Omerta

Rating:
Summary: Operation "Omerta"
Review: A posthumous publication by a major literary figure presupposes these questions in the reader's mind: Did this author write this book? If so, how much of the book? Did this author receive any "help" in its writing? If so, then what was the form of this "help?"

Without doubt, master storyteller Mario Puzo has placed the capstone of his life's work in "Omerta," the final tale of the "Godfather" saga. At first glance, "Omerta" appears to be a continuation of the struggles between older and younger generations, between traditions of Sicily and America, between alleged crime families and law enforcement agencies. Early on, the story seems to collapse on itself because the narrator deprives the reader of the suspense of "whodunit."

Nevertheless, the Puzo "signature" of larger-than-life characters is stamped on every page of "Omerta." When Don Raymonde, the Sicilian scion of the Aprile family, is murdered, his adopted Sicilian son, Astorre Viola, steps up to enforce the Don's last wishes. Astorre is confronted by Don Aprile's daughter, Nicole, a corporate attorney who happens to oppose the death penalty. The "no mercy" tenet of Don Aprile is counterbalanced by the "mercy" obtained by Nicole Aprile through her pro bono work.

The text of "Omerta" is threaded with imagery and aphorisms: ". . . when one changes one's country, one must always change one's hat." The usual cast of characters appears, including Roman Catholic cardinals and priests. A close reading of the text will reward one with glimpses of Puzo's dark humor. Beyond his use of irony, one can sense self-parody, which is a hallmark of his inimitable style.

However, there are some textual clues in "Omerta" which lead one to suspect that Puzo may have changed his narrative style partway through the novel. After the early revelation of the "shooters" and their "contractor," the novel takes on an uncanny resemblance to a "police procedural." Indeed, the director of the Bureau asks, "And how is our operation 'Omerta'?" Further, the frontispiece defines "Omerta," using the "World Book Dictionary." A final quibble concerns the book cover, which is a minimalist European-style design: black letters shadowed onto a white background, with an oval of metallic red to dot the "i" in "Mario." My question is: where is the written accent for "Omertà?" Without "reading" too much into this "omission," nonetheless, I do find it to be an appropriate symbol of how "[t]he great Dons had accomplished their goals and blended gracefully into society . . . " (315).

Naturally, one cannot read this book without envisioning the sights and sounds of "the movie" and its "soundtrack." Bravo, Signor Puzo e mille grazie.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but it has a downside
Review: All in all, Mario Puzo's new book is very good. It's a page turner and had me interested from start to finish. The plot was weaved with expertice(sp) that can only be achieved by decades of experience. It did, however, have a few problems that brought the rating from 5 to 4. Here are thge three reasons: 1. The book is too short. It seemed that Mr. Puzo cut some corners in writing it, and left out some valuable information. 2. This reason is related to #1. The book ended kind of abrupty and I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending. It seemed that Mario got 85% through the book and then decided that he wanted to just finish the last leg of the book in a day or two. 3. My final complaint is that the characters never really developed. In The Godfather, you get to know and understand even the least important of charaters (Johnny Fontane). In 'Omerta', the characters never really reach that 3rd dimension... possibly because he tried to fit so many characters into a relatively short novel. Once again, if he took his time with the story he could have developed characters like the Aprile children (who don't even make it past the 1st dimension, except for Nicole). One in particualar is Valerius, who we don't get to know AT ALL. Thia book surely has it's downside, but don't let that discourage you from reading it. All in all it is a genuinely good book worthy of the Puzo name.

Rating:
Summary: * * * * *Omerta* * * * *
Review: Is this book amazing or what? Truly a masterpiece, one of the greatest books I've read. Mario Puzo is a master of the art of storytelling and specially when it comes to mafia flicks. The story has great characters, a good plot, and it's a page-turner. Definitely a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good read
Review: Omerta is on one hand an exiting mafia drama and on the other quite dissapointing. The excitment comes from Puzo's usual arsenal of excellent characters and a quick paced story. The dissapointment comes from the fact that this book is not anywhere close to the quality of Puzo's other two mafia novels, The Godfather and The Last Don. Thos two showed us the mafia in a way we hadn't seen it before with the Godfather focusing on those in charge and The Last Don choosing to look at those who carrey out the orders. Omerta doesn't seem to know where it wants to land. It seems to go for a balance between the two and winds up getting lost somewhere in the middle. Now if you're a fan of Puzo and are looking to read this novel, don't worry. It has passages that are just as gritty and violent as those in his other books but at the same time don't go into this book expecting another Godfather. Take it for what it is and hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: All the elements of a good Mafia novel
Review: This is the final book by Mario Puzo, finished just before he died last year at the age of 78. He certainly did leave a powerful legacy though. "The Godfather" and other books about the Mafia will long stand as classics in their field.

I personally enjoy Mafia books and looked forward to reading this one. I wasn't disappointed. It has all the elements of a good Mafia read: the rise to power of a young Mafia leader, violence, romance, intrigue, betrayal, interesting characters and, above all, a strict observance of the Sicilian code of honor.

