2009-01-17

THE LAST DON


Please...this is no dark, shady and repulsive post...its just a script on the latest book I ploughed through...A book called THE LAST DON, by Mario Puzo. A Puzo book that I have had the guts to read, after the Godfather. The book was an amazing read from the start to the end. Just the right quantity of everything you might imagine, for each of your senses.

Like the book's title reads, its about an Italian mafia family settled in the United States of America, using every loop-hole in the country's law to survive and flourish. Unlike normal gangster books and movies, this is a slightly different read. Its about an aging Mafioso King-pin, who controls all the drug dealing and the gambling in the nation. But that's all there is common with the other books along similar lines. Here, however, the Don uses all his experience and cunning to dilute the roots of his family into the so-called legal society of America. He is aging and sees himself a a protector of his kind.

The story is centered around the Don's grandson who turns coat against the family and the son of the Don's Nephew, who struggles to relieve himself from any ties he has remaining with the Family.

Like any old plot should be, this book also has a lot of cold bloodshed, cleverly planned murders, loss of a close one and revenge. The twist in the book is that, here, the Family is running INTO the society, instead of running away from it.

Just the right amount of suspense, intertwined with the best explained kill-plots and just the right amount of flesh. Also, these are timed in perfect unison to compliment each other. The scenes are also set out in a careful haphazard manner to provide enough temptation. Best of all, you never get bored of pages and the lines.

A wing of the family tries to run away into the movie business, opening a whole new avenue for the readers to know all the ACTUAL "behind the scene", in a movie business. The harsh truth can sometimes be a little unnerving, but thrilling to read.

If there was a better book along the same storyline, I would definitely love to read it for comparison.

2 comments:

Harini Padmanabhan said...

I found Puzo slightly depressing.

sid said...

DEPRESSING???well... I cant deny hes got a streak of darkenss under every happy note in every book, but still, i love the fact that he is quite unique..unlike most other authors...no copyin from either others or from his own books...