Every Parting is a Foretaste of Death

Yesterday I finished the magnificant Corelli's Mandolin. I bought it on a whim at Hesters before I left, because I remembered Stephanie telling me that it was really good, and recommending it to us. I think that Ty read it at some point as well...whether or not he liked it I don't remember. But it was good. It was really good. The author was very poetic and had a rather extended vocabularly. Up until I was robbed, I would read with my computer next to me, so I could look up words in the dictionary. But the author, Louis De Bernieres, wasn't using these words to seem smart. He used them cleverly and humerously. He also had some great great lines and passages. My favorite line of the book was the name of a chapter entitled "every parting is a foretaste of death". Because it's true. It might be a bit dramatic to think that EVERY parting is, but the ones that most stay in our minds are. And not that death is bad. Death could be the adventure you are leaving to.
De Bernieres had a lot of wisdom about death. I am going to share a little with the blog.
"When loved ones die, you have to live on their behalf. See things through their eyes. Remember how they used to say things, and use the words oneself. Be thankful that you can do things that they can not, but also feel the sadness of it. This is how I live without Pelagia's mother. I have no interest in flowers, but for her I will look at a rockrose or a lily."
I have had very random mood swings lately, so maybe I was just feeling a little homesick and lonely, but I still really like that passage. I think it's one of the best pieces of advice about death I have heard.
The book was about World War Two in Greece. One would think that we would tire of World War Two...but I have always found it so interesting! Especially to know what was occuring in other parts of the world. Greece had it HORRIBLE! That is one of the things I really liked about this novel, was that it was realistic. The characters acted realistically, and for the most part, their lives were sad and they lost many of their friends and family.
The only problem I had with it was the ending was rushed and stupid. But I don't want to ruin it, so I will leave it at that. But the beginning and middle were amazing.