A review by laticsexile
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

What a wonderful book. To write a novel which is simultaneously very funny, very touching, and very dark is an amazing skill. To say that one didn't want the book to end is a massively overused comment, but is definitely the case here. I also immediately ran to wikipedia to find out more about the massacre of the Acqui division and the Greek Civil War, because the sense of the history and the setting is incredibly strong. 

It would have been a 5 star review for sure, but the book paints a slightly rosier view of the British than is probably reasonable. As a Brit myself, I feel justified in docking the quarter point, although I might reinstate it at some point ;-)