Marie Corelli Books

If you like Faustian themes, then this book is for you. It combines a good reprise Faust, with elements of Pygmalion and a dash of Frankenstein as a sorcerer binds the soul of a dying girl to her body, obtaining thereby a female with whom he cannot help, despite the warnings, of falling in love. As with the first two, if you got hooked like I did, you will fall into this book despite yourself, and be absolutely mesmerized by the workings of this author's mind!

As with other Corelli novels, weird meets the occult meets science fiction meets passion and romance and then meets spiritual redemption. Plot lines are fuzzy at times but not to the point of not wanting to turn the pages!

Amazing that this book exists today as it was scarce in its own time! Corelli reworks one her favorite themes, that of eternal youth. "Young Diana" borrows themes from Frankenstein depicting how trying to regenerate one's youth often results in monstrous soulless immortality. It's an eerie scientific 'femme fatale' adventure and despite the moral message (or perhaps because of it), quite a fun read!

I thought this was one of the best books I ever read until the last 100 pages. Then it felt like the author just ran out of steam and tried to quickly rush through and tie everything up, covering many years in the process. It just didn't work given the beauty and complexity of the story up to that point. If not for that, I would have given it five stars easily.

I truly enjoyed this book. For me, it was a welcome foray into a semi-alternate universe, and truly worth the trip. My only qualm was the fact that Pelagia's reaction at the end was, in my opinion, just as a man would write it, not quite as a woman would actually live it. I was unconvinced, and ended up feeling like I had to compensate for her incomplete reaction by engaging in my own...if that makes any sense at all. Anyway, nuff said, don't wanna spoil it. Highly recommended it regardless.

This is a great book. I highly recommend it. It's a well written love story, similar to Love in the Time of Cholera.

An unique love/war story.

This is my favorite of the two De Bernieres' novels I own; the other being 'Birds without Wings', which is excellent, but just not my first choice.

The novel is set in Greece during the Nazi/Italian occupation during WW II . It's a tale of the hardships during occupation, the Greek resistance and an developing relationship that begins between one of the Italian officers and Greek girl.

I simply loved this story. The prose is exquisite; it just makes you want to read on and on. And, despite the fact there was a war going on, there is an atmosphere of high romance and intrigue through out this novel, associated with not only the war, but the developing love story as well.

Conclusion:
Louis De Bernieres' very best work. Superb, skillful writing that has resulted in a tale well told and beautifully presented.
5 Stars, more if I could

R.Nicholson

I guess when we open a book we're all trying to recapture those halcyon days when we brought a flashlight to bed so we could continue or finish a favorite book, when we cried at the end, too. That doesn't happen much for me anymore, but when reading this book, I was actually crying in the middle and getting up at 3 a.m. to see how it ended. Besides the author's wonderful prose style, I enjoyed the portrayal of the Greek culture, so aptly portrayed as "the past in the present."

I was compelled to read from cover to cover and the left the Romance inspired with renewed hope....renewed spirit. You might also like ANGELES IN HARSH WORLD, by Don Bradley. Another wonderful, mystical adventure.

This novel is Corelli's premiere in the world of fiction. It features dream-magic, mesmerism, with many and varied opium-induced occult powers complete with a world-weary & emotionally crumbling heroine on a quest for the meaning of life - resulting in a cosmic journey by means of astral projection with an angelic guide, embodying a trip to utopian Saturn, to technologically bizarre Jupiter and to the center of the universe, the place of creation, where God dwells in electrical form. Corelli combines weird science and spiritualism. It is a wild and strange trip to dip into Corelli's world but worth the ride. A delectably fantastic combination of feminine occult powers combined with sci-fi surrealism.

