Captain Corelli's
Mandolin
It is 1941 and Captain
Antonio Corelli, a young Italian officer, is posted to the
Greek Island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first
he is ostracised by the local, but as a conscientious but far from
fanatical soldier, whose main aim is to have a peaceful war, he
proves in time to be civilised, humorous – and a consummate
musician.
When the local doctor’s daughter’s letters to her
fiancé – a member of the underground – go
unanswered, the working of the eternal triangle seems inevitable. But
can this fragile love survive as a war of bestial savagery gets
closer and the lines are drawn between invader and defender?
Extracts from British reviews:
"Captain Corelli's
Mandolin is an emotional, funny, stunning novel which swings
with wide smoothness between joy and bleakness, personal lives
and history..."
The
Observer
"Louis de Bernieres is in the direct line that runs through
Dickens and Evelyn Waugh… His novel will give pleasure
to all sorts of readers. It is also so good that it will
last"
A.S.
Byatt, Evening Standard
"[de Bernieres]
keeps tragedy and comedy on a tight authorial leash, and does
not risk a sentimental drop, or a slide in to melodrama or
farce...In Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres has
written a book of the stature of Catch 22"
The
Independent
"Among de Bernieres's skills are an archaeologists's eye
for place, a historian's feel for time and a musician's ear for
tone and tempo - the novel has everything, including a happy
ending (of sorts). If Captain Corelli's Mandolin does not
hold you in its thrall, it might be worth checking to see if
your heart is made of stone."
Daily
Telegraph
"de Bernieres is a fluid and elegant writer...This is a
warm and accessible novel but also a sobering one, because behind
its tender heart lurks the tough-minded conviction that history
is anything but farcical…”
Jonathan
Coe, Mail on Sunday
"Corelli's
Mandolin is a wonderful, hypnotic novel of fabulous scope and
tremendous, iridescent charm"
Joseph
Heller, author of Catch 22
"Corelli is a rich comic confection. The
novel turns on loyalties and betrayals, private and public,
of individuals and nations....[it] has at times the rangy,
expansive feeling of legend or saga, at other times the cozy
intensities of chamber drama."
New
York Times Book Review
|
