Captain Corelli's Mandolin (Vintage Classics)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Captain Corelli's Mandolin is set in the early days of the second world war, before Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn't so bad--at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of "Heil Hitler" with his own "Heil Puccini", and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn't long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair--despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyone it touches.
British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island--the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins--would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives. Captain Corelli's Mandolin works on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.
Review
"Brims with all the grand topics of literature -- love and death, heroism and skull-duggery, humor and pathos, not to mention art and religion...A good old-fashioned novel."
--"Washington Post Book World"
"An exuberant mixture of history and romance, written with a wit that is incandescent"
--"Los Angeles Times Book Review"
"Stunning...A high-spirited historical romance...Remarkable."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"His novel will give pleasure to all sorts of readers. It is also so good that it will last."
--A.S. Byatt writing in "Evening Standard
"
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin is an emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothness between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history...it's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest."
--"Observer
"
"A wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and tremendous iridescent charm."
--Joseph Heller
"It is funny, heartbreaking, and horrifying in its fictional testimony....Captain Corelli's Mandolin, delightful and sad, comic and at the same time nearly unbearable in its portrayal of European darkness during the war, is a tour de force depiction of the triumph of life over evil by one of Europe's great comic writers of our time."
--"Booklist
"
"Dazzling....a fabulous book in the tradition of Tolstoy and Dickens....So joyous and heartbreaking, so rich and musical and wise, that reading it is like discovering anew the enchanting power of fiction."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
--"Washington Post Book World"
"An exuberant mixture of history and romance, written with a wit that is incandescent"
--"Los Angeles Times Book Review"
"Stunning...A high-spirited historical romance...Remarkable."
--"The New York Times Book Review"
"His novel will give pleasure to all sorts of readers. It is also so good that it will last."
--A.S. Byatt writing in "Evening Standard
"
"Captain Corelli's Mandolin is an emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothness between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history...it's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest."
--"Observer
"
"A wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and tremendous iridescent charm."
--Joseph Heller
"It is funny, heartbreaking, and horrifying in its fictional testimony....Captain Corelli's Mandolin, delightful and sad, comic and at the same time nearly unbearable in its portrayal of European darkness during the war, is a tour de force depiction of the triumph of life over evil by one of Europe's great comic writers of our time."
--"Booklist
"
"Dazzling....a fabulous book in the tradition of Tolstoy and Dickens....So joyous and heartbreaking, so rich and musical and wise, that reading it is like discovering anew the enchanting power of fiction."
--"San Francisco Chronicle"
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1995, Captain Corelli's Mandolin follows for sixty years the life of Pelagia and those who love her, beginning in World War II, when she and her father, a doctor on the small Greek island of Cephalonia, first get drawn into the war. Attractive and intelligent, Pelagia thinks herself in love with Mandras, an illiterate Greek fisherman who leaves for war. When the island is overtaken by the ineffectual Italian army, Captain Antonio Corelli is billeted in their small house. Corelli, whose response to "Heil, Hitler" was once "Heil, Puccini," is a musician, a mandolin player, who quickly establishes a singing group (meeting in the company's latrines) in preference to waging war. By the time the wounded Mandras returns, Pelagia and Corelli are in love.
Author deBernieres vividly depicts the various political movements which play out in Cephalonia--the Italian occupation; the German "cleansing" in which the Germans, nearly defeated in Europe, exact revenge on the Italians who have, with a change of government, withdrawn their support; and the later Communist insurgency in Greece and their opposition by fascist partisans. Always connecting these events to the lives of Pelagia, her father, Mandras, and Corelli, the author gracefully depicts the impact of political changes on the lives of ordinary people.
The horrors of the German revenge on the Italians reflect the wartime mentality and contrast with the good feelings various participants have been able to engender on a personal level. With the withdrawal of the Italians and Germans, the horrors of internecine warfare within the Greek community, and the extremes to which partisans, including Mandras, are willing to go are subjected to microscopic views.
