Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87  ·  rating details  ·  33,622 ratings  ·  1,338 reviews
Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the story of a timeless place that one day wakes up to find itself in the jaws of history. The place is the Greek island of Cephallonia, where gods once dabbled in the affairs of men and the local saint periodically rises from his sarcophagus to cure the mad. Then the tide of World War II rolls ont...more
Paperback, 544 pages
Published August 4th 1997 by Minerva (first published 1994)
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Kristen
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
K.D. Oliveros
Jul 08, 2010 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to K.D. by: 501 Must Read Books; 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010 versions)
Shelves: 1001-core, 501
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
Pat
Mar 30, 2008 Pat rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: folks who know where to stop reading
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 there. The second half of...more
Wendy
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, the inhabita...more
Justin Hudnall
Apr 08, 2008 Justin Hudnall rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Folks who aren't too cool to love non-sarcastic books.
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...
Velvetink
Running throughout the novel is a Homeric theme which I really liked. Imbued with a mythic weight and a delightful tragicomic lightness, Louis de Bernieres' Corelli's Mandolin bursts with tenderness and wit.

Corelli's Mandolin is not in the least a simple love story. It is a portrait of a fiercely proud and independent little community rebelling in what small ways it can. It is a snapshot of the horrors endured by the men in combat during the Second World War. It is a damning commentary on the g...more
Jessica
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 him, so he...more
Elizabeth
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 begins with a p...more
Matthew Klobucher
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
Bethany
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 is occupied by the fascist Italians and some of Hitler...more
Jason
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 together...

de bernieres has creat...more
Book Concierge
What a beautifully written book! I wept; I laughed out loud; I was furious; I was anxious and worried; I gasped in horror; I smiled secret smiles; I rejoiced; I LOVED. All the characters, even the minor ones, come to life. I did think a few chapters could have been edited, as they didn't serve the plot (but DID provide background history of WW II), and I found the ending unsatisfactory. But still, after borrowing it from the library I RAN out and bought it - High praise indeed.

I read it first i...more
Robert Strandquist
Rant: call me shallow; call me impatient; call me Ishmael, but don't call me out for abandoning this novel. I gave up on page 250 out of 435. It's not Berniéres writing style that put me off, in fact he's quite facile; nor is it his satiric tone. I enjoyed the many shifts in narrative voices especially the one by DUCE reveals not only his versatility but also his command of historical events before and during WWII in Europe. Also the cultural tensions between the Greeks and Italians have flavors...more
Martha
"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.
Laura
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 de...more
Bre Cregor
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 gift.

His descriptions of the wa...more
Tocotin
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Clara
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 with Pelagia ag...more
Maya Panika
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 f...more
Stephen Gallup
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
bonnie
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 to investigate them,...more
Coco
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?
Tobias Kask
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 sad destinies of the char...more
Shauna
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 from...more
Reuel
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 Ita...more
Laura
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 small island...more
Maggie
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. Not even Gerard Butle...more
Daisy
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Cleo
Corelli's Mandolin was a book I reviewed very early on in this blog's life. Here is what I said in my first review of it: "I loved the prose style of this historical novel. It's witty and kind of hard to describe, but very distinctive. If you read it, you'll see. I guess it sort of reads like a folktale or a epic quest or something. And the way the book is formatted- and the font is very good. It has "love and death, heroism and skullduggery, humor and pathos, and art and religion... a good old-...more
Becky Powell
If the Harry Potter movies had not followed the book so closely, there would likely have been a riot. Potter-ites everywhere would have been indignant and reviews would have been scathing. But, generally speaking, films adapted from books have a habit of making a hash out of their book.

Such is the case with one of my favorite books, Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Berniere. For those of you who have seen the movie by the same name, but have not read the book, no doubt you think me inane. The film...more
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Corelli's Mandolin (Paperback)
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Novelist Louis de Bernières was born in London in 1954. He joined the army at 18 but left after spending four months at Sandhurst. After graduating from the Victoria University of Manchester, he took a postgraduate certificate in Education at Leicester Polytechnic and obtained his MA at the University of London.

Before writing full-time, he held many varied jobs including landscape gardener, motor...more
More about Louis de Bernières...
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