About the Book:

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is set 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.

British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels as The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. 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. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin 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.

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is an amazing story, with so much going on that it is fun to read — more than once.  I was originally introduced to this story through the movie, which was based on the book.  I enjoyed the movie — and it wasn’t until a couple years later that I realized that it started in book form.  Boy, am I glad I found that out.  There is so much more depth added to this story by reading the book, than I ever got out of the movie.

The characters in the book are so much more developed, and it makes the story much more interesting in book format — but it was still OK if you only saw the movie.  The beauty of understanding the narrator’s background, and the love he harbored for his commanding officer just added so much more depth to this story.  I never got that part of the story in the movie — but it makes this book, and the sacrifices that are made throughout the story so much more meaningful.

The writing is somewhat challenging, as I found the writing style to be a little difficult to follow at points.  But that didn’t detract from the story at all.  Also, the beauty of the dual loves that are demonstrated, and expressed in this book are amazing.  What an incredible story, not only about war — and the sacrifices made in the World War II ear; but it also explored the beauty of the relationships that this type of experience  creates.  All of the characters are so well developed that I found myself being able to not only identify with them, but really experiencing the lives that the author portrayed.

This book also has a wonderful story of love, devotion, and sacrifice — and the costs that sacrifice can come at.  I found this to be one of the better historical fiction novels that I have read about the World War II time period.  I loved it, and would strongly recommend the book — for more reasons that one.  Beautifully written, and eloquently presented — a must read, particularly for love story enthusiasts — as well as World War II historians.

Tags: Dedication, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Loss, Love, Murder, Nazi, Romance, Suffering, Survivor, World War II

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War II