DeBernieres is equally adept at contrasting idealistic young love with the institutionalized mindlessness of political passion, the love of the arts and history with the expediencies of political dogma, and one's personal commitments to other individuals with the commitments to ideologies. Realistic at the same time that it is also romantic, the novel conveys the absurdities of politics and places them within the context of real life. The author's exuberant, descriptive style enlivens the present in Greece while also emphasizing the culture of the past, leading the reader to recognize, ultimately, that in all times, wherever one finds wit and humor, one also finds pathos lurking in the background. Mary Whipple
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book while on holiday in Crete, which is not quite Kefalonia but was bright, warm and relaxed enough to heighten the senses. I was aware of the film, though had not seen it, and that a friend had found the book a good read. Nevertheless, I wasn't sure I would enjoy it when I took the book with me. Once I started reading I was completely captivated. The quality of Louis des Bernieres' writing was excellent and his ability to paint a vivid picture of life on Kefalonia during the war while intertwining it with wider events in the Greek theatre made for a really good read. To place within this a love story which was both tender and tragically unrequited makes him a very special author. The characterization of all the players in the book is built to a level that draws the reader into their world, whether it be Dr. Iannis or Mandras the fisherman, Carlo Guercio or Father Arsenios, or the two main characters, Antonio or Pelagia, and ensures that the fate of all the characters is cared about. Thus the ultimate act of love of Carlo, the final anger of Fr Arsenios and of course the fate of Pelagia bring emotional highs and lows with them. The book is 533 pages long and not one word is wasted, don't miss it, you will feel better for reading it!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Vaguely remembering the review in TIME International about the movie based on this story, I Googled the key phrase, "Captain Torelli's Trampolin"! The Good old Google came back, saying: "Did you mean Captain Corelli's Mandolin?", and luckily Amazon had it as an audio book!
I was particularly impressed by Robert Burns narrating the story, as remembering him from his double acts with Jasper Carrot, I didn't think he could pull it off.
There are two movies that once I learned about the actual sources, I could never bring myself to watch again; Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the other.
What the casting director though when Nicholas Cage was chosen for the part of Captain Corelli, I am not sure if I want to know! The choice for Pelagia and her father on the other hand appears to be just about right. Mandras turns out to be a more complex character than the selfless hero depicted in the movie adaptation.
I have listened to the narrative several times now, and I guess it is time to stop.
I was particularly impressed by Robert Burns narrating the story, as remembering him from his double acts with Jasper Carrot, I didn't think he could pull it off.
There are two movies that once I learned about the actual sources, I could never bring myself to watch again; Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the other.
What the casting director though when Nicholas Cage was chosen for the part of Captain Corelli, I am not sure if I want to know! The choice for Pelagia and her father on the other hand appears to be just about right. Mandras turns out to be a more complex character than the selfless hero depicted in the movie adaptation.
I have listened to the narrative several times now, and I guess it is time to stop.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
True Vintage
I had just finished Corelli Barnet's 'Engage the Enemy More Closely' and the Corelli link prompted me to turn to this classic. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ovalbloke
Great book
I read this book when it was first published and bought this copy for my partner who hadn't heard of it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by tigger
A book of three parts
When I was living in Cuba, books in English were a precious commodity amongst the expat community. You read them, you passed them on - when you went home, you left them behind for... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Book Critic
Perseverence is the key to Captain Corelli
The book starts in a whimsical way, then it becomes slightly obscure in the company of Mussolini and shortly after that it becomes intensely depressing and not easy to read. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Captain Tweaky
book
Book arrived promptly, in condition as described would use this provider again, very good to deal with thank you very much
Published 6 months ago by R. Ead
Really don't understand its popularity...
I'm studying this book at the moment for A-Level English Literature, and perhaps it's because I'm studying it in a great deal of depth, but I'm seriously struggling to grasp why... Read more
Published 6 months ago by ThomasJoy
A feast
I'm sure I cannot add to the erudite 5-star reviews of this book, but would just like to add my rating here, as it is one of the very best books I've ever read. Read more
Published 8 months ago by D. Took
Not a fan
Read this book when it was first out, after all the hype, found it very boring. Very glad when I got to the end but it was a real effort. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Insomnia
the best book i have ever read
i recently picked this book up in a charity shop before going on holiday, recalling that it had been 'all the rage' a few years ago. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Charlie B
Why one star?
Wonderful, evocative book, tasted, saw and breathed Greece. It transported me, made me care about the characters, some more than others admittedly. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lexie
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