Book Review - Captain Corelli's Mandolin

My summer holiday book this was a book I have been meaning to read for many years, having heard many rave reviews from both magazines and friends. Captain Correlli's Mandolin was the book recommended and, as suggested, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. There are parts of the book I did not particularly enjoyed, and also parts where I thought the author, Louis De Bernieres, could have done better. Nevertheless, Captain Correlli's Mandolin is certainly a 'must-read' for anyone who enjoys a nail-biting and believable plot.
One of the primary reasons why I enjoyed this book is the intertwining of both a personal storyline and a historical narrative. The personal aspect of the book is told through the wonderful variety of characters, the long-suffering Pelagia, secretive Carlo, enigmatic Mandras, who all have a part in the narrative. De Bernieres uses these characters and their stories to develop the plethora of ideas he is analysing and confronting.
For example, Mandras' story is harrowing account, full of injustice and horror, and how war affects even the best of us, turning men into monsters. This challenging idea, not just of how deeply war affects people, but also how so few are either villain or hero, and are often capable of atrocity and humanity. However, De Bernieres also uses the story of Mandras as a corner-stone of the plot, as well as being an interesting story from a purely literary standpoint.
Furthermore, this area of the book is used by De Bernieres to examine the historical events of the time in Greece, particularly the civil war, and rivalry with Communists and Monarchists. From academic historical perspective, this narrative is not instructive, as De Bernieres, although accurate in abroad sense with regard to history, has undoubtedly taken some historical licence and developed his own twists and turns. Nevertheless, the history that can be gained from a lay-man's perspective is profound. In addition, De Bernieres is effective at communicating not just the historical tangibles, such as numbers of deaths, buildings destroyed etc., but more importantly the emotions and passions that are created by war, and also the suffering and privations.
De Bernieres is so talented at conveying emotions because his ability to adapt his writing style, specifically the language he uses, to different situations within the plot is unparalleled. For example, when the plot is focused on the superfluous and educated Dr Iannis De Bernieres's choice of words become much more eloquent, not just in the speech of Dr Iannis, but in the narrative also. However, when the plot is focused on characters whose mannerisms are much coarser, the language and descriptions change to reflect the milieu. Whether this is an unconscious change, or whether De Bernieres intentionally adapts his writing style, it is impossible to say for certain. However, it is certain that this change in style is very effective and sits comfortably with the situation in the plot.
De Bernieres's story is also wonderfully varied and unexpected, particullarly the conclusion. The ending of the whole book is a wonderful mix of emotions, both happiness and sadness, and throughout the novel De Bernieres contrasts humour, horror etc. with wonderful effect. The side chapters of Mussolini's rants are wonderfully comic, yet also have a darker side as they show how vain and arrogant he was. By doing this, De Bernieres creates a very interesting mix of emotion and feelings in the reader.
However, if there is anything that can be criticised in De Bernieres novel it would be the swiftness and almost cursory way in which the passage of time from 1950 to the present day is dealt with. I felt that there was a lot left out of the storyline that De Bernieres could have focused on, and not swept through at a very fast pace. Consequently, the reader arrives at the stage of Pelagia's old-age without feeling that there was an intermediate stage of her life. Furthermore, Corelli, a central character, simply falls off the stage. In the early and middle phases of the book the story was told from many different viewpoints. However, as Pelagia enters old age we no longer receive such a variety of viewpoints. This is partly due to the fact that many of the characters are no longer relevant. However, i felt that the story would have been enriched if we had had an account of Corelli's experiences as well as Pelagia's.
Nevertheless, this criticism is slight and insignificant, for the book remains a brilliant read, full of emotion, controversy and excitement, which grips the reader and hold you spellbound, and unable to put the book down.

Education under Tony Blair

During his election campaign Tony Blair famously said that his three priorities were 'Education, Education, Education.' In this essay I shall examine the success of the Labour Government in tackling this issues, and whether they have met their targets. A cursory examination of the progress of education by perusing newspapers and magazines would suggest that Labour and Tony Blair have failed to deliver on schools and education. The majority of stories and articles regarding education suggest that, despite students achieving better exam results, funding and equipment for schools has dropped, teaching standards are lower, and there is a growing gulf between children those who do well at school and those who are under-achieving It would, however, be untrue to say that funding for schools has dropped in the past 10 years. In 1996 the education budget was £70m per annum, compared with a projected £10.2bn in 2011. (source: The Independent) The equivalent amount in today's terms would be slightly under £100m. This increase in funding is a massive leap and shows an increased financial commitment, if nothing else, to education within the UK. This investment also suggests an increase in the spending on equipment such as laboratory tools and books. However, many questions have been raised over how this money has been spent, and whether the extra funding has helped schools that need it the most. A considerable percentage of this funding has been and will be spent on establishing City Academies, a highly controversial Labour proposal. Many claim that, rather than spending money on establishing a new system of education, the money should be spent on raising standards in existing schools. Another criticism of Labour educational policy is an increasing interference from the Government in dictating the role of teachers. National Curriculum guidelines have been tightened, Ofsted inspections have become more frequent and more rigorous, and the implementations placed upon teachers regarding attaining goals in children is intense. This interference is regarded as unnecessary by many, who view the experts as the teachers themselves. And indeed such a level of interference almost certainly constrains teachers to boundaries and prevents them from giving their whole attention to teaching in a way that seems appropriate for them and for the students.
Nevertheless, the Government is aware of the need to maintain standards in schools across the board, and ensure that children are not disadvantaged as much as possible. By laying down guidelines for teachers to follow, the Government is just as likely to be helping by improving the quality of teaching and standards for children who would otherwise be left by the way-side, than disadvantaging those children that have the potential to be stretched. In an ideal world we would should be able to do both, to support the less-able and underprivileged as well as push the high-achievers. However, we can only do so much, and it is far better for the Government to create a level playing-field than maintain a system where some children are pushed and others not supported.
Also, the Government is acutely aware of the need to be seen to be taking action, both because it promised to do so in its manifesto, but also to present a break from the apathy of previous governments and parties. Therefore, a high level of Government involvement suggests that those with power are aware and are working to solve problems within the educational system.
In higher education the government also has a chequered track-record. The cost of university fees has dramatically increased, with over 50% of students paying in excess of £3,000 each year. The amount of available grants has, however, increased, with over 50,000 students receiving grants. Anyone who's family income is below £60,000 is entitled to a half-grant, amounting to up to £1,750. Families who's income is under £25,000 are entitled to a full grant for their university tuition fees, and also receive bursaries for maintenance costs. Therefore, to say that the Government has been successful with regards to university education would be untrue, but it would also be unjustified to claim that, because the cost of university study has gone up, students are worse off.
Overall, therefore, the Government has had a mixture failure and success in its educational policies. However, no-one would expect any Government to have unmitigated success in any area of policy, as one cannot simply please everyone. However, Tony Blair was unfortunate in that, as he promised such sweeping reforms in the education system, such as a move towards much less academic selection, he has not delivered. His focus on education has, predictably, led to many pundits focusing on Labour's educational policy, and consequently, its failures. Overall, therefore, Labour has had mixed success, but its choice to focus on education as a cornerstone of its policy has led to much criticism and derision.