I read Marie Corelli's first mystical novel The Romance of Two Worlds after being told that it was the favorite novel of Queen Victoria and Italy's Queen Margherita. I thought the language was beautiful and, alas, majestic. Marie Corelli possessed a brilliant mind, she spoke so cleverly about everything. Every logician would agree that The Romance of two Worlds is a convincing long argument in which Marie Corelli tries to convince the public of her beliefs. However, the problem with her argument is that it contains every one of The Major Informal Fallacies. Especially the appeal to force (argument ad baculum), for example: believe in God, or forever be condemned. Indeed, this is what makes the novel (or argument) faulty; at the prologue of the novel she disputes the fallacies of different theorists, and yet makes fallacies of her own throughout the book! This book is very creative and descriptive - a very beautiful picture of England during an age of universal inquiry and universal skepticism - but utterly unbelievable. The reader, unless ignorant, won't believe a word Corelli says - and shouldn't.

_A Romance of Two Worlds_ by Victorian novelist Marie Corelli is a majestic tale full at once of mystery, intrigue, romance, and the occult revealing the inner meaning of Christianity in beautiful prose. Marie Corelli was an English novelist of the Victorian era who was much criticized in her day for her scathing criticism of the materialism, positivism, and scientism popular in the late Nineteenth century as revealed in her novels. This novel expounds an occult theory of Christianity based on electricity. At the same time however, the author decries the excesses of spiritism that had made their way to fill in the gap left by materialist philosophy. The author does not espouse any particular creed of Christianity, though this novel focuses upon Catholicism; however, her theory of the occult essence in electricity is unique. This is what makes up her "Electric Creed of Christianity". The book includes an introduction and preface written by the author as well as an appendix containing letters testifying to the uniqueness of Marie Corelli's spiritualism. Corelli was obviously influenced by Swedenborgianism and Theosophy as well which can be seen in the novel in several places.

This novel tells the tale of the author, a pianist, who has become ill with a physical depression due to overwork. At the request of her doctor, who has run out of cures, she is advised to leave London and head for warmer climes. She travels with two friends, an American colonel and his wife. She arrives in Cannes where she meets the artist, Raffaelo Cellini, who has acquired an amazing system of color and who offers to paint her portrait. Although she is ill, she decides to allow him to do so. While Cellini is painting her portrait he offers her a magic elixer which provides her with three visions of a mysterious individual known as Heliobas. She is to find out that Heliobas is the artist's master and that he had saved Cellini from a similar depression. She is given a book to examine which reveals the hidden spiritual meaning in music and she also meets Heliobas' incredible Newfoundland dog Leo who travels back and forth from Paris where Heliobas resides bringing messages. Cellini agrees to have her meet Heliobas who will be able to cure her through his wonderful electrical powers. The author travels to Paris where she meets Heliobas and is given special potions which enable her to make a full recovery. She also meets Heliobas' sister Zara, a sculptress impressive in her own right, and their friend Prince Ivan. Heliobas is a mysterious Chaldean who has mastered the art of electricity. He allows the author to experience entirely new realms, including interplanetary travel in which she sees for herself the glories of God, the angelic being Azul (Heliobas' "twin soul"), her own guardian angel, and the mysteries of Christianity. All of this is accomplished through what Marie Corelli calls "electricity". Zara herself is possessed of special electrical powers and wears a special stone which serves to channel her electrical charge. The book encompasses at once mystery, romance, tragedy, and yet it offers hope through Christian belief against the materialism and atheism of the age. Throughout Corelli notes how many have scoffed at traditional belief in Christ and that few will understand her novel or its inner meaning. The novel also offers philosophical proof for the existence of God and the truth of God incarnate as Christ. The writing is beautiful and majestic, truly appealing to the inner soul. This novel remains a unique experience among Victorian writers and represents the first attempt of Marie Corelli at writing novels.

To which literary genre does "Romance of Two Worlds" belong? It has sci-fi, fantasy, and occult elements. It offers some adventure, some romance, and some mystery. What is most striking, however, is that the plot is about a spiritual quest--the kind everyone feels the need to begin, sooner or later, when the world's answers no longer satisfy one's questions.

