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Captain Corelli's Mandolin [Paperback]

Louis de Bernieres (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (349 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Jun 1998

THE MULTIMILLION COPY BESTSELLER.

It is 1941 and Captain Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the Greek island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals, but as a conscientious but far from fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he proves in time to be civilised, humorous - and a consumate musician.

When the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiancé - and members of the underground - go unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?

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Product details

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Vintage; First Paperback Edition edition (1 Jun 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0749397543
ISBN-13: 978-0749397548
Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 2.8 x 19.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (349 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #89 in Books > Fiction > War

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Product Description

Amazon 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

"Hypnotic...a vast tapestry woven in tiny, colourful, intricate detail...a graphic and moving commentary on the futility of war. This magical book stayed in my head long after I had finished it" (Marian Keyes)

"A wonderful epic novel...it has made him a name to conjure with. Both on the large and the small scale it is an absorbing and memorable book...the sweep, invention and warmth of the novel carries one effortlessly along" (Derwent May The Times)

"Captain Corelli's Mandolin achieves that rare feat of saying something new about war...fusing with remarkable felicity the cosmic and the tragic, the lyrical and the epic... And without offering easy answers, it poses difficult questions about love and suspicion, trust and betrayal, faith and despair, creativity and destruction" (André Brink Times Literary Supplement)

"Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh...he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste" (Evening Standard)

"An emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings with wide smoothnes s between joy and bleakness, personal lives and history...it's lyrical and angry, satirical and earnest" (Observer)

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "Strength needs no excuses, does not have to give reasons." 1 Sep 2005

By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAME TOP 100 REVIEWER

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

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Wartime Love Story! 16 Sep 2008

By Young Stevie

Format:Paperback

This book is a fantastic read that starts toward the end of World War 2 and covers generations.
The tale tells of a young Greek girl and an eccentric Italian Captain finding love during the Italian "occupation" of the Greek island of Cephallonia, although the Italian army hardly treats it as such due to disenchantment with having to fight for reasons & ideals they do not share with their leaders.
The author creates extremely tangible scenes, people & feelings that you're left feeling like you really knew the characters & places.
There are a few strange plot-holes but this in no way detracts from the overall story and I was actually quite gutted that it had to end!
A really good read that everyone will enjoy & appreciate I think.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a warm, comic romance 6 Jan 2002

By A Customer

one of my favourites of all time, as it is not only hilarious and romantic, but vividly descriptive and horribly tragic, all at the same time. whatever you do, don't watch the film! it's a terrible attempt to recreate the magic of the novel, and fails badly.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming Classic

Brilliant, well written book based on true events.
A tragic love story set during the second world war. Read more

Published 5 days ago by John Dawson

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read

I never saw the film but this book was recommended to me and now I'm recommending it to everyone else.

Published 24 days ago by ruth Portway

5.0 out of 5 stars magical

I read this book some years ago and was swept away by the magical setting and zany, almost Catch 22-style storyline. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Coojy

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb

As usual with Louis de Bernieres a cracking good read.

Quite "wordy" but wonderful and very informative about the war and the effect on other European countries. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Janey Dal

2.0 out of 5 stars Sent it back

I needed a certain edition for my A-Level - the one that is in this picture. However, it turned out to be an older edition when I got it, so I had to send it back

Published 1 month ago by Miss Earnshaw

4.0 out of 5 stars A realistic Greek novel

Anybody – like myself – who loves Italy and Greece, will be enthusiastic about this novel. It is not only a story of love, but a description of Italian and Greek mentality,... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Arne Gunnarsjaa

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic

A wonderful piece of modern literature that will surely become an enduring classic. You will laugh and cry along with this cast of richly painted characters and fall in love with... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Bob

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly wonderful book

Agree wholeheartedly with the other 5 star views .... this is a wonderful read that will quietly draw you in. One thing to mention 'tho. Read more

Published 3 months ago by MR S PAGE

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyed this emotional journey

This book has sat on my shelf for quite some time, having become over addicted to the use of the Kindle, but finally I decided it was time to read the book. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Michelle Muckley

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't even think about watching the film before you've read this

This is one of my favourite books ever. It's so complex and written in such a beautiful way. The film manages to cut out some of the most pivotal and explanatory scenes.

Published 3 months ago by Mike

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