Rating: 
Summary: AARGH!
Review: I finished this book last night, screaming, absolutely shocked at DeBernieres's ending. Up until the last 50 pages or so I thought it was the greatest book ever written. I almost wish I hadn't read it, because I'm filled with such rage at what could have been. Maybe that's the point? Now I know what it's like to be Pelagia.
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Summary: Why?why?why?
Review: I loved the journey through this book until the abrupt conclusion. I'm mystified as to why Corelli didn't look for her earlier...this doesn't make sense to me and seems incongruous with their love story. I want to personally clobber Corelli. Repeatedly. Please explain!
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Summary: Live inside it and savour every moment; hilarious, tragic
Review: I look forward to crawling bewtween my sheets each night and living inside this world, even though it is in WW II and I generally shy away from books about war. Yes, it is graphic and gory in parts, but it also shows how humaneness, beauty and hilarity can thrive in the unlikeliest of conditions, in this case the German-Italian occupation of Greece. ***** We get a multi-faceted view of the scene, as De Bernieres puts us into the heads of numerous characters: Benito Mussolini, a homosexual Italian solider, a Greek resistance fighter, a doctor on the Greek island of Kephalonia, his lovely ditzy daughter, and of course, the inimitable Captain Corelli. Every time I come back to another character it is a sheer treat, as I have come to care so deeply about each one that I miss them when I'm with someone else (except for Mussolini!).De Bernieres obviously adores these characters he's created, and has infused them with such profound love that we cannot help but feel it for them as well. ***** One of the rare delights this book offers is its vocabulary. I'm one of those readers who loves to be sent to the dictionary, and I must admit this seldom happens with novels today. With this book I keep a dictionary right beside me and I use it every few pages! This doesn't mean it is a dense, difficult read, and I could skip over the words with which I'm unfamiliar and understand it very well. But to learn so many new words is a bonus, e.g., irredentist, corybantic, suppurating. ***** Even though there is immense tragedy in Captain Corelli's Mandolin, it is often utterly hilarious! Never have I laughed out loud so often with a book. Sometimes, to the chagrin of my husband trying to sleep beside me, I can hardly stop, and continue to silently shake with glee. ***** No, I haven't finished it yet. It's one of those books I love to live inside and am in no rush to finish.
Rating:
Summary: A Book to Treasure
Review: With its heart-wrenching portrayal of larger-than-life characters caught up in the sweep of terrible political and natural forces, this novel manages to reaffirm the beauty as well as the absurdity of the human condition. This is a book that I truly savored, and I will recommend it promiscuously to friends.
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Summary: I found this book to be stunning and lush
Review: De Bernieres always writes with a luscious fluidity and gripping yet delicate prose, this novel being no exception. His character development is the finest in the world and his locative descriptions are dream-worthy and beautiful. This novel will encapsulate you until it is over.
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Summary: I can't get it out of my head!!
Review: Having just finished the book and then read the 95 previous reviewers' comments, I have to agree that it ranks among the best that this English teacher has ever read. Yes, the ending was a disappointment, but I find myself mourning for Psipsina's death, for Pelagia's wasted virgin life, and for the fact that the book is, indeed, over. De Bernieres is a brilliant author. I have recommended the book to everyone, and will now reread it, with dictionary in hand. I also need to order his other books, pronto. Read it and enjoy a tru tour de force.
Rating:
Summary: Read It Now!
Review: This novel has so many twists and turns you would think that you were being throttled by a snake. The time span of the novel is also amazing, being spread over a time span from pre war to almost present day. Comical yet in many parts disturbing, this is a must read book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read all year.
Review: Captain Corelli's Mandolin grabs you and takes you to the Mediterranean. It then forces you to enjoy not only the happiness, but also the heartache of all the characters within the book as their lives unfold, influenced by political decisions made in London, Berlin, Athens and Rome.This book should be read not only by those who enjoy a good narrative and well-constructed characters, but also by those studying the politics of Europe in the 20th Century as it describes in all too graphic detail the human costs of political rhetoric and dogma. Capatin Corelli's Mandolin is a book on many levels and I have no hesitation in recommending everybody to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Magical
Review: So overwhelming with miracle, passion and poignancy, I am left breathless decribing this novel's beauty.
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Summary: Your life will change forever after reading this book.
Review: The profound language of this book is so deeply moving that it will never be forgotten. The joy one feels at the end is tempered by the fact that it really will be 'a hard act to follow'. The very act of writing this review is enough to cause an excitement within ones soul at the memories it invokes. Buy it, read it, recommend it to your friends . Don't lend them your copy , it will disappear into their hearts forever.
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