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Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: This book can be very entertaining if you are interested in the love-story. The descriptions are good and you can relate to most of the characters. The way the other ended the plot was a let down. (I won't give away the plot but suffice it to say, it should have been done slower and more realistically.)The historical details. Too many details condensed. EG: 100 years of history in three pages. It was like reading a laundry list. I understand from other readers that there are a lot of inaccuracies as well. Too bad. I found the beginning very slow. There were a few chapters from particular character's point of view that were completely irrelevant to the story. I particularly hated one that was a "stream-of-consciousness" chapter. Really irritating. ALL in all. It's an OK book but I wouldn't highly recommend it.
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Summary: A much appreciated gift!
Review: It is a wonderful fictional tale of a father and daughter in Greece during the WWII era and afterwards. This fictional historical tale weaves interesting romance with a somber tale of destruction and then rebuilding of a beautiful Greek island. The book reminds me a little of The English Patient and I highly recommend it. I gave the book to my grandmother who read it in only a few days because it was so captivating.
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Summary: Quite simply, the best fiction I've yet read
Review: I am still captivated by the stunning prose and deep emotional tugs that this novel produced in me. As other reviewers have noted, you need to give this novel about 100-150 pages for the characters to develop (and for the appearance of Captain Corelli). Once you've gotten by this, you will be witness to (IMO) one of the most enduring adventure/romance novels ever written. If you've already read it, read it again. If you haven't, buy it now, and be prepared to be deeply affected.
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Summary: I want to write the perfect review
Review: I finished Corelli's Mandolin almost two years ago. I've been holding off writing this review because each time I get around to it, I feel I'm not up to it. It's just that...this is the finest fiction I've ever encountered and I thought only my best words and thoughts would do it justice. With 2001 underway, I've decided that day is not coming soon - time to do it. I could go on all day about the beauty and intensity of this tale, but I'll restrict my commentary to the three following items: 1. You must give this book 50 pages to settle in. The first 50 will feel like tough slogging. The book does not find its paces until the Italian troops start marching their way to Athens. Then, you're off and running. 2. I urge you to read the book before the movie comes out. Form your own visions of Corelli and Pelagia before having to deal with the images selected by the filmmakers. I won't reveal those names here (you can find them elsewhere if you like), but will only say that the choice for Pelagia is inspired; the choice for Corelli...well, I'm skeptical it'll work. 3. The power of Corelli: I have approached total strangers browsing the fiction section of bookstores and pressed this book into their hands urging they choose this one. Don't pass this up.
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Summary: A modern CLASSIC
Review: very good book. Excellent style , clear and elegant description of characters. A good sense of humor. Dense of hystorical and geographical accurate information. Not a book to read in one night, but never never boring. Really a book that will add something positive to your mind and your feeling. I strongly recommend it.
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Summary: Vivid way to get a history lesson but the forced ending?
Review: I was curious about the dedication to his parents, I couldn't locate any info on them---how did they fight (". . .in different places and different ways . . .") against the Fascists and Nazis? I looked up the Italian General Gandin that the author skewers somewhat unfairly. Using Google.com I found, under Massacres of WWII : "September,1943) Almost unknown outside of Italy, this event ranks with Katyn as one of the darkest episodes of the war. On the Greek island of Cefalonia, in the Gulf of Corinth, the Italian 'ACQUI DIVISION' was stationed. Consisting of 11,500 enlisted men and 525 officers it was commanded by 52 year old General Antonio GANDIN, a veteran of the Russian Front where he won the German Iron Cross. When the Badoglio government announced on September 8, 1943, that Italian troops should cease hostilities against the Allies, there was much wine and merriment on Cefalonia. However, their German counterparts on the island maintained a stony silence and soon began harassing their Italian comrades, calling them 'traitors'. The German 11th. Battalion of Jäger-Regiment 98 of the 1st. Gebirgs-Division, commanded by Major Harald von Hirschfeld, arrived on the island and soon Stukas were bombing the Italian positions. The fighting soon developed into a wholesale massacre when the Gebirgsjäger troops began shooting their Italian prisoners in groups of four beginning with General GANDIN". A good companion book to read is "Cafe on the Nile" a novel which covers the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and the atrocities almost required by the Mussolini's high command. An interesting point was that Italy was a leader in aviation (and the US was not)until the end of WWII.
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Summary: Historical novel, Romance novel, Travel guide in one book!!
Review: My parents are originally from the island of Cephaolina, and I have visited there many times. It was, therefore, a given that I would read this book and be a bit biased to like it. What I found was that I didn't need to be biased to like it; it is a wonderfully-written book in and of itself!! It is a great love-story about forbiden love and the brutally unfair circumstances of war. It is also filled with accurate images of the natural beauty of the island at a time before mass-tourism took its toll. In essence, it is one part historical novel, one part romance novel, and one part travel guide. The combination of parts is superb and the entire novel is brilliantly executed for the most part. I could go on forever about how great the writing is and how worthwhile it is to read and re-read this book. Instead, I'll keep this review short and say that I've recommended this book to several friends (who are not Greek and have not been to Greece) and they've all loved it. One final suggestion: in the next few months, the movie based on this book will premier; read the book first--I can almost guarantee it'll be better than the movie!!
