festival and part of the arrangement was that I should go to Karratha to do their first ever literary dinner. Karratha is a mining town a long way further north. The landscape is extraordinary being composed of vast heaps of dark red earth and rock poking out of the never-ending bush. I imagine that Mars must have a similar feel to it. I went exploring and discovered the bronze statue to Red Dog outside the town of Dampier. I felt straight away that I had to find out more about this splendid dog. A few months later I returned to Western Australia and spent two glorious weeks driving around collecting "Red Dog" stories and visiting the places that he knew writing up the text as I went along. I hope my cat never finds out that I have written a story to celebrate the life of a dog.
island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals but as a conscien-tious but far from fanatical soldier whose main aim is to have a peaceful war he proves in time to be civilised humorous - and a consumate musician. When the local doctor's daughter's letters to her fiance 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.
Mussolini invaded Greece. Dr Iannis practices medicine on the island of Cephalonia, accompanied by his daughter, Pelagia, to whom he imparts much of his healing art. Even when the Italians do invade, life isn't so bad--at first anyway. The officer in command of the Italian garrison is the cultured Captain Antonio Corelli, who responds to a Nazi greeting of "Heil Hitler" with his own "Heil Puccini", and whose most precious possession is his mandolin. It isn't long before Corelli and Pelagia are involved in a heated affair--despite her engagement to a young fisherman, Mandras, who has gone off to join Greek partisans. Love is complicated enough in wartime, even when the lovers are on the same side. And for Corelli and Pelagia, it becomes increasingly difficult to negotiate the minefield of allegiances, both personal and political, as all around them atrocities mount, former friends become enemies and the ugliness of war infects everyoneit touches.British author Louis de Bernières is well known for his forays into magical realism in such novels asThe War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts,Señor Vivo and the Coca LordandThe Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Here he keeps it to a minimum, though certainly the secondary characters with whom he populates his island--the drunken priest, the strongman, the fisherman who swims with dolphins--would be at home in any of his wildly imaginative Latin American fictions. Instead, de Bernières seems interested in dissecting the nature of history as he tells his ever-darkening tale from many different perspectives.Captain Corelli's Mandolinworks on many levels, as a love story, a war story and a deconstruction of just what determines the facts that make it into the history books.
Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: Iskander the Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmetcik childhood friends who play in the hills above the town Mehmetcik teaching the illiterate Karatavuk how to write Turkish in Greek letters; the two holy men of different faiths Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja who greet each other with the words 'infidel efendi'; the landlord Rustem Bey his wife's adultery and stoning and his journey to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. It tells also of Mustafa Kemal the man of destiny who by virtue of military genius and sheer bloody-mindedness defeats the Franks and reshapes the whole region in his image. When jihad is declared against the Allies the young men of the town are sent to war. Karatavuk soon finds himself at Gallipoli where he experiences the intimate brutality of trench warfare the loss of many comrades and of his own innocence.As the great world intrudes the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres hunger grips the town and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Epic yet profoundly humane Birds without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists.
island of Cephallonia as part of the occupying forces. At first he is ostracised by the locals 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 fiance 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.
Advantages: Magical Disadvantages: Surreal and dark: may not appeal to all
...LouisdeBernieres is certainly somewhere near the top of my favourite authors list (a list itself that only extends to six or seven writers – I’ve found so many more good books, but I’ve also found that one good book rarely means another one by the same person), and has risen to such an exalted position mainly due to his South American trilogy of which Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord forms the second. And for anyone who has read Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and wants some more of his writing (or for anyone who just wants a really good book) then I would heartily recommend this one, along with its two companions The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman. Although I’ve read reviews claiming that this trilogy is not as sophisticated or mature as Captain Corelli...
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Advantages: A superb read, a truely great novel Disadvantages: In places the language needs some real concerntration to understand.
...I am studying English Literature at A level. I enjoy the subject greatly, however, when it comes to the choice of novel we are handed at the beginning of each new module the reaction of the students is nearly always negative. In the past it has been the case that we are be given a pre 1900's - old school novel - such as a Dickens or Hardy. These are both fantastic writers, but fail to appeal to an ever critical teenager reader.
This is not the case with Captain Corelli and I feel as a CIAO member that it is my duty to inform all the students out there and everyone else for that matter what a superb novel Captain Corellis Mandolin really is.
The first chapter had the entire class of 25 students captavated (a task previously thought impossible). DeBernieres use of scientific phrasology and technical terminology has the readers...
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Advantages: Witty and wise. Well-drawn characters. Amazing discriptions of places and people. Disadvantages: Complex story lines with an abundance of sub plots making it difficult to follow.
...After once more having the privilege of listening to LouisdeBernières talk at this year's Hat Festival, I treated myself to some of this novels - three in fact, the trilogy that is comprised of this the book I am reviewing, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts and Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman.
The only previous experience of reading a LouisdeBernières novel was the renowned Captain Correlli's Mandolin. The style of writing came as a bit of a surprise.
The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts falls into the literary genre of magical realism. Not a genre I was familiar with and one that sounds to all intents and purposes like an oxymoron - magical realism!! Its roots apparently lie with one Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Also known as Gabo born 1927, Marquez. is a Colombian novelist...
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very helpful 28.08.2007
(29.08.2007)
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06.01.2005
