The Mandoline of the Corelli captain

the Mandoline of the capitane Corelli is a British novel of 1993, written by Louis de Bernières. The history of unrolls during the second world war, on the Greek island of Céphalonie. She tells the meeting between a young Italian captain with Doctor Iannis and her Pelagia daughter during the italo-Germanic occupation in Greece.

In backdrop, one discovers the history of Greece of the Forties at our days.

Summary

Topics and characters

Relation with the history

In all the novel, one feels the great interest of the author for the historical precision. The account makes us traverse all the Greek history of 1940 to our days, and several events are reported directly.

All the process of the declaration of war between Italy and Greece is detailed: through several points of view, that it is that of the inhabitants, the soldiers Italian like Carlo, or Metaxas, Mussolini or even of the Italian ambassador in Greece.

the war in itself as is very precisely told, at the same time from the Italian point of view as Greek through the characters of Carlo and Mandras. The battles in the mountains and the suffering of the soldiers are particularly poignant.

the Occupation of Greece by the powers of the Axis particularly takes an important place in the novel through the history of love between the captain Corelli and Pélagia. But one discovers also the various factions of resistance while following the course of Mandras. With also noted, the German character of Guter Weber is also interesting, because it gives a German point of view to the events.

the Greek Civil war is reported although less exploited than the second world war. The sufferings inflicted by the various parties, particularly by the communist groups, are described.

Lastly, the earthquake of 1953 takes an important place. Its description and its effects on the islands are lengthily detailed.

One can also mention the various extracts of “the personal history of Céphalonie” which Doctor Iannis writes and which describe of the periods various of the history of the island.

Topic of homosexuality

It is interesting to see how the topic of the Homosexualité is treated in the novel. It appears very early in the account through the character of Carlo and his confessions. If the author is interested in the topic of the love in a general way (in particular with the stories of Pelagia and Mandras then Pelagia and Antonio), it is in the treatment of the homosexual love that it is proof of more originality. The love that Carlo feels initially for Francesco then for Antonio and his platonic suffering gives to its character a romanticism and a beauty that the others do not reach. The magnifiée death of Francesco in the suffering of the Greek mountains and its account by Carlo, cut out between the lie made with the mother of late and her true feelings, fact part of more moving scenes by the book.

Ambiguities of the characters

Modes of narration

Adaptation

Mandolie of the captain Corelli was adapted to the cinema by John Madden in 2001, under the title of Capitaine Corelli. The role of the captain is held by Nicolas Cage and that of Pelagia by Penélope Cruz

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