Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Author(s): Louis De Bernieres

Pelagia has grown up on the peaceful Greek island of Cephallonia with her father, a widower and rather eccentric doctor who has taught her to be strong and independent. She takes for granted, somewhat ruefully, the fact that she will marry a local boy and settle down to a quiet life of her own.

Instead of her quiet life, Pelagia finds herself touched by World War II. Her fiance leaves to fight, hoping to prove himself worthy of her. Meanwhile, Cephallonia is occupied by German soldiers as well as Italian soldiers, one of whom is quartered in Pelagia and her father's home.

Pelagia and her father try their best to hate this Captain Corelli, who is an Italian soldier and therefore one of their oppressors. But as he continues to be charming and even seems apologetic about his place in their lives, it becomes harder and harder to cheerfully make his life miserable.

I loved the middle of this book. I found it funny and engaging in many parts. I especially enjoyed the story of Carlo and the events that led him to Cephallonia. It was interesting to see how the characters and the island changed as a result of war, and how such an idyllic setting could be tarnished. I liked the determination of Corelli to charm Pelagia, and the pace at which their relationship developed.

However, I found the beginning and the end of the book to be weak. It was hard for me to get a handle on the characters at first, as the story kept jumping from one to the other, and didn't start off with any context to make things easier. The ending was disappointing to me as well. After such a detailed story of Pelagia's life and the building relationship with Corelli as well as the development of her own talents and ambitions, her entire adulthood was simply skimmed over. Her descendants were made of cardboard, seemingly added in not to round out the story but just to prove that time had passed her by. A vibrant character was reduced to a caricature of a weepy grandmother, which I found unsatisfying. The Pelagia and Corelli plot twist also left me feeling empty, like this book about a young woman finding her place in her world was all a waste, as she ended up pining away in unhappiness.