Love, War & Mandolins

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - (Louis De Bernieres)

A classic book which I had not read before and came across in a second hand book sale last year, I have only just got around to reading.  To start off with I found a good chunk of the beginning to be very difficult to read and follow, very political which isn’t really my thing and I very nearly gave up with it! But I am so glad that I persevered because it turned out to be a fantastic book.  Once it got past the political aspect of the war, the characters started to come alive.  I had seen the film a long time ago although could not remember it very well and I have also been to Cephalonia where it is based and remember on holiday visiting some of the places where some of the historic aspects took place.

The characters were so beautifully written, that I empathised with them when they were sad and laughed out loud on several occasions particularly when Corelli and Pelagia were flirting.  There are also some very dark parts in the story with some gruesome and graphic descriptions of war which made the story feel all the more real.  The massacre of the Italian soldiers by the Germans was heartbreaking after some of the officers had been friends and were ordered to turn against each other.  I went from making myself read it, to looking forward to getting the bus home from work so I could read some more!

There was a lot going on historically in this story based during World War 2 and on the tiny Greek island of Cephalonia which was occupied by both the Italians and the Germans.  Pelagia is the central character, the doctors daughter and she becomes part of a love triangle falling in love with an Italian Captain (Corelli) who entices her with both his charm and passionate love of music, interested more in playing his Mandolin and singing than he is in acts of war.  Meanwhile Pelagia’s fiancée goes off to war and in the process becomes a very different man, Pelagia discovers on his return.

I would definitely recommend this book, even for those who may struggle to start with like me; it turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read!       

Where did August go?

August has passed me by and no blog to be seen.  I honestly cannot understand how time seems to be going so quickly lately.  Anyway blogging had fallen absently to the back of my mind and it was a film that I watched which re-ignited something somewhere in my brain and made me want to write something.  The film is called Julie & Julia.  It was strange because it must have been on my lovefilm list even though I don’t remember putting it on there and neither Jay or I really knew what it was about other than ‘cooking’.  Regardless one day last week it just popped through our letter box.  What a fabulous film! My explanation of the plot may not be persuasive but it really was a joy to watch. It’s about a famous chef called Julia Childs. Alongside watching her discover herself, learn to cook and develop her cookbook back in1950’s Paris, we see a modern day Julie who decides to challenge herself by cooking every single recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook in 365 days whilst blogging about the experience.  Sounds unusual I know, but I loved it, it was just quirky with very entertaining characters and above all when it finished I lay in bed that night thinking of all the things I’d like to do and achieve. I loved the fact that Julie was a writer working a job she didn’t like and that her blogging was an escapism, that she originally thought no one was reading but soon discovered she had quite a following.  Its not jump off your seat stuff, it was just the right mixture of funny and sad, and a great story about life and its challenges.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my own challenges, one of those being the aim to get fit and healthy, which in actual fact is coming along nicely.  I haven’t lost a load of weight but I have lost some and am starting to tone up which is what I really wanted.  The main thing is I’ve started to feel fitter.  I can see how people talk about gym and fitness becoming obsessive, not that I’ve got to that stage (or plan to) but when I do a fitness class at the moment I feel energised and hyper like I want to do more.  It’s a good feeling and the more classes I do the fitter I am and so each class feels like I am achieving more and working harder.  Food wise dieting is hard, I am struggling to get into it completely but even attempting it is reducing the crap I was eating and making me eat more healthy which has got to be good!       

The biggest challenge I am facing at the moment is my work. I have always struggled with an inner negative monster who reminds me that I am not doing what I really want to do.  Up until recently I don’t think I ever really knew what it was that I wanted to do.  My day job is wearing me down, I feel like it is draining the life out of me, going home tired and lethargic and constantly dreaming about what might be one day.  I have realised that I’ve got to start making things happen for myself, and have started looking into how I can expand my photography, make some money and ultimately end up doing what I love instead of wishing the days away somewhere else.  So watch this space, I am setting myself some new goals and challenges for the near future!