Happy mistakes happen. This is how I got this book. The cover made the book pretend to be some other book and after a lot of putting-off, I finished reading it for the second time on the morning of today. It blows your mind away after throwing you into the heart of Cephallonia, a lovely Greek island (about which you can read here)and the Greek way of life
The book is set in the Italian occupation of the island during WW2 and deals with the futility and brutalities of war along side leading you by the hand into the frangible shades of human life.
Louis de Bernières is not only an exceptionally fine author and a word-smith, but also a man who paints resplendent pictures with his prose. He infuses personality into characters that otherwise would have faded into the background of the events and brings out the most poignant of emotions with the delicacy of gossamer.
Dr.Iannis and his daughter Pelagia are lost in their mundane lives on the lovely island complete with Lemoni, Psipsina, and the goat, and various other characters, each with their own story until they are sucked into the vortex of the Italian occupation of Greece during World War II. The lovely Pelagia who was previously betrothed to another of the island finds herself falling for the beautiful Italian, Captain Corelli and his Antonia. The Greeks, though initially hostile to the invaders, cannot help accepting them and the invaders become deeply entwined into the fabric of Cephallonia to the extent that it is the Greeks who rescue the bodies of the soldiers executed by the Nazis and give them a burial.
The tale is about love, war and love in the time of war.
Highly recommended to anyone who is fan of war books, historical novels, a different point of view on the good and the bad, love stories and music (yes, the book is all of this and yet, more).
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