"This delicious novel is part war story, part love story. Set in the beginning of World War II, it tells the story of Italian Captain Antonio Corelli of Mussolini’s Army as they invaded Greece. On the island lives Pelagia, the daughter of a Greek doctor with whom Captain Corelli begins an affair, despite her engagement to a fisherman who is headed to join Greek forces. It is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read."

"It’d be good to be reminded, as I pass my days sitting on a beach under a coconut tree, of all the life, all the beauty and sorrow, all the mystery; all that can be contained within a relatively modest number of pages. It’d be good to be continually reminded, as I grew older, about how much rampant life, how much emotion and conflict and joy and disappointment, can be conveyed in a novel so perfectly, symmetrically structured."

"Growing up, we had a set of hardback classics my parents had probably sent away for. I picked this one up when I was about 14. It was the first “grown up” novel I ever read. I hadn’t expected to understand or even get to the end of it. I was so proud of myself. It was a bit like finishing an entire can of cola all by myself for the first time, but less gassy, obviously."

"It was called The Sandglass in English. It's based on a novel by Bruno Schulz. I feel the word "surreal" has been totally overused as a fancy word for weird, but this film is truly surreal for me, where you enter the dream, and the seamless connection between it and the emotional life … I have rarely seen this documented so well in a film. It is a state of mind. I recognise the sense of wonder."