It's predictable of course. There is the good guy, Astorre Violla, trained to follow in his adoptive father, Don Raymonde Aprile's footsteps. Astorre is everyman's ideal of Mafia manhood. He is attractive and honor bound and, although there are a few hard choices, every murder he commits is justified.

Then there are all those bad guys. They have no scruples, and will murder just for the money or for power. And there are those weak guys, such as the FBI agent in this book, who treads a thin line between right and wrong.

The women have always played secondary positions in Mr. Puzo's work, but at least in this book one of them is a sharp lawyer by profession. Another one is a sadistic cop. And yet another uses her feminine wiles as bait in the search for justice.

The plot moves quickly and there are only 336 pages set in large type. It's easily a one-sitting book, but I enjoyed it so much I stopped reading halfway through on purpose because I wanted it to last. Basically, its a good story with a good plot. I just wish that Mr. Puzo didn't insult the reader's intelligence so much by over-explaining what was going on.

The book could have used a lot more fleshing out too. Character tags are quick and fast ways to make characters interesting, but not quite enough to stir emotions. But we do have to remember that Mr. Puzo was dying as he wrote this and this was probably the best he could do. I must say that I applaud him for pursuing his writing up until the very end of his life. And I am glad to have read the book.

Recommended for fans, such as myself, of this genre. And try not to compare it to earlier works.

Rating:
Summary: Omerta
Review: I just got finished reading this book today, it took me a couple of days to read it and I found myself fighting to put it down. This is another Mafia story from the great Mario Puzo. This book is a great read and it left me wanting to know what was gonna happen next, so it was hard to put down.

The Godfather was an excellent book by Puzo, definitely his best. Omerta isnt as good as the Godfather but I haven't read a book yet that can top that masterpiece. If you are a fan of Mario Puzo or of Mafia/Crime stories, then I suggest you read this book, you shouldnt be disappionted.

Rating:
Summary: Omerta
Review: I found omerta to be one of the best books I have ever read. At no point was I ever bored with what was going on. The story is very interesting because of small things that happen in the beginning and seem insignificant, play a large role at the end of the story. The plot moves around just enough to keep you interested in the book, but not too much as to lose you. I thought this was a great book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Mafia or crime fiction genres.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining
Review: I listened to the audio version of Omerta on CD while on a long day's drive. It was certainly enjoyable enough to hold my attention and make the miles and hours pass more easily. The story was straightforward and is summarized nicely by other reviewers. One of the main shortcomings of Omerta is that the characters do not change or grow through the story, in contrast to Michael Corleone in The Godfather, for example. (Perhaps this is a fault of the abridgement for audio rather than of the novel itself.) At other times, Puzo glosses over events that are so imporobable as to demand more explanation. For example, one police officer is killed and another wounded when a car bomb explodes. In the trunk of the car was $480,000. Despite the highly suspicious nature of this event, the surviving, courrupt police officer is soon back on the street wielding a gun and killing suspects with impunity. One gets the impression that Puzo doesn't really know very much about how police forces work.

Rating:
Summary: More politically oriented than Puzo's other two mafia novels
Review: While 'The Godfather' continues to reign supreme over the other works of Mario Puzo, this novel definitely holds it's own as an exciting and gripping story of deceit, honour, and retribution.

Those who are familiar with Puzo's earlier mafia works will most likely find this story to be a bit closer tied to corruption in the government and the dark side of the political system. This may be because a good portion of the novel takes place in America as opposed to Italy, or simply because not as many characters are involved in Mafia families. Either way, it's a step in a different direction which may turn off fans of novels like 'The Sicilian' or 'The Last Don'. Most readers, however, will most likely welcome this change, as it doesn't really detract in any way from enjoyment of the book. The characters are still memorable, the plot has just the right level of complexity, and a man who betrays his friends will still be dead by the following morning.

One drawback I found was the massive number of characters. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but Mario Puzo's style of writing is such that the reader has to remember the name of every single character they read about because the name will most likely come up again in the novel. If you don't remember who the person is it may detract from your understanding of the plot as a whole, and that's not a good thing. If your even an occasional reader, however, you probably wont have a problem with this.

Overall, this is quite an interesting story, and definitely worth the time it takes to read.

Rating:
Summary: Not a great Puzo novel
Review: I am not going to review the story, because others have, but I will start by saying that I have read almost everything Mario Puzo has ever written. I am a huge fan! I love his work and not just the Godfather. I think the Sicilian was a great book destroyed by a poor movie.
That being said, this is NOT a great Puzo novel, heck, it isn't a great novel for anyone. There are some classic Puzo moments, but it eventually falls flat and I even had a hard time finishing it.
I am not an elitist that thinks Puzo is trash literature, just the opposite, I am a fan, but this is just not good. The story goes no where, the writing is boring and the plot has been told better in other novels.