Captain Corelli's Mandolin

I have read many a book throughout my life and have inevitably forgotten what quite a few were about or that I had read them at all. So... in my attempt to remember, I am going to try to post my thoughts and perceptions on the books I do read.

I just finished reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres. I had also read The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by him, which is a great book about a fictional South American country.
For those of you who do not know, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is set in Greece during World War II and follows the life of Pelagia before and after the Italian and German occupation. It started off a tad slow (along with the first book of his I read as well), but was interesting and well written all the same.
The night that I finished it, I stayed up to nearly midnight just to finish the book. Since I am usually well past my prime by 10pm, this is a big thing for me. I'm 24 years old and cannot make it past 10 o'clock at night. Staying up until midnight on New Year's Eve was rough... but anyways... So, I stayed up until nearly midnight so that I could find out what would happen to the ill fated love of Pelagia and the Italian captain, Antonio Corelli. He narrowly escaped death by a Nazi firing squad, and was nursed back to health by Pelagia. Pelagia saw him off as he escaped into the darkness to try to help the fight against the Nazi's and promises to return to her when the war ends. He even leaves his much loved mandolin with her to ensure that his promise to return will happen. Now, while the ending was not bad, it wasn't great either.
This being the second Louis de Bernieres book I have read, I have come to the conclusion that he does not like it when all ends well and happy and the reader has warm fuzzies about the whole thing. There was definitely gore and violence in both books and leaves you questioning human nature. Yet I would recommend either of these books to anyone.
As soon as we get home though, I want to watch the video of Captain Corelli's Mandolin to see if it ends the same way!