Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Bu kitab sayəsində Yunanıstan barədə bir xeyli məlumat topladım. Müharibə faktoru kitabın ən önəmli müsbət cəhəti idi. Roman boyu Kefaloniya adlı kiçik adanın əhalisinin müharibədən nə qədər təsirləndiyinin şahidi oluruq. Bu adanı çox sevdim. Bir-birinə təzad insanlarını da. Bu gözəl, kiçik yunan adasının başına gələnlərə mən də kədərləndim. Çünki roman ağır hadisələr və insan dramları ilə dolu idi. Fikrimcə İannis həkim çox parlaq personaj kimi alınıb. Həm də romanda maraqlı yan personajlar vardı. Ümumiyyətlə, məncə, bu hekayənin ən gözəl tərəfi odur ki, onun ağırlığını hiss edib, baş qəhrəmanın ötürdüyü zamanın nə qədər kədərli olduğunun şahidi olasan. Hiss edirsən ki, həyat onun içindən keçib, onun üçün nə qədər əzablı bir boşluq, yarımçıqlıq qoyub... Pelagiyanın dediyi bir ifadə onu hərtərəfli izah edirdi: “Mən yarımçıq bir şeir kimiyəm”...

Mənfi cəhətlərinə gəldikdə, bəzən uzunçuluğa rast gəlirdim, bəzən mənə görə artıq detallar vardı amma ümumi abu-hava yaxşı idi. Sevgi hekayəsinin məni sıxacağını düşünürdüm başlayanda, amma düzünü desəm bütün bunların arasında sevgi xətti heç məni narahat etmədi də. Amma Korellinin sondakı hərəkətinə əməlli əsəbləşdim...Nəysə, spoylersiz.

n  "Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away."n
—Doctor Iannis.


Απαπα!
Why, oh why did I wait twenty years to read this enchanting novel?

Being something of a contrarian, I didn't succumb to the rampant Corellimania that existed after this novel's release in 1994, but I'm especially pleased that I have now righted this wrong.
Bernières serves up a Greek wartime love story that is as multi-layered as a Sunday moussaka.
Set on the Ionian island of Cephalonia during Italian and German WWII occupation, the book hits the ground running. Before you’ve even sniffed the mezze, Louis conjures up a delightful opening scene in Dr Iannis's surgery that should have you chuckling out loud before you can shout taramasalata!

Admittedly, Bernières does go off the rails for a bit, retreating into a one-man word orgy, all too pleased with his own authorial genius. This results in some superfluity in the early chapters.
But don't worry, stick with it, fellow bibliophiles; once this frippery subsides, the main players are introduced and the story gathers momentum.
Doctor Iannis, and daughter Pelagia, are the beating heart of a modern fable that even Aesop would have been proud to put his name to.
Girl-power-Pelagia, whose presence is intrinsic to the story, is brought up to be fiercely independent, as her father knows only too well that wartime Greece is resolutely patriarchal.
We also learn about in-the-closet, Italian man-mountain, Carlo Piero Guercio, who was previously sent on a suicide mission to wintry Albania (where beards became stalactites and soldiers purposely shit themselves in order to savour some momentary warmth).
Happily, Carlo's repressed homosexuality, and his unassailable bravery, is written with the nobility it deserves.
"I am exploding with the fire of love and there is none to accept it or nourish it," he laments.

Apparently, Bernières has done a huge disservice to the memory of the real-life Greek freedom fighters, who fought valiantly against their oppressors; but, from a purely artistic standpoint, the timeless futility of war is exemplified within these pages to such a degree that it makes Catch-22 seem a mere Catch-11 in comparison.

Enter reluctant warrior, Captain Antonio Corelli, heading a ragtag troop of Italian soldiers who march into Cephalonia pulling funny faces and blowing kisses at signorinas.
You might be pleased to know that despite a copious infusion of delightful humour, the author ensures that the stark horrors of war are not expunged. And there is a passage, approaching the last part of the book, that is so lion-hearted, so profoundly sad, and so utterly moving that I had to put the book down to allow my emotion to subside.

