false 3388 50 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. <p> British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as <i>The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts</i>, <i>Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord</i>, and <i>The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman</i>. 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. <i>Corelli's Mandolin</i> 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. <i>--Alix Wilber</i> 2771048 1994 Captain Corelli's Mandolin total:4510|5:1469|4:1702|3:928|2:289|1:122| 4510 17637 6115 554 1 10 false false Tue Aug 28 22:17:17 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 22:21:38 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 7 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sun Mar 30 17:55:51 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 30 18:10:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 6 false false Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 08 12:08:12 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 08 15:29:46 -0700 2008
The only two horrors ...more...]]> 5 4 false false Sat Dec 27 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 07:38:07 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 09:15:43 -0800 2008
The action centers on the Greek island of Cephalonia, where the village doctor, Iann...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sun Sep 23 11:00:33 -0700 2007 Sun Feb 03 06:37:28 -0800 2008
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 wr...more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Wed Jun 25 15:14:30 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 13:13:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Dec 19 07:00:33 -0800 2008 Tue May 27 15:17:57 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 19 07:00:33 -0800 2008 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 eithe...more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Mon Nov 13 12:50:38 -0800 2006 Mon Nov 13 13:10:32 -0800 2006 more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Aug 17 13:47:22 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 22:56:12 -0700 2007 4 1 false false Wed Feb 25 07:29:56 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 07:32:43 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Jul 02 11:12:42 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 02 11:14:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 06 08:53:03 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 20:56:37 -0700 2007 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 mo...more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Feb 28 15:51:41 -0800 2007 Wed Feb 28 16:04:38 -0800 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Mar 27 15:18:53 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 15:21:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 true false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 27 10:23:46 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 05:32:17 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Feb 19 13:18:11 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 13:26:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 11 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sun Mar 23 15:09:24 -0700 2008 Sat May 10 23:57:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Dec 29 11:07:09 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 25 13:24:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false true Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Dec 11 20:17:30 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 20:25:24 -0800 2008 The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which I also read on her recommendation. So, I put it on my list and found it at the...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 05:15:13 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 07:48:27 -0700 2009 1 Corelli's Mandolin, de Bernières takes his readers on an emotional and highly dramatic journey through World War II in southern Europe.

In this enthralling read, the author focuses on love, friendship, violence and authority during times of struggle and need. He l...more...]]>