The Godfather was one of those movies I saw when I was not even old enough to spell out G.O.D.F.A.T.H.E.R. It may sound like an exaggeration but its true.I was dumbfounded as my father raved at the genius of Pacino , Brando , et all . I didn't understand a single scene from the movie , I was too young to interpret the sheer class and intellect that had gone into the making of this saga . Years later , one fine Sunday morning , my girlfriend (may she Rest in Peace) wanted to rent a movie . When I was looking for ways to escape the torture of a two and half-hours mushy crying session , I was pleasantly surprised (read shocked ) to see a movie cover with the picture of a gun on top .This movie was Godfather and it signified the beginning of my curious liaisons with the affairs of the Italian mafia , affectionately nicknamed the Mob .After that I have seen virtually
every movie based on the subject , read all the books and even paid good money to procure a game called Mafia ,I have watched every single episode of Sopranos , and Godfather went on to become my favourite movie of all times .I tried to walk the walk and talk the talk . As such I felt it was moral commitment to read the novel as well , penned by one Mr.Mario Puzo
who , by the way , wrote the screenplay for the movie as well . I finished the book in two straight days and moved on to The Last Don and so on and so forth . Soon this became an addiction and I just had to finish reading the Mario Puzo line of work. Its been a long journey since, but I have managed to accomplish it last month . I wrapped up the process with Puzo's last creation called Omerta - A Sicilian Code of Secrecy .
I can blatantly admit that creatively I'll never be even a fraction of the man whom I'm trying to evaluate today. I'd despise myself if in the course of this article I have to point out a few glitches which I wish I could have overlooked.The casual reader is welcome to deem this as a disclaimer and I hope readers with a little more depth of perception might identify with what I'm trying to say here.
Falling in love with an artist’s work is a commitment. Their new offerings are among the few times that many adults who have connected with a musician, painter, writer or other artist can again experience a child’s glee. Allowances are made when the work does not measure up to the fan’s expectations . Puzo fans might keep that in mind while picking up a copy Omerta . For the not-so-well-informed I'll try to outline the story as vaguely as possible not spilling out too much. Omerta starts off with Don Raymond Aprile an old mafia leader, who has had his children brought up to be good citizens, and has retired himself from his old life, to seek legitimacy. When Aprile, is assassinated after coming out from his grandsons confirmation, his children are left his inheritance, with his adopted nephew Astorre Viola getting majority share in his banks, unlike his real children however, Aprile has had Viola trained, and he is much more than a simple
macaroni dealer with a love for horses. Now