Marie Corelli's nameless narrator represents the seeking soul in all of us. Yet, at the beginning of the story, she appears to have given up the search. Unlike those who have never bothered to search and do not mind being in the dark, she is wasting away in mind, body and spirit. Then she meets a mysterious painter who asks to do her portrait. It is in his studio that she has her first supernatural experience, which rejuvenates her body and rekindles her need to find the answers.

Her first teacher is another mysterious figure, a Chaldean named Heliobas. (It is hinted in some chapters that he may be one of the identities of the Avatar known as the Comte de St. Germaine. I'm keeping an open mind.) Naturally, most of the world sees him as eccentric and frightening: his strange experiments with electricity and his radical takes on everything (including the books of the bible) make him a fascinating teacher to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear," but a threat to society to those who remain in the dark.

Here is how Corelli's writing can be so off-putting. Nobody likes thinking that he or she is in the dark about anything; yet Corelli stoutly implies that this must be so for those who do not believe in her blatantly occult themes. Then she goes on to combine occult and Christian elements, creating a bizarre form of esoteric Christianity that she presents as TRUTH.

Yet let's not quibble over terminology. So what if Corelli believes that the soul is literally electric and that Heaven is a great electric circle? Other writers have made similar guesses about the soul and about Heaven, using safe words like "love" or "light." When we read that Jesus' body was electrically charged, which was why he could heal through touch, we can at least be impressed by the spunk it took to say such a thing in Victorian England.

Ultimately, everyone gets to write the story of his or her soul's search for God and to discover that the many different stories are just retellings of the same one. This retelling is particularly lovely, due to Corelli's descriptive and reverent style. It is with great passion that the heroine declares: "I desire to know why this world, this universe exists; and I also wish to prove, if possible, the truth and necessity of religion. And I think I would give my life, if it were worth anything, to be certain of the truth of Christianity."

I don't want to reveal the reason why the novel's title is "Romance of Two Worlds", because behind it is a fascinating twist that I think all readers should discover on their own. Don't worry that the book is all dialogue and teaching, however, as the plot takes many unexpected turns.

Other books in what has been called the "Heliobas triology" are "Ardath" and "The Soul of Lilith". However, it is "The Life Everlasting" that is the proper continuation of "Romance of Two Worlds", as it leads our heroine to a romance of her very own.

Compared to Bulwer Lytton, the greatest of Victorian occult romancers, this novel has been praised for its narrative strength and brutal gothicism, depicting a premature burial in cholera-ridden Naples of 1884, with a gut-wrenching climax of revenge. Gothic, rather than supernatural, this second novel of Corelli sparked her onto further success to become one of the most widely read authors in Victorian England. If you are new to Corelli, then you are in for a wild ride!

Dear Sir,
I would like to purchase the book but I prefer to have its movie no matter vhs or dvd.
Please advise if it is possible to get a movie of VENDETTA, THE STORY OF ONE FORGOTTEN.
Thanks
Regards
Abdul Latif Al ulama

Vendetta or the story of one forgotten is a book whose great beauty is in the plot and the personal tragedy of the characters involved.The plot was set in pre-industrial europe during the time of the plague.The count was a man of courage and honor who not mindful of his priviledged position went out of his way to help his subject and in the process contracted the plague and presumably died and was buried or DID HE? A must reading for all lovers of romance . Definitely 5*****.

I read this book in 1972. I have never read a book like it since then. From start to finish, I was not distracted by anything more important than reading it. I took it to a restaurant with me and I over stayed my welcome reading it.. I was told to give room to others who might want to come in for lunch.I didn't realize that I had stayed that long. I apologized and left with the understanding that the owner had the right to make money, regardless how much I liked the book.

