Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (Epub)

Description

In 1941, Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer is posted to the Greek Island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. His aim is to have a peaceful war and he soon becomes popular with the islanders especially the doctor’s daughter, Pelagia. But she has a fianc? who is away fighting the war …A stunning novel of joy and sorrow – not to be missed.

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Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ This book was recommended to me when I was in the American Book Store in Paris. At the time he said that its a book that you will not put down. When I first tried to read it and put it down and go back to it. Then I was so involved in the story, in the characters that I could not put it down. He told me when he recommended it that it might take a few starts. He was on target. When you choose to spend a few hours in the world of Captain Correlli you will want to share this book with people that you really care about since it is soo special. Its a book to reread. Don’t watch the movie,its alien to the book. when I was on the last page, I thought what could match this now as a most incredible read. For a while nothing. It stays with you. you care about the characters and I laughed I cried was sad and its in my bookcase as Captain Correlli’s Mandolin and as Corelli’s Mandolin. the US and bought in Paris copies. Writing this review perhaps its time to open it again.

⭐ I may be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever written a review in which I’ve called a book a “masterpiece,” but there is a first time for everything, and this is the time. There are so many ways to describe this book that I’m not even sure where to begin, but let’s try a few. It’s wonderful historical fiction, writ small — it takes place on a Greek island during WWII; it’s not about vast armies or great issues of diplomacy, but about humble people and all they celebrate and are subjected to in a most horrible time. The writing is brilliant, and the book has so many passages of great wit and great tenderness that I lost count. The book is impressionistic — in fact, it starts out so slowly that I wasn’t sure I could get through it; there are seemingly random details and episodes that don’t flow seamlessly into one another. Then they do, and it’s like the coming together of different themes in a great piece of music — if you’re into opera, think of the final trio in Der Rosenkavalier, which to this day, after dozens of hearings, still makes me shiver with its beauty.I think I’ve made my point, so rather than belabor the issue, I’ll just say that this book restored my faith in the novel.I’ll also say that, as noted above, this book requires some perseverance; it’s not easy to get into, but it is well worth it when you do.

⭐ This has to be the best book I have read this year. DeBernieres has woven a masterpiece out of words that flow into each other in what I can only call poetic philosophy. It has all the elements that I want in a book: historical fiction, varied and intriguing points of view expounded by unforgettable characters, , comedy, tragedy, deep love, loss, despair and redemption.I love a book that truly stretches my knowledge of history, touches chords of recognition over and over, and sends me to the dictionary often. I have read a lot over 55 years and pride myself on having an extensive vocabulary which I actually use on a daily basis, but Dr Bernieres challenged me to to a fuel of verbal pyrotechnics which he invariably won.The story centers on the Greek island of Cephalonia from the thirties to the nineties, focusing on the constant stream of invaders and catastrophes suffered by the tenacious population. But it’s not just the story that grabs you; it’s the way the story is told. There are sections of stream of consciousness writing, almost prose poetry, that sucked me into a vortex of thought that I found impossible to pull out of until the author finished and let go of my mind. I know I sound a bit pompous and grandiose, but I feel a deep connection to this book. In some ways it reminded me of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose without the medieval whodunit aspect, but rather shares with that book a eloquence and profundity of thought. If you’re looking for an easy read, this is not the book for you, but if you love to get lost in a book while following the flow of an interesting mind, you must experience this imaginative creation.

⭐ Corelli’s Mandolin is a passionate, inventive, funny, and extravagant novel. Set on the Ionian island of Cephallonia in Greece during the Second World War, the novel is largely the story of the local physician, Dr. Iannis, and his attractive, but willful, daughter Pelagia. The story follows Pelagia’s first love with Mandras, a local fisherman who leaves to fight in the war. Soon after, Cephallonia is invaded by Italian soldiers. An Italian captain, Antonio Corelli, is assigned to live in their home, where he soon begins a romantic intrigue with Pelagia. The novel has a long list of eccentric and engaging minor characters: Carlo, the secretively gay soldier, the strong man Velisarios, the wonderfully curious Lemoni, and Pelagia’s pet pine marten, Psipsina. Some of these characters even carry their own storyline.Although it could be called a historical romance, Corelli’s Mandolin is also a biting political satire. It chronicles the horrors and absurdity of war, as well as the boredom of occupation. It abounds with all the grand topics of literature. De Bernières is a master of the written word and a gifted storyteller. There are rich characterizations and witty dialogue; at times I laughed out loud. However the book is not without problems. The introduction seems long and disjointed (Captian Corelli doesn’t show up until you’re a third of the way through the story), and the ending seems drawn-out and unpersuasive. However, if you will patiently wait and you’re your way through, a story well worth reading emerges.