The populace, and the soldiers themselves, are starving, but between the rocks of such hardship, fragile love affairs begin to blossom. And, as in all good love stories, there is a great deal of sacrifice and heartache to be found. One such example is that heroic Carlo secretly harbours a profound amore for Captain Corelli which, crushingly, has to remain secret.

By the end of this sweeping, tragicomic epic, I have a feeling that most of you will have grown to love Carlo, Antonio, Iannis and Pelagia as much as I did.
Such was my excitement in the reading of this book I, of course, began smashing plates on the kitchen floor, shouting “Opa!”

God, it was truly a great read, fully deserving of all five stars!

The writing was brilliant! The author moved from biting humor lampooning one or another political power to heartbreaking confessions of longing and loneliness, from the tender dialogue between a father and his only child to the laugh-out-loud antics of drunken soldiers with equal skill. Even minor characters came to life with memorable clarity. I thought I disliked romances and had my fill of WWII novels, but I was wrong. I could have finished this in a few days, I simply did not want to put it down, but I forced myself to read it in small chunks so I could make it last as long as possible. I am certain this will make the list of my favorite books of the year.

My memory is hazy... But I did recall not being especially entranced. Like, stunned, because the reviews were so glowing and I read a soppy romance, with Romantic nuances which I did not connect to. Hmm... Oddly, similar to this latest Italian wonder everyone is raving over, and who moved me not at all. (Elena Ferrente). Maybe it has to do with genetics, and the response to the Latin overtures, to which I seem immune !?!

3.5*
Mislila sam da je nikad neću završiti. Zaista jedna fenomenalna knjiga koja je previše dugačka i bespotrebno naporno napisana. Lično mi je najveći problem taj što autor nije mogao da se odluči da li piše istorijsku knjigu ili ljubavnu priču, obe teme idu u ekstrem- istorija je previše istorijski napisana, a ljubavni delovi su previše "ljubavni" odnosno naivni, patetični itd. pogotovo na kraju.

S druge strane, sjajno prikazana istorija Grčke za vreme i nakon 2. svetskog rata i nekoliko baš odličnih misli.

Řecký ostrov, přes který se převalily dějiny. Ta kniha je vlastně hlavně o lásce, o přátelství a o tom, co pro sebe lidi dovedou udělat, když k sobě patří (a nemyslím to jen partnersky). Vlastně jsem ji otevřel proto, že vyšlo nové vydání a já si tak po letech chtěl smazat jeden literární dluh, malý hřích. Má to pomalejší rozjezd, ale díky němu se přenesete do doby a na to místo a pak už si jen užíváte úžasnou atmosféru šestého největšího řeckého ostrova. Budete se smát (hodně), budete plakat (nejen na konci) a vůbec, ani trochu, se vám nebude chtít z toho světa odejít. Na konci jsem popoháněl oči, aby četly co nejrychleji, protože jsem hrozně potřeboval vědět, jak to dopadne. Je to komplexní, mnohovrstevnatá kniha, na kterou nezapomenu.

Dnes nebo zítra si chci pustit film, snad mě nezklame.

Quite possibly up there as one of the best novels I have ever read. It's taken me a long time (for me) to finish it but it's that sort of book it needs to be read slowly and enjoyed. It is moving, controversial, educational, informative, beautiful, romantic and startling.

It is funny in a very dry way, it is sad and made me cry on more than one occasion. It is at times brutally honest. It takes no prisoners as it denounces the Second World War and each countries part in it for what they really are!

It's not one of those books that could really be read more than once but if you haven't read it, you should!

i am unforgiven, since I have forgotten having read that book as well... the fact was that I enjoyed it... I read many years ago, still a student in high school, in my english class. I read it even before the movie. I enjoyed the book at that period of time and I liked the idea that a foreigner chose to write something about Greece (before Victoria Hislop). I think his main point of views were ok and he didn't write something "bad" about Greece or the resistance (I don't remember specifically what he wrote though...) One thing I remember learning from that book was that Italians had a mediterrenean "tamperamento" which was similar to the greek way, so even though they occupied greek houses, they all had fun together. After italians and german became enemies, greeks pleasantly offered refuge to italians in their own houses. This act is very generous and it carries a strong anti-war message: people usually have nothing that seperates them, but many things that unite them!