First, let me correct some errors about the publication date of the book. "Vendetta" was first published by Bentley (a firm famous for such writers like Wilkie Collins and Ouida, later bought by now famous Macmillan) in 1886, immediately after the unexpected success of supernatural "A Romance of Two Worlds." The author, Marie Corelli was, though now forgotten, to be THE bestselling author of late Victorian era with the publication of "The Sorrows of the Satan," 9 years later, surpassing even Conan Doyle in popularity, and "Vendetta" surely shows some of her skill as a creator of melodrama.

It is narrated by an Italian hero, Fabio Romani, who is accidentally buried alive (!) in the epidemic-ridden village. He somehow returns home, only to find that his wife has been unfaithful to him, having an affair with his best friend (!!). Using disguise, he comes back to take a revenge on them. It is obvious that the story is borrowed from authors like Dumas (remember "Count of Monte Cristo"), but its power is not lost even today. If you like this kind of melodrama, try it.

Known as the Jaqueline Suzann of her time, Corelli, a feminine and non-confrontational 'lipstick lesbian' was as deplored by critics of serious literature as was Ms. Suzann. Nonetheless, Thelma as with her other books were read with relish. This is a sweet and tender love story that I enjoyed thoroughly and can only imagine the quivering Victorian women who devoured its pages.

This is a love story based on the eternal triangle. Thelma a beautiful girl , unawakened to love, is seen and loved by a gentleman who takes her away from the land of her birth Norway.
She in turn is loved and worshipped by her father's man who sacrifices his life for her. Thelma is loved by her husband's friend who never ever lets on who the object of his passion is. After many turmoils Thelma dies leaving a daughter, Thelma. The sweetest ending with the daughter marrying the friend who loved her mother!
The story seems too simple to comprehend in today's world where you see a girl and you sleep with her! This is a gentle story filled with love, passions wakened and unwakened.Full of the dark thoughts that torment humans and thoughts we do not like to talk about.
All in all its highly readable.

Marie Corelli deserves most high praise in everything she ever wrote, but Thelma is her most tender, pure work of genius!

I wish that every girl will read it as early as possible to preserve her purity, honesty and innocence! And every boy will read it to know what to look for in a love relationship!

Nothing really matters in this life except LOVE! I believe our world can be a better place, if we will only chose it to be!

I first heard of (or actually first saw the name of) Marie Corelli in The Books of My Life by Henry Miller. I was curious so I ordered The Sorrows of Satan: Or the Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire. Once again, Mr Millers judgment has proven impeccable. I will refrain from going off on a tangent about all the literature I have explored through Henry Millers reccommendation. (The Books of My Life sits on my headboard) This is supposed to be a review of Ms. Corellis book.

This is a sensational book. I had a difficult time putting it down. Readers will come to care for the fate of one Geoffrey Tempest even though he has damned himself through his own choice and ignorance. There is a certain naivity in his corruption. Prince Rimanez leads him down the path of temptation with great sorrow. Casting Satan as a sympathetic character may not appeal to Christian fundamentalists but it is a great twist. (It has been done a bit in Hollywood but this predates the movies.) The devil may truly seek redemption. One gets the sense that Corelli has empathy even for the devil. He is, after all, only doing what he must do. It is his plight to lead men into temptation. Geoffrey Tempest is the one who has a choice. He chooses the easy path and ultimately he pays the price. One is certainly glad that he does escape from Prince Rimanez grip at the end. The angel Mavis Clare is able to save him. He is able to redeem himself before the final plunge. He turns back to God and is given a second chance.

I am not going to enter into the debate over whether or not Mavis Clare is supposed to be symbolic of Marie Corelli herself but I think the book is clearly a shot at the critics of the time who constantly ostracized Corelli in spite her phenomenal sales. This book will stimulate readers on both an emotional and spiritual level. I anxiously await reading other books by Marie Corelli. My literary debt to Henry Miller takes another grand leap.

