This is a book I have heard about over time, that people have just adored and raved over. I really wanted to get to it eventually, and the (unofficial) trim challenge allowed me to finally delve into it. I did enjoy it, the writing was beautiful, and the story was indeed captitvating and engaging. Its just that I had the feeling of yet again coming in just under the rave. At points I had a harder time getting into it- which may have been my state of mind, rather than the book. I did enjoy it. It had a lyrical feel to it. WW2, Its good to finally read it.

It was great in parts but dull at times that it bored me to death. I am just glad that it's over.

I'm going to be honest here, I read 60% of the book last year and finished it in the last two days. I know I'm in the minority with a two star rating. I like romance in real life but normally I'm not a fan of romance novels. With that being said I thought this was a beautiful love story. I enjoyed the description of the setting. I enjoy books in which I feel as if I know the characters and that was true with this book. I found the last part of the book to be mentally exhausting and struggled with it. Slow, slow pace with a rushed ending which felt as if the author wanted to tie it up quickly. An okay read for me but if I had it to do over again I would skip it. I actually scanned the last 20 to 25 %.

08/07/16...After thinking about it a couple f days I've changed my review.

Na pola citanja sam odlucila da odem i kupim vise komada ove knjige da poklanjam ljudima iz ciste zelje da im ulepsam zivot, ali to nije moguce. Ama bas nigde je nema. I sad - sta reci, a ne zaplakati?

É um excelente livro, este. Acabei-o por entre risos e lágrimas (pois sou daquelas que choram no cinema e nos livros...). Foi, sem dúvida, um dos melhores livros que li ultimamente. Conjuga uma história muito envolvente com um relato histórico (Segunda Grande Guerra) e a única parte de que não gostei tanto, foram os capítulos dedicados ao Duce, que me pareceram demasiado longos e exagerados (embora admita que façam justiça à verdade, uma vez que, ao que parece, o homem era mesmo doido varrido).

This is such a beautiful book that I am more than willing to ignore its faults. A tender love story which makes the geography of Kephallonia a main character; a memoir of war and its futility; a testament to the fact that us humans are indeed capable of good things, if we only learn how to suppress our defective side; and a biography of the human soul as present in all of us. Yes, sure, it's a relatively cookie cutter story. You expect many things before they happen; weirdly, though, when they happen, you're not mad. Rarely have cliches left me so completely lacking annoyance at their existence. Yes, sure the first quarter of the book is not the best executed piece of writing I have ever seen. In fact, after chapter three I had kind of given up on reading it and started on other things, only to come back to it, read 20 more pages and then not be able to put it down for the next day. It has a rhythm to it, maybe something of the sounds of mandolins mixed with the dreaded passage of time, and it makes me think of the merciless ticking of the clock, tuned to the beat of a heart that's never stopped loving. THIS is how you do a love story.

الحب جنون مؤقت يفور كالبركان ثم يخمد
الحب ليس انخطاف الانفاس؛بل هو الجذور التي تبقي عقب انخطاف الأنفاس

ميلودراما رومانسية حربية في عصر الحرب العالمية الثانية؛

بيلاجيا شابة يونانية ريفية مخطوبة تقع في حب ظابط ايطالي مرح شخصيته اكبر من الحياة
  ليبدا مثلث حب مستحيل بين الاغريق و الرومان

صدرت الرواية في منتصف التسعينات و تلاها الفيلم مباشرة
لكن اختلاف النهاية بينهما يثير جدلا طويلا الي اليوم؛

في الرواية تمنتع بلاجيا عن الزواج و تصبح طبيبة و لا يوافيها كابتن كوريلي الا بعد اربعين سنة! من اللقاء الاول؛
بينما الفيلم اعاده لها سريعا ؛ ففرغ مضمون النهاية تماما من الرومانسية المجردة التي تميز بلاجيا

What de Bernieres does so well is paint a picture of contrast. He inserts the reader into a simple Greek village of contented people only to have it torn apart by politics, prejudices, and megalomaniacs, thus turning the populace into victims.

de Bernieres’ humor includes sharp mockery of invading governments. The village residents and the Italian, German, and communist characters are complex and evolving. With clearly drawn landscapes and climate of Cephalonia Island, one is envious of those who swim with dolphins and sing with the boys of La Scala. In contrast, the historical context of the story is grim and tragic.

I have a small quibble with a weak ending, but this beautiful story deserves a strong 5 stars.

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 dead and dying. This book gets into the heads of the characters and therefore the head of the reader. Excellent writing and based on a true story.

Set on the Greek island of Cephallonia during WW2 and its aftermath. German forces and their erstwhile Italian allies’ occupation (including one Captain Corelli and his mandolin). The Cephallonians had a pretty raw deal of it. Contrasting nationalities – Italian, German, Greek, British - through the eyes of the natives. How people act in horribly adverse conditions, which bring out the best and the worst. The story centres around Pelagia and her doctor father, Iannis.

The book rambles along, taking me with it to some scenes that I’d rather not witness. But the backdrop of the story is historically based and I must read more to find out how much so.

Excellent characterisation and a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides… That is just being ‘in love’ which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident” – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

Take an idyllic Greek island that “smells of pines, warm earth, and the dark sea” where its hardworking inhabitants eke out a quiet living. Throw in a lonely mountain goatherd, a wise and kindly doctor, and his beautiful but willful daughter. Add a mandolin-playing Italian Captain (as suggested by the title) and the story promises music and romance. The stage seems set for a charming, bucolic story because Louis de Bernieres introduced Cephallonia as a place “where vicious emotions could not exist”.

Wrong. Corelli's Mandolin tells a devastating WWII story of Cephallonia being pillaged and despoiled during the occupation by, first the Italian, then the German armies, and finally their own guerilla fighters. War stories are extremely painful to read and this one is equally horrific in its depiction of brutality and wartime atrocities.

Yet this story shines in many ways. It is a moving insider perspective of war (a mix of first- and third-person narratives) as reported by the soldiers who are compelled by duty, against their will, to be party to the official conspiracies propagated by paranoid dictators. Soldiers, like Carlo Guercio, come to realize with deep shock and revulsion there is no reasonable excuse for the cause they are fighting. It is also remarkable how enemies become friends when they recognize the human impulses, motivation, and fears they share in common. It is marvelous to read about the islanders' grudging acceptance giving way to affection for the Italian invaders.

De Bernieres created a cast of wonderful characters in this novel. Dr. Iannis is the sweet and kind doctor one would love to have as a father. Carlo Guercio, the gay thespian, deserves to be celebrated for the magnanimity of his love for his comrades in arms. Captain Corelli, more a musician than a soldier, has an irresistible and irreverent personality. He forms a latrine opera club among his men, which endeared him to me. Pelagia, the attractive village lass and apple of every soldier’s eye, is much more than just a pretty face. Evil befalls each of these characters and I kept reading and hoping they would be spared.

Of course, there is the romance between Captain Corelli and Pelagia. Ironically, it is the war that first installs Corelli in Dr. Iannis’s house as a billeted captain who eventually falls in love with Pelagia. It is also the war that eventually separates them. It is sweetly told (embarrassingly in part) but mostly delightful.

Read Corelli's Mandolin. It is a beautiful story where the horrors of war threaten but cannot deplete the wellspring of love, courage, and goodness that keeps us human.

Thank you, Kevin Ansbro, for the book recommendation. It has, as you rightly pointed out, "humour, pathos, and depth".

A story about life and love. A story about pain, loss and misery. A story about loving and being loved.