⭐ Usually we read a book, and, if we enjoy it, we go see the movie when it comes out. Often we are disappointed with the movie. In this case I saw the movie before I read this book. I loved the movie but was hesitant about Mr. De Bernieres, having read somewhere that he was something of a surrealist, and I prefer straight storytelling. “Corelli’s Mandolin” is a wonder of a book: full of great characters, a beautifully described setting, and lots of tension and conflict. Dr. Iannis lives on the island of Cephallonia with his daughter Pelagia, who serves as his housekeeper and apprentice. She is engaged to a local fisherman who is going off to fight the Italians in Albania. With the help of the Germans, the Italians are defeated in Albania, and the Italians, Captain Antonio Corelli among them, occupy the island. Corelli is billeted in Dr. Iannis’s house and soon Pelagia and he fall in love. When the Italians surrender to the Allies, the Germans take control of the island the Italians are massacred , but Corelli survives and the Greeks help him escape. The last third of the book tells Pelagia’s story after Corelli leaves. She never marries and has a hard, uncertain life. It is only when she has reached old age that Corelli returns to find her. This last part of the book is not as good as the first two thirds. It is told in narrative summary as you would read in a history book. If I were the author I think I would have ended “Corelli’s Mandolin” when he escaped from Cephallonia, and written a second novel about Pelagia’s life afterward. That way he would have the room to tell her story fully with characters and dialogue and immediate scenes. It is easy to see why none of this made it into the movie. Despite this criticism, I fully recommend “Corelli’s Mandolin”.

⭐ It took me awhile to get into the book since it starts off with monologues by whom we are really never introduced. There are also quite a bit of Greek words that are not explained. You get the meanings, eventually. Basically it takes place on a little Greek Island that has been occupied at different times by the Turks, The British, the Italians and the Germans. It is around the time of World War II. The Nazis are brutal in their killings and torture – rather graphically described. Basically there are two love affairs mostly involving the pretty daughter of a self taught, selfless doctor and Corelli (who is one of the Italian occupiers). There is also a love affairs between a homosexual military hero Carlo, who falls in love with Corelli and another military man. Neither object of his love are aware and nothing is consummated – it is his Carlos’s secret and it tortures him. As the book progresses it more and more becomes the unrequited love story of Corelli and the doctor’s daughter with much drama of near death, actual deaths and separation. The characters of the Village are well written and colorful. It certainly held my attention although the ending was a bit obvious. Atter reading it I heard that it had been made into a film. I’ll look it up….

⭐ Great use of language The author used a creative structure to tell the story from multiple points of view. There was no narrator per se. Most of the book was written using the writings of various characters in the book — excerpts from diaries, letters from the battlefront, excerpts from a book being written by a historian, etc. Each voice was distinct, which added a rich texture to the narrative. Some of the vignettes were chilling and beautiful. The ending sucked. The first 90% of the book was detailed and well crafted. The last couple chapters were disjointed and vague. It felt like the author was not sure how to finish the book, or that he grew tired of the book and slapped a random ending to the novel just to get it off his to-do list.

⭐ The book is pretentious from its title to its plotting to its scenes of abject horror which often seem to be aimed at titillation. As one who loves words, I hated seeing “pellucid” and “vertiginous” alongside “orientated.” If the book had not been historically accurate, I would not have put up with the horrors upon horrors followed by greater horror that the author dumped upon his characters.Despite it all, I found it difficult to put this book down. Although the characters are fictional and some of the individual incidents contrived, the story largely mirrors the experiences real people suffered on the Greek Islands, and particularly Cephallonia, during and immediately after WW II. This is a chapter of that war rarely noticed. We see a people caught between ancient history and modern politics in a rapidly-changing geopolitical landscape. From the rape of Albania to the wholesale slaughter of “traitorous” Italian troops, the book captures the reality of what happened through the story of the village doctor, his daughter, and the men who compete for her love. My love-hate relationship with this story ends with four stars.

⭐ This is my second book by Louis de B. and each is a masterpiece of it own kind. It takes sometime to get into it but never fails to take you to a deeply researched in excruciating detail. It delivers feeling and emotions. You became attached to its characters and they became a part of your memory and you always go back and think about them. It’s a masterpiece …

⭐ I started this book while in Greece on vacation and finished it after returning home to New York. I recently read several other books where the setting was Greece but this was the only one which covered the time period which included World War 2. 1) The novel had great characters and a great setting. One is transported to the time and place while reading the book. I was totally invested in the story. 2) A sweeping history of Greece and the island of Cephalonia is provided. I have read many WW2 books, both fiction and non-fiction, but I was unfamiliar with the role/date of Greece in the war before reading this boom. 3) The only reason I have the book 4 stars instead of 5, is that the author’s neEd to tell such a complete history of Greece tends to at times get in the way of the story. For example, while pages are devoted in listing every item sold in a souvenir shop, or the prayers of a priest, or some other topic, which can easily be skipped after reading the first paragraph on the subject. Also, story the post WW2 in my opinion was not as satisfying, again because less time was spent on the character than the historical trends.All in all the it is a sweeping historical novel and should be on any top ten fiction list of books to read taking place in Greece.

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