Kell Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) IT IS ASSUMED YOU HAVE READ THIS BOOK BEFORE READING THIS THREAD, THEREFORE SPOILER TAGS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN USED IN ORDER TO FASCILITATE EASIER AND MORE OPEN DISCUSSION Anyone who would like to get hold of a copy of this book and join in the circle - there are quite a few copies available at Green Metropolis Also available at Amazon - via the banner at the top right hand corner please! ~ *** ~ Captain Corelli Edited March 30, 2009 by Kell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 FROM RANDOM HOUSE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Novelist Louis de Berni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jue xxx Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hi, a forum newbie here, and Captain Corelli is going to be my first Reading Circle book! I ordered it at the library and picked it up this morning. Very excited! I watched the movie with Nicholas Cage last week, and thought it was very average, so I'm looking forward to see how the movie compares with the book. Well, here goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I'll see if my Grandma's got this, wouldn't mind reading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I love this book it's one of my favourite although there are a few bits I don't like pretty much everything after the end of the war I thought was pointless, and actually parts made the story worse, and I found the history bit at the begginning boring- I actually almost gave up because of it I've heard the film is a really bad adaptation, has anyone seen it and read the book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted April 2, 2009 Author Share Posted April 2, 2009 I've started reading this, but confess I'm only a few chapters in, but here are my thoughts so far: I loved the story of the dried pea in the ear as an opener for the novel – it set a light tone an gave an idea of the humour we might expect, if not from the whole novel, then at least from the doctor as a character. I think hthe Doctor's writing style in his history of Cephalonia showed a great deal of passion. He obviously loves his country and as a result is unable to keep personal feeling out of his writing. He is, however, honest about this (shown in his giving a different title to his work) – I think his honesty and passion are the two main features of his personality shown at this point. The descriptions he gives of Cephalonia are beautiful – they make me want to go there and see them for myself. In chapter 2, with the switch to first person narrative, I wondered whose "voice" we were hearing - I think its Mussolini speaking and, from the tone of his “voice” and the things he says, I do NOT like him at all (that poor cat!). There have alsao been a couple of first person chapters from "L'homosexual", and I feel for him having to hide his true self all the time. I wonder how different it is (if at all) for homosexuals in the armed forces today? I know there is a "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place, but I can't help thinking it must be so difficult having to hide a huge part of yourself from others. Anyone else have any thoughts on their reading so far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jue xxx Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I'm loving the writing style of this book so far - very light hearted and amusing - the pea in the ear incident already mentioned, the terracotta in the buttocks incident, and the drunken vicar filling the wine bottles (!), have all made me giggle! I agree that Cephalonia sounds a beautiful place, and the doctor is obviously passionate about the island. Enjoying it so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipread Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I love this book it's one of my favourite although there are a few bits I don't like pretty much everything after the end of the war I thought was pointless, and actually parts made the story worse, and I found the history bit at the begginning boring- I actually almost gave up because of it I've heard the film is a really bad adaptation, has anyone seen it and read the book? I`ve seen the film as well as read the book, (which I loved) The film was ok, nothing special, it could and should, have been a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenwood Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 I really liked the switching of voice between characters/chapters. Have to confess I did find the doctor's opening chapter a little hard going (just a wee bit self important?) It's been a while since I read it but I do remember being very moved by the parts concerning the "giant" (was that Francesco or Carlo?) Forgive me for not reading again, I remember tears... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Oh yes I remember being moved by the giant's parts too (I think it was Carlo, it's been a while since I last read it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iagegu Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I love this book it's one of my favourite although there are a few bits I don't like pretty much everything after the end of the war I thought was pointless, and actually parts made the story worse, and I found the history bit at the begginning boring- I actually almost gave up because of it I've heard the film is a really bad adaptation, has anyone seen it and read the book? I love this book also and whilst the first 50 pages of historical information are a pain and make almost everybody give up on the book I don't think it would be so good without it. I think it needs that to set the scene. Totally agree it was a terrible adaption. I did wonder whether the script writer bothered to read the book at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I guess it is good in a way, I just think there might have been a better way to give us that information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jue xxx Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I finished the book yesterday, and I have to say I thought it was great! I don't know what the movie makers were thinking when they made the movie adaptation, because