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 warfront were perfect.

There were two areas where this author failed me as a reader.

First, it seemed de Bernieres was caught in Peter Jackson's dilemma as he came to the conclusion of the epic LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy: Return of the King.

How to end it?

Louis could have ended it tragically 70 pages from where he did, and I would have accepted this finale to this novel, so replete with heartbreaks and horrors. To attempt a semi-happy ending, after building and building in new characters for the sake of getting there was less than satisfying, though I am forever an admitted hopeless romantic.

Secondly, there were elements of fiction which became more like fantasy, and I was too often transported between believing the characters and their experiences ( and many were all too real) and then a few pages later thinking, "Now why did he write that?"

This book was definitely written with genius, but there were times I felt the author wanting to please the reader, rather than taking the storyline where it was meant to go.

Corelli's words on symmetry:

"Symmetry is only a property of dead things. Did you ever see a tree or a mountain that was symmetrical? It's fine for buildings, but if you ever see a symmetrical human face, you will have the impression that you ought to think it beautiful, but that in fact you find it cold. The human heart likes a little disorder in its geometry...Look at your face in the mirror...and you will see that one eyebrow is a little higher than the other, that the set of the lid of your left eye is such that the eye is a fraction more open than the other. It is these things that make you both attractive and beautiful, whereas...otherwise you would be a statue. Symmetry is for God, not for us."

TRUE! Symmetry is for God! That is why when I come across a human face that has symmetry, I know it is one that our Maker spent a little more time on, and thus I am intrigued. Perhaps, it's a form of envy. I am anything but symmetrical, given my scoliosis-ridden spine, my right eye that slants uncontrollably downward in the corner, my teeth that will never line up like a nice white picket fence (no matter how many times they're braced), and my brows, which need constant herding into semi-orderly arches...and don't even get me started on my fingers.

Any man I have every loved has been statuesque. My dream home would be carefully balanced, like the Parthenon. Even the keyboard of pianos, beautifully laid out with 88 keys satisfy my love of symmetry.

Corelli you were right. Symmetry is for God, and thank goodness His perfection occasionally manifests itself in our imperfect world.

DNF at 20% (page 100).

I bought this in a 2nd hand bookstore because I enjoyed the writing on the first few pages. After many years sitting on my shelves I brought it with me on vacation in Kefalonia because it was set there. I hoped it will make the reading experience a lot more interesting. I am not sure what went wrong. The writing seems funny and elaborate but it was such a chore to advance. I felt I was running in the sand. I almost never opened the book with anticipation and I preferred to finish another book instead. I think the writing is too flourished, it gave me the impression that the author thinks too much of himself and his book, trying too hard to be funny and serious at the same time. The result was tedious for me but many seem to like his writing.

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 awful it must have been.

Strange... I heard mostly good things about this book, but it's quite boring so far. The author is apparently in love with his style, which is getting tedious. The longer the words, the better (he loves the word "malodorous" for some reason).

The images and characters are rather stereotypical: of course the Greek island is beautiful and sunny, the people picturesque and stupid in this special "ethnic", endearing way; when he's describing a group of inmates of the local lunatic asylum, of course one of them must be an exhibitionist; the village must have a freethinking doctor, a conservative and a communist... oh well.

All right, I've finished. Frankly, I'm disappointed. I assumed the book was funny, touching and a little crazy, and it turned out to be pompous, cliched and unoriginal and OMG BORING! I couldn't care for a single character (not even Psipsina the pine marten), I hated them all, I couldn't believe either in their motivations or in their feelings. They were completely cardboard, the lot of them: the villagers, the beautiful Pelagia, the good and wise doctor methodically pissing on her herbs, the good Italians, the goofy and good British, the ugly and hideous communists, the inhuman Germans, the crazy Orthodox priest, the naughty little child... oh and the good and noble homosexual for whom I had such high hopes.

