Peculiar book, and somewhat hard to get started. Not nearly as beautiful as Corelli's Mandolin, but truly funny, in a droll, semi-piccaresque banana republic sort of way.

Released on Monday, June 02, 2003 at Trading with a fellow BC'er in USPS, Controlled release - via mail USA.

Two de Bernieres books sent on their way to Quebec...

Received it today after thinking it was lost! ouf! This is a new author for me so I'm looking forward to reading it. Thanks limpet!

Promised to rozenn

I don't know how to start! First, let's say that I loved it. Second, that I agree that it's a peculiar book... It's so many things at the same time! harsh and funny, very "political" and close (unfortunately) to reality but it still has that touch of fantasy so characteristic of many South American books/authors, it's like a mix of reality and myth, it's sad and some passages are just beautiful, and oh well, it's so politically uncorrect, it's like a breath of fresh air. I'd say it's quite different than Corelli's Mandolin - although it also has these small chapters with different points of view and lots of characters that sometimes appear to have no relations to the other but who all do in the end... I love that way of mixing the "real" and the imaginary, when you don't know anymore which is which.
I'm not sure I'm making any sense here but let's say that this book is a must!
Will send to rozenn before the end of next week.

Update on December 2nd - released today at Post Office, Montreal

Thanks Folia !! If it's half as good as the "Mandolin", I will be delighted !

Hemmm... how can I put it ? I didn't like it, I'm sorry ...
I found "Corelli" full with poetry, humanity and laughter, and here I found coarseness and prejudice.
I have to grant Bernières with a vivid account of a South-American "democracy" and his descriptions often made me shudder... As well as the "guerilleros" description. Bernières seems to have a account to settle with the soldiers (according to his biography), but somehow it only applies to "regular" army. _I_ was as disgusted by Asado's tortures descriptions as by the casual way the author deals with the deaths of soldiers, as if they weren't real human being and somehow deserve it ("oh, 13 soldiers were killed by the coral snakes poeple put in their tent, too bad"). After the slaughter by the "campesinos", he has the decency to make them a little subdued, but it doesn't last long. And they're more bothered by the fact that there will be counterattack than by the fact that they killed human beings (by soldiers, I mean here the regular soldier, the one that has to follow the orders or die of hunger ... it's precised that, in this case, they are conscripts. Moreover, with Fuerte he gives an example of a good officer ! ). It seems to me that Bernieres like to put people in little boxes, and I frankly don't care for this kind of gross prejudice.
I don't care either for coarseness ... It reminded me of French stand-up comedians, that thinks that because they talk about sex in a vulgar way, they're funny. A teenager point of view ...
In any case, I won't try to find other books by this author. According to the "Senor Vivo" at the end, it's still the same song, again and again. A little is OK, but here I will let the author settle his points alone, I'm fed up with his so-called humor.

Nota : I hope that this text makes sense, English is not my mother tongue !

Promised to perfect-circle...

arrived today and am looking forward to it.

Thanks Rozenn

Finally got to this and found it quite an enjoyable book. It is markedly different to the romance of Corelli and is an amusing, droll book.

I loved the short chapters and the different takes of the events and it's definitely made me want to seek out more of De Bernieres' work.

Released on Thursday, July 15, 2004 at BC UK National Meet - 16th to 18th July 2004 in Birmingham, England United Kingdom.

To be released during the BCUK Meet.

I picked this up at the Birmingham Unconvention because I really enjoyed Captain Corelli's Mandolin once I got into it. But now that I've read all your reviews, I'm not so sure whether to put it at the top of my To be read pile, or right at the bottom !