It was the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century and with its hypnotic descriptions and delicious dramatic irony; it's easy to see why. This Faustian tale of a man's corruption by wealth, society and his own vanity under the guidance of a devilish temptor while common enough has a unique twist in that the devil himself hates his job of temptation as it divides him from heaven. The reader can delight in the double meanings of the novel, knowing what the hero cannot see in his "benefactor".

The book is melodramatic, and at times longwinded, and sadly occassionally whiny, but it is strangely absorbing even when it descends into silliness, and the characters can be understood and to some extent sympathized with. It is not one of the great works, but it is a work of great conception.

A romance takes place in a hidden city of immortals discovered by an intrepid heroine in the Egyptian desert. Passion is married to the spiritual quest in this reincarnation romance that will charm as well as titillate with its quirky delightful ambiance. Quite Dishy!

I still remember, opening my father's dusty trunks filled with books in our attic and being introduced to the strange world of Morgana Royal. It was Corelli's indomitable Morgana who inspired me to choose a career in Engineering, and the notion that for a woman nothing is impossible if there is a thirst for knowledge.

Through the years Morgana, with her great intellect and sarcastic wit has continued to be my inspiration. Corelli's prose is rich and vivid., and she makes Morgana believable and endearing. Bitterly cynical, the book rings with criticism of human society and men in particular, but it is Morgana who captures the readers imagination. The story contains some fantastical arguments about Miss Corelli's mystical beliefs, but still makes good reading.

Corelli is a wonderful writer and it is about time her books receive the academic notice they deserve. There is an unfortunate academic snobbery that smells of if-it-isn't-Joyce-it's-not-literature in many circles. Get Over Yourselves! This book, and the Victorian Sensation Fiction movement that produced it, is wonderful! Take off the seat-belt and return to reading for the pure joy of it. Wormwood is a blast to read- hyperbolic, overblown, yes! The monkey-boy is worth the price of the book alone, but then add on the creepy trips to the Paris mortuary, the weird violinist, and crazed, absinthe induced tripping, and the book is a total delight! (seriously, it should come with a sound track as you read- You can almost hear the BUM-BUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM of an orchestra at key points, Oh Pauline!!!! Don't JUMP!) The intro is well written and informative- It's great to see Corelli get noticed again. She was a incredibly strong woman with a powerful imagination. Bring it on! (Grad students... are you listening? There is a TON of unchartered territory in Corelli- Great thesis topics abound in her books!) this edition rocks!

There should really be two reviews here; one for Corelli's work and another for the work of Kristen Macleod, the editor and academic who wrote the introductory material. Since KMC's material comes first in the text, I will deal with it in that order.

The introductory essay is an obvious attempt to glorify Corelli's work and place the pulp novelist in the upper reaches of the cannon along with writers like Oscar Wilde, who is attacked directly in the text (which is pretty funny, really -- if there was any writer who was marginalized for the issues writers like Macleod supports, it was Wilde. Her attack misses the mark by miles) and whose importance the writer attempts to minimize. Sigh. This is literary criticism of what Harold Bloom so rightly labelled the "School of Resentment". Corelli was a fine writer, entertaining and enjoyable, but to place her histrionic, paranoid pulp on the same level with Joyce and Faulkner is just plain goofy. Give it up.

The novel itself a BLAST. Corelli's over-the-top prose style introduces a young French banker and wannabe literati named Gaston (what else would he be named?) who is gradually seduced away from respectability and into the louched life by painter Andre Gessonex. Gaston soon finds himself a murderous addict in thrall to the wiles of the irresistable Green Fairy and is unable to save himself or the women he loves. He stalks the streets of Belle Epoque Paris like a stoned Jack the Ripper, ready for death and dissolution.

The translation is great: it includes Corelli's footnotes (did you know that the French call waiters "Garcon"? Apparently Corelli felt it important enough to note, along with a host of other dubious entries.) and keeps the amazingly brisk, derisive and hysterical tone high throughout.

I recommend this novel highly for absinthe lovers, just skip the introduction if you don't have a strong stomach for foolishness.