Mandolin is the amazing story of a Greek island that, along with its inhabitants, indures through years of political chaos, earthquakes, and war. It is written with such beautiful force that your only option is to sit back and marvel at its breathtaking wisdom. It should be read by all!
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Summary: trying to explain the un explainable
Review: this book has blown me away....i couldn't stop reading it for days straight,,i feel such a resonance with pelagia and antonio, and greece, and how he writes.. but the ending has torn out mi corazon and i agree with previous people in saying it seems like it was written by two authors.. such needless sorrows! its especially mind spinning to me how it ends with the present day, talking about three young girls,,i dont entirely understand that part, highly disturbing as i am a young girl and i feel like it has ended off with me,and my generation and culture, with all its problems and lack of history
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Summary: A Book Club Opinion
Review: Our book club chose Corelli's Mandolin because of the many good reviews we saw. We didn't feel the book lived up to the good reviews. Our conclusion tonight was that the book must have been written by two different authors. The first part of the book was lyric, beautifully crafted, emotionally involving, and a joy to read. The second part seemed as if it was written by someone who didn't care whether the characters seemed plausible, and had little interest in pace or character development. It was flat, unconvincing, and amazingly, irritatingly leaden. I told our group that de Bernieres needed an editor, and that I would step in to fill this role for him. I told the group how the book should have ended, which was roughly 100 pages sooner, and with the two main characters acting in character. This would have avoided the nutburger kind of unsatisfying conclusion that you can read in the book as written, before I stepped in to fix things! (g)
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Summary: Corelli's Mandolin
Review: I loved it, being around during the years covered in this book of war and mercy, and not being all that aware of what actually happened in Greece and its islands. The movie had a happier ending, but the book was funnier in the end. I saw the movie before I finished the book, so I suppose I was corrupted by the actors, who were charming.
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Summary: Wonderful book...definitly a keeper but the movie is er..
Review: The book is beautifully written you would want to travel to that Greek island...the characters are plausible the story itself is just amazing...what can i say i thoroughly enjoyed the book :)
for those who hasn't read it forget about the hype and just enjoy it for what it is a really good read,i laughed and cried in so many areas. the movie on the other hand is a bit of a dissapointment for me i don't know if nicholas cage actually did justice to corellis character, cruz' portrayal of pelagia on the other hand was just so and so. I love the ending of the book and yet it was somehow changed in the movie...
read the book and skip the movie...
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Summary: From all the positive reviews I thought it would be good....
Review: I'm always looking for good books and picked this up after seeing all the good reviews and recalling a friend's recommendation from years ago. Now de Bernieres is not a bad writer per se, and the book does keep you somewhat interested. However to me, overall, it turned out to be rather trite with a ridiculous ending. Now I don't read many romance novels, so this may color my view on the thing. I suggest that if you aren't typically into romance novels definately skip this one. If you are, you might like it although the ending will leave you empty....then again some people may be looking for that. Personally, I wish I hadn't read it. For an excellent review read Katie Surrence's review of August 1, 2002. It does however contain spoiler's that will ruin the book.
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