Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Dec 17, 2009

Kristen rated it:

This is the first time I've ever given a book one star...I actually feel sort of bad doing it. Despite it being well-written, it's pacing was terrible, and I really had to fight to get through it. And then the ending -- oh the ending. After trudging through nearly 600 pages, the ending was about the most unsatisying I have ever read. I literally threw the book against the wall when I was done. And some idiot decided to make a movie out of it, with Nic Cage as Corelli? I can only imagine how awfu More...

7 comments like (18 people liked it)

May 19, 2011

K.D. rated it:

Stunning. Mesmerizing. Remarkable. Beautiful, beautiful love story. I just scanned the 121 books that I've already read belonging to 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and there seem to be not too many books that could be considered as predominantly love stories. There is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but we all knew about it even before actually reading the book so there was no element of surprise. There is Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart but it has fantasy interwoven in the story More...

16 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 30, 2008

Pat rated it:

This is two books. The first half is without doubt one of the best novels I have ever read. The writing (even in translation) is lyrical; clearly, every word was carefully chosen. The characters are exquisitely drawn with humor and humanity. The plot, centering on the Italian invasion of a remote Greek island in WWII, is a wonderfully engaging love story. It flows amiably along to a logical and satisfying, if not quite "happy," ending.
Unfortuntely, things don't stop the More...

11 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Wendy rated it:

Captain Corelli's Mandolin has, unfortunately, become victim to it's own success. It has become one of those books that anyone who is anyone has read and so nobody now wants to read for fear of being a fashion victim. It even features in Notting Hill, Hugh Grant is reading it at the very end of the film when he and Julia Roberts are sitting in the garden. However, don't let this put you off - it's a brilliant book.

The story, briefly, is a typical love story.During the 2nd World War, More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Apr 08, 2008

Justin rated it:

De Bernieres style falls between Vonnegut and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and if that doesn't make your head spin and pants feel hot then I don't know what will. It's ridiculously European, in every good sense of the word. It's an epic romance for nihilists and atheists.

The only two horrors come from the realization that the book is now out of print, and that it was already filmed with Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. Satan's hand is everywhere unseen...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2008

Jessica rated it:

This is a meaty, sweeping, witty, and romantic story about one of the more literarily-neglected corners of World War II, the involvement of Italy and Greece and the occupation by the former of the latter.

The action centers on the Greek island of Cephalonia, where the village doctor, Iannis, tends to the ailments of the locals and raises his beautiful and intelligent daughter, Pelagia. Pelagia's bethrothed, Mandras, disappears into the war, and when he returns, Pelagia no longer loves More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

Unlike the movie, this book is a savory treasure. I've read several books by Bernieres and Corelli's Mandolin is one my favorites. The author has one of those bizarre scattered minds that makes following his plots similar to a carnival fun ride. You never know what is going to happen next. Bernieres's also written a crazy book that takes place in the Andes where this tribe takes peyote or some such drug and they start wandering all over the moutains and have wild dreams.

The book be More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2008

Bethany rated it:

I adored this book. I fell in love with all the words and the beautiful way they all fit together.

But, I do need to say, all the people that I recommended the book to, and the people that I know read the book, did not feel at all the same way.

In addition, the movie was all wrong.

Here is what I wrote about the book when I first read it:

An intelligent, heart pounding, gut wrenching book about a small island in Greece in World War 2. The island More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2008

Jason rated it:

easily one of the best books i've ever read...
so good, i'm reading it again, even though i just did...
horrifying, yet beautiful in the extreme...
a brutally honest exploration into the notions of allegiance, loyalty, and the twisting emotional complexity of the forces that can either tie us together or force us apart...

in the face of betrayal and broken allegiances, corelli's mandolin, like corelli himself, is a force that continually works to pull and tie people tog More...

31 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Matthew rated it:

This apparently little-known book is a jewel. Written with passion and incandescant humor, the novel recreates WWII-era Greece (and to a certain extent, the rest of Fascist-occupied Europe at that time) with striking beauty. The characters are unforgettable and nearly all likeable; raw pathos, tragedy, comedy, and romance are fused into one gripping narrative that defies classification. It is, if anything, an effective composition of high Romance and a coming-of-age story: two classic stories in More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2007

Martha rated it:

"Corelli's Mandolin" is, like "The English Patient", a literate historical romance. It also manages to be a highbrow page-turner, with equal doses of wit and pathos to go with the romance.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2009

Laura rated it:

Let me just say that historical fiction is my favorite genre and Louis de Bernieres is my favorite author among historical fiction...so far. This was an excellent insight into the effects of war on a community, but focused on the soldiers. With a long-standing but complicated romance on the side it appeals to a wide audience. For me, the most memorable scene was the firing range when the shooters didn't want to shoot and one of those being fired upon falls, but is not shot, but lays among the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Bre rated it:

All is well that ends well.

In my mind, this novel did not end well.

There were definitely segments of this novel which warranted 5 stars: Carlos's letters and history, the pamphlet on Mussolini, his short but astute observation on the flaws of symmetry ( which I was especially interested in, being an ardent lover of balance), and La Scala's rehearsals (how I laughed out loud!).

In addition, de Bernieres had that ability to make me hate characters, that is a literary g More...

8 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Tocotin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Clara rated it:

I can't possibly conceive how this book has an average rating of 3.90! I found it to be one of the most moving, entriguing and educative novels and anyone who has a shred of taste should read it.