to me it bore no resemblance to the book! Moving on to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I read this a long time ago (well, more than 5 years), so my memory is a little hazy about the details. But I do remember a few reactions to the book when I read it. I really had no problems with the history stuff - but then I always enjoy reading history. And I really enjoyed the opening to the book. Very evocative, but the picture now in my mind was that it was very pleasant and pastoral and I felt transported to a lovely warm Greek island. And I was properly gripped by it. And I was really enjoying the book. But, towards the end, my interest completely died. I think there was a massive acceleration of the flow of time pushing towards the (relatively) happy ending. It felt like De Bernieres wanted to write a massive epic book, but his publisher said "You'll keep this to manageable length, or it's going nowhere" so he suddenly had to fit 400 pages of book into the last 100 pages, and it just felt skimmed over. And that really frustrated me after I'd enjoyed the opening so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I read this book about 10 years ago, and these were my thoughts at the time: I had heard the hype about it, and after watching a television programme where the book was hailed as their favourite book of all time by the contributors, I decided to read it. Unfortunately, for me, it turned out to be the most over-rated book I had ever read. As a reader, I find I have to look up a word I don't know the meaning of, but I don't think I've read a book where I've had to do this more than twice throughout the book, yet here, particularly in the first half of the book, there were some pages where I had to use a dictionary three or four times, and once I knew what the word meant, I often found it didn't actually seem to make sense in the context of the sentence, making any enjoyment of reading impossible and interrupting the flow of the story. I felt this was an attempt by the author to reintroduce words no longer in common use, which seemed a pointless exercise, as language evolves, and if words fall out of fashion, it's because they are no longer relevant, or alternatives are considered more appropriate. I don't mind an attempt to challenge readers with a broad use of vocabulary, but I imagine the author making far too much use of a fifty year old thesaurus. (Note: I would like to back this up with some of the words I'd looked up, and quote an example of how it didn't actually work in the sentence, but my copy has long since gone to the charity shop!) Despite this, I was determined to finish the book, and while the plot was interesting, and I did learn some information about the Second World War, the language made the book very hard going, and ruined any possible enjoyment I might have had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 I'm part way through chapter 9 now (slowly reading it all in the bath - LOL!) and am loving the light humour throughout. The story of the gent from the first chapter who had the pea removed from his ear wishing for it to be put back in so he can' hear his wife nagging, and the Doctor's advice of "be nice to your wife" and then calling out to him to embarrass him when he sees him picking a flower onthe way home for her had me in stitches. I also loved the chapter where the doctor saves the pine martin (or "funny cat") for the little girl, even against his "better" judgement, just because he's a sweet, sentamental old man. Another aspect I love is the sense of community - from the pine martin story and also the story of everyone apologising to the priest by leaving him gifts and him feeling unable to come out in case it put them off leaving them. I felt a little sorry for the priest, but at the same time, a lot of the ribbing he got he brought on himself. Ooh, another little tidbit I thought was wonderful was the good doctor's argument about how Communism can't exist without Consumerism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share Posted April 10, 2009 A few more chapters in now. I think it's sad that Pellagia and Mandras can't just be themselves with each other. Mandras feels a need to "entertain" Pellagia but wishes he could talk seriously to her, and poor Pellagia wishes Mandras would be serious sometimes. If they would only talk to each other properly they'd be much happier! So far, the parts I'm enjoying most are the ones narrated by "L'Homosessual". For some reason, I've warmed to him more than some of the other characters, but I can't quite figure out why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 I give up - I've been reading this book for about 7 weeks now and I'm still only about 2/3rds of the way through. My favourite character has been killed off Carlos - killed by firing squad whilst protecting Corelli, poor guy! and the whole thing mostly reads like a history lesson. An enjoyable history lesson, but a history lesson all the same. An indication of how little I am invested in the story is that my main reading time is in the bath, twice a week on Dale's days off - for the last few weeks, I opted to shower instead so I could get back to other things. Today, I really wanted a bath, but took a new book in there with me rather than pick up Corelli again. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it's slow going and there's not enough there to grip me and keep me wanting to read (unlike the other book I picked up today which saw me reading 45 pages in 25 minutes in the bath and I'm about to go and read some more when I'm done here because it's gripping me already!). A shame, really. The characters are nice enough, the setting is idyllic (geographically, at least), the descriptive language is lovely, but the pace is lacking and it jumps around from pillar to post, from character to character (in narration and plot) without feeling like there's much gelling it all together. Perhaps it all comes together at the end, but I've lost all desire to see it to its conclusion. I'd rate what I've read 5, or maybe 6, out of 10. It would be higher if it had gripped me tighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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