What was the point of this book? The love story? It was shallow. The cruelty of history? It was exploited. The beauty of Greece? It was never shown. The characters were coming alive at one moment, and turning into puppets the next. Their complexities weren't even touched, as if the author backed off in fear and resolved to use them only in the most hamfisted ways. Mandras's mother Drosoula became Pelagia's unexpected ally, fine - then she cursed her long-lost son with a light heart and never mentioned him again? Mandras became a cruel, hardened, heartless communist bandit, fine - and then killed himself because he couldn't rape his fiancee? Carlo loved Francesco dearly and went almost mad at his death, fine - then he just told us he loved Corelli as well and shut his mouth forever, never showed his love, let the readers forget, then suddenly remember it in the crucial moment?

And the scatological, rank humor... oh... yeah a cat shat in Mussolini's hat, sorry helmet, oh very funny. Oh and the Cyrillic mentioned over and over again, olives eaten raw, a pea staying in an ear for decades... What a dishonest, torturous book. I'm sorry. I really wanted to like 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...

Felt all the feels ❤️


“We forgave the British and the Venetians. Perhaps we won’t forgive the Germans. I don’t know. And in any case, the barbarians have always been convenient; we have usually had someone else to blame for our catastrophes. It will be easy to forgive you, because all of you are dead.”

“But at last she understood the true source of all his fortitude and sacrifice, and she understood that nothing is less obvious in a man than that which seems unquestionable.”

It was one of the very first things I tried to read in English, many years ago. Due to my poor language skills I couldn't appreciate the beauty of the words. I didn't manage to go through the first chapter and, being sure that Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a terribly dull novel, I didn't expect to come back to it.

Luckily I decided to give it another chance and I don't regret. I can almost feel the sun, warm sand, I can almost smell rosemary and cooked fish. The characters are lovable and funny in a light, natural way. There's also quite a big pinch of sadness and hopelessness mixed in the story. It's a good thing the ending is a bit unrealistic and tacky, because if it was any better, I would have to find a way to give the novel a 6-star rating :)

I didn't watch the movie, but I absolutely cannot imagine Nicholas Cage as Corelli. Wouldn't Roberto Benigni be just perfect here...? (despite not being Greek, of course)

I read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin back in 1999 when I was in my first year university (back in the days when my reading habits were more voracious) My copy was actually given to me through a friend. I started it at 5:00am (at least some of my reading habits didn’t change!) and finished it at 2:00am. Yes it was the first time I had done something like that and no book as kept me transfixed like that. Anyway I never really bothered to return the book (which is very rare for me to do) and several years later my friend died of cancer so I guess I have a bit of her legacy.

Captain Correlli’s is a deceptively intricate novel which takes place on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the second World War and time progresses until the present day (or in this case 90’s Greece). It’s focuses upon Pelegia, the daughter of a physician , Captain Corelli , who makes an appearance when the Italians take over the island and Carlo, a homosexual Italian soldier, who ultimately turns out to be the novel’s plot twist. (don’t worry I’m not spoiling anything). Not to mention the charming cast of villagers who populate the novel.

Together these characters fall in and out of love , die and fight as the island is practically wiped out by the German occupation (they massacred the Italians) of the island. Ultimately it is love that lives on and leaves it’s traces til the very end.

Despite its relative thickness, de Bernieres does not beat around the bush once. Every single detail from a pea pulled out of an ear to the mandolin of the title recurs and shows up throughout the book’s progress. There are bits which contain genuine slapstick and will make you laugh out loud (the ‘joke war’ is particularly good) and there are bits which are genuinely disturbing and horrifying. It’s a very well-rounded novel and although there are shades of Garcia Marquez it never gets bogged down with the extra details.

In 2007 i got to meet Louis de Bernieres and I have to admit I found him a bit off-putting, even a bit of a braggart and a snob at times. It goes to show that one must exercise caution when meeting a literary hero.

I was not prepared for this book!

A wonderful tapestry of sadness, brutality, joy, love, hate, pain and forgiveness.

Brilliantly written with characters that will stay with me forever! A perfect read to have finish on Greek Orthodox Good Friday!