I think the balance between historical fact, first-person narrative, third-person narrative, monologue and diary was so exquisite it couldn't have been done any better. Yes, I admit that there were times when I skipped a couple of pages of battle-type stuff to get to find out what happens wit More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

GillyP rated it:

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 those who would come after you. An American artist - one of many that passed through our lives - left me her doggy, much-read copy of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, exhorting me to read it; it was `incredible, unbelievable, the greatest book she'd ever read'. I had three attempts at it but never made it past page 30. It More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2008

Stephen rated it:

The author may have tried to accomplish too much with this story. Like Shakespeare and Melville, he includes passages that could practically stand alone as good advice on living or doing something. There are some high-level summaries of historical developments that perhaps do not belong here, at least in that format. There is a certain amount of technical detail about music that left me behind. He could have just deleted the early chapter on Mussolini. And if I wanted to be picky (I don't) I cou More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 05, 2007

bonnie rated it:

I should probably mention that I read this entirely based on http://www.thisonenext.com, and I am quite impressed. This book is absolutely me.

By the second chapter, I had the distinct impressions that this was one of those gems of a book that should not ever, ever, ever be made into a movie, ever. For perspective, I feel this way about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and do not feel it about Lord of the Rings. The problem with these "feelings" is that I won't ever be able More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Coco rated it:

I still feel terrible that I didn't like this book. Many people love it and I feel I missed something. I picked it up the first time and couldn't make it past the first few chapters. The second time, I made myself finish because it was for book club. Some members of the group loved it, but I just didn't. Parts were beautifully written and I enjoyed the historical aspects, but the ending was awful, in my opinion, and the story often tedious. Maybe just one star?

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 29, 2008

Tobias rated it:

Captain Corellis's Mandolin is the bittersweet story about love and war on the Greek island Kefalinia, before, during and after the second world war when the island was annexed by Italian forces. We get to meet a handful of people whose destinies (didn't see that one coming!) are entwined as the page count increases.

Until the last 50 pages or so, it was a four-star book and absorbed the same number of my tears when it lost its tempo and focus.

My mind slips back to the s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2009

Shauna rated it:

I picked this book up at a thrift store when I was looking for some light summer reading. I was really surprised to enjoy it as much as I did. The book is a story of relationships set against the background of a war, but the personalities of the characters elevate the story beyond that of the typical 'love in times of war' novel. Of all the relationships, that between Pelagia and her father is my favorite. I loved the detail of him rearranging the silverware drawer to distract his daughter f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Reuel rated it:

A love story set on the Italian- and German-occupied Greek island of Cephalonia during and a bit after WWII (1940-1954). (Cephalonia, one of the larger Greek islands, is on the west side of the Greek mainland, toward Italy.) The village doctor, a widower, educates his daughter much more than is typical for the island's inhabitants--male or female. He trains her to be his successor. A love triangle develops with the daughter torn between her courageous but illiterate village sweetheart and an It More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Laura rated it:

Chrissie, your book just arrived from Belgium, thanks!!

It took me some time to get into this book since in the beginning they are too many characters to get know through the plot. This is the story of the Italian invasion in the island of Cephalonia in Greece. Captain Corelli is ahead of this invasion and he fells in love with Pelagia who, in the other hand, is also involved with Madras who belongs to a group of Greek partisans. Dr Iannis is the doctor who practices medicine in this More...

8 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

Maggie rated it:

I just can't put into words how I felt about this book. Other than I loved it. There are no comparisons I can make, no adjectives that do it justice. I literally wept with grief and with joy while reading this book. My husband officially thinks I have lost my mind. He may be right. What he doesn't know is that Corelli reminded me so much of him. Like Antonio, Elliot won me with humor; and against my "better judgement." And like Pelagia, once won, I could never love another. No More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 11, 2008

Daisy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 09, 2012

Karo rated it:

Wow. I just finished this book today, and must say that I'm overwhelmed by the experience. Corelli's Mandolin was selected by a book club that I'm in; I don't think that I would have read it otherwise because books and movies about wartime tend to sadden me too much. As did this one, but it was well worth it. I've seen many synopses that paint the novel as a story of a woman torn between two men, and that's not really accurate at all. The book is so much more broad than that, and Pelagia, the bo More...

0 comments like

Nov 01, 2011

Carole rated it:

I'm incredibly picky when it comes to fiction, which is one of the major reasons I tend to read more non-fiction these days. I don't like short books, I don't like easy books, I don't like genre books - I like big thick meaty books, with long complicated sentences and deep themes, the kind of books the critics describe as 'literary fiction'. And it's hard to find good books, which is one of the reasons I tend to return to the same ones over and over.
And I love this book. I can't actually e More...

0 comments like

Oct 02, 2011

Peter rated it:

"Heartwrenching and moving historical-epic-romance-dramatic novel set during the Italian invasion of WWII Greece, as well as 50 years of subsequent history focusing on the lovely and spirited Pelagia, her lover, the reluctant Italian Captain (and musician) Antonio Corelli, and the memorable cast of characters in her village.

Exploring themes of love, lust, romance, war, death, life, etc...basically all the great questions you can think of, I cannot recommend this novel enough. T More...

0 comments like

Mar 24, 2011

Caroline rated it:

I'm incredibly picky when it comes to fiction, which is one of the major reasons I tend to read more non-fiction these days. I don't like short books, I don't like easy books, I don't like genre books - I like big thick meaty books, with long complicated sentences and deep themes, the kind of books the critics describe as 'literary fiction'. And it's hard to find good books, which is one of the reasons I tend to return to the same ones over and over.

And I love this book. I can't actual More...

0 comments like

Mar 01, 2011

Karl rated it:

Correlli's Mandolin is the story of a woman named Pelagia and of a community on the Greek island of Cephallonia. Cephallonia is an idealized small community on an island paradise, which is horribly affected by World War 2. Bernieres does a great job of both creating a paradise and showing the impacts that larger forces of Fascism and Communism wreaked upon it. I challenge someone to read this book and not want to live in this beautiful, historic and wonderful place and with these charming and i More...

0 comments like

reviews