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Summary: A Literary Classic for the Post-Cold War Era
Review: De Bernieres has redefined the historical novel as we came to know it in the twentieth century. He weaves the threads of his story together brilliantly, in a sense telling the whole story of WWII on the minimalist stage of Cephallonia, where even the good villagers know that "objectivity is impossible". Abandoning the simplistic morality of virtually all WWII literature, the story neither demonizes the usual "bad guys" (i.e., the fascists) nor glamorizes the "good guys" (the Resistance, the Allies). Instead, we are forced to accept the fundamental truth that no one's hands are in fact clean. War soils everyone involved. As a Greek, I am stunned by the accuracy with which De Bernieres captures the character of my people. I have never before seen the modern Greeks so masterfully rendered in prose. Their quirks, the rhythm of their speech, their attitudes toward the Orthodox Church are all captured beautifully. On a deeper level, the novel both literally explains and gently portrays the contrast in the Greek character between the "Romios", the Zorba stereotype, full of kefi (spirit) and fury, and the "Hellene", the ascetic, full of brooding intellectual melancholy - the ancient battle for the Greek soul between Dionysus and Apollo, Aphrodite and Athena. De Bernieres insightfully observes that these two sides of the Greek character come together only, as Mussolina learned, when Greece herself is threatened. The significance of the Greek triumph over Mussolini's huge, well-equipped army in 1940-41 cannot be overstated. Up until that point, every nation in Europe which Mussolini and Hitler threatened had been easily overrun by the Axis, effectively leaving only Britain and Greece, at opposite corners of the European continent, out of their empire. The bombing of London was incessant, and England was in despair. Suddenly, unexpectedly, news came over the radio that the Axis were not undefeatable. The poor, ill-equipped Greeks, with no tanks or air force, did not capitulate to the Axis. They refused to join the alliance, and instead fought the invaders with a combination of insane fury and calculated military tactics. Soon Mussolini was in full retreat through Albania, and, while the Greeks would ultimately be overcome months later by the full force of the German military, their fierce resistance was an inspiration to the British and to the world, and the cause of the catastrophic delay in Germany's invasion of Russia. It is interesting that, while Corelli's Mandolin stirred profoundly patriotic feelings in me, almost all of the negative reviews have come from other Greeks. While those readers suggest that their concerns are with such minutiae the novel's inaccurate use of the plural for coffee shop ("kaphenia") where the singular ("kaphenio") is intended, and the use of the term "Cyrillic" for the Greek alphabet, when the Cyrillic alphabet was derived from the Greek alphabet (which is called just that) by St. Cyrus in his efforts to Christianize the Slavs, I suspect that their actual problem with the novel is its unflattering portrayal of the Communist arm of Greek resistance, which, after the Germans retreated, plunged Greece into a brutal civil war. The post-World War II era has seen unbounded glorification of these "freedom fighters" by the Greek left. However, De Bernieres is not alone in his analysis; virtually every outside observer (e.g., Nicholas Gage's "Eleni") is in agreement with the depiction of the Greek Communists in Corelli's Mandolin. Greece is perhaps the only country where the Cold War is still being (internally) fought, and the Greeks are consequently notoriously intolerant of views inconsistent with their own on such matters. It is perhaps the same spirit and fury which De Bernieres has so beautifully captured which so inflames Greek readers of Corelli's Mandolin; for us, "objectivity is impossible". I am therefore pleased to learn that the rest of the world, at least, is able to read and appreciate this novel as a great literary work.
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Summary: A Charming and Intelligent Tale of Love
Review: Corelli's Mandolin is a light and witty story that still manages to be infused with the weight of myth. Set on the tiny Greek island of Cephallonia, Corelli's Mandolin tells the story of Dr. Iannis and his beautiful daughter, Pelagia, against the larger backdrop of the Italian army stationed on the island during World War II. A country doctor without formal education, Dr. Iannis is still very much respected on Cephallonia. He is a gruff man but one who is still loved, both by the islanders and by his motherless daughter, Pelagia. As the older inhabitants of the island listen attentively to reports of war driven by Hitler and Il Duce, Pelagia, herself, is intent on finding love. When the Italian army arrives on Cephallonia, Antonio Corelli, a mandolin player and army captain, comes into the lives of Dr. Iannis and Pelagia. Captain Corelli is a wonderful character, rebellious, irreverent, handsome and exuberant. For a time, all seems to be right in the world of Cephallonia, despite the war that is raging nearby. Harsh reality finally does make its entrance on Cephallonia as well and when it does the clash between the Italians and the Germans turns happiness into atrocity. Captain Corelli and Pelagia are two of the characters who get caught up in the suffering. The book grows darker and darker, and even though the story ends of a note of hope, it is not the hope the reader expected to find. On its surface, Corelli's Mandolin may seem to be a simple love story but it is really so much more. It is a vivid portrait of a fiercely proud community determined to rebel any way they can. It is a picture of the horrors of combat during World War II and it is a commentary against the grandiose schemes of world leaders who desire to shape the lives of others to their own design at any cost. Told in and elegant, witty and stylish manner, Corelli's Mandolin is a tragic but uplifting book that will possess the reader more and more with every page he turns.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant masterpiece
Review: Corelli's Mandolin is a twentieth century War and Peace. I have never been so moved by a novel. The tragedy of war masterfully captured in Greece, birthplace of tragedy. De Bernieres beautifully evokes both humanity's potential for heroism and selflessness and its ability to degrade into brutality and barbarism. He gives us a fascinating history of modern Greece while telling the simple story of good people buffeted by the forces of war. World War II and its aftermath, which so battered the Hellenes, also allowed them to regain their historic stature as the archtype of the European ideal. While the novel is full of sorrow for innocence lost and lives wasted, it is ultimately uplifting. For those of us who have traveled in Greece and learned to love its people and its culture, Corelli's Mandolin is a trip into a familiar land in which, for the first time, you notice its awesome majesty.
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