This book is spectacular. There were whole sections that I read over and over because they were so beautifully written and even one particular chapter that I made my whole family read - and even though none of them are readers they all thought it was fantastic!! I can honestly say I have never read a book that could move between genres so easily, with comedey and tragedy completely interwoven. Read it Read 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 there. The second half of the book is drek. One gets the feeling that de Bernieres presented his publishers with a perfect novella and was told "make it longer" or, perhaps, "but you have to finish the story." Whatever the cause, the change in pace, use of language, and sheer thoughtfulness is jarring. It's as if the author completely lost interest in his characters, but felt obliged to carry them to some long-term conclusion.
It's a crying shame, because if this book had stopped where it should have, it would be one of the greatest books of the 20th (21st?) century.

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 like people disappearing in trees, people being transformed while riding a ferris wheel, etc. so it is not a straightforward pure honest love story. Also Sputnik fell out from the list in its 2010 version.

Set in the beautiful island of Cephallonia (now Kefalonia) in Greece during World War II, Louis de Bernieres' (British, born 1954) Captain Corelli's Mandolin, first published in 1993, sizzles with love, music and honesty. Love here is not just the usual erotic love between a man and a woman. The main protagonist, the beautiful Pelagia is in love with the handsome gentleman, Mandras who joins the Greek guerilla. Then Pelagia meets the mandolin-playing Italian captain, Corelli and falls love for him too. Theirs is a forbidden love since Pelagia is still betrothed to Mandras and Corelli is an Italian whose country is at war with Greece and the Allies. Although living in the same house, they choose not to make love so as not to complicate the situation. When they say their dreams they are always prefixed with "After the war...". Love so painfully forbidden yet so pure and honest. Right love in a wrong place and time.

The other love is fatherly love between Pelagia and her doctor-father, Dr. Iannis. Theirs is a nurturing love based on respect and trust. There is a scene where Dr. Iannis is telling Pelagia that he sees the love blossoming between Pelagia and Corelli. He does not condone it. He just gives the consequences of continuing that love. Pelagia takes it maturely. When the time comes that my own daughter falls in love with a man, I hope I'll have the same fortitude and maturity that Dr. Iannis has in that scene. Powerful.

The last significant love that this novel includes is the homosexual heroic love that Carlo, one of the Greek soldiers, has to his fellow but subordinate soldier, Francesco. Carlo keeps his love within himself (they are in the Army so that kind of love is taboo). When the latter dies, Carlo is devastated because he failed to save him. Then Carlo meets Corelli who is his superior. This time he shields his body that spared Corelli's life during the Aqui Massacre (September 1943) when German soldiers killed by open fire 400,000+ Italian soldiers. This was the time when Germany was about to lose the war to Allies and they went into killing sprees everywhere in Europe. That historical scene is depicted in details in this book that you will surely feel numbed to read another gigantic monstrosity the Germans did during WWII.

I spent 4 days reading this 436-page book. It's an easy read and I could have normally finished this in 2-3 days but Bernieres' prose is so delectable that I decided to savor each word closing the book every now and then and imagine myself in that island, hearing the music of mandolin and seeing the face of the sumptuous Penelope Cruz (who played the role of Pelagia in the 2001 film based on this book).

I have the pirated copy of that film. Many years ago, when I tried viewing it, I stopped after 5-10 minutes. It was boring. Now that I've read and liked the book, I should dig my cabinets and give it another chance. I just think that the balding Nicholas Cage was a miscast as Corelli. BTW, De Bernières strongly disapproved of the film version, commenting, "It would be impossible for a parent to be happy about its baby's ears being put on backwards." He does however state that it has redeeming qualities, and particularly likes the soundtrack.

My lawyer-brother says that the books belonging to 501 Must Read Books (yes that's another list and this book is in there too) are those that are controversial and not necessarily well-written. After this book's publication in 1993, the island of Kefalonia became one of the island tourist destinations in Greece. Also, obviously, this is well-written and as it also landed #19 (among 200 listed) in Big Read, the 2004 survey done in UK where people voted for their favorite novels.

Maybe writing about Alabat island, where I grew up, in Quezon will not be a bad idea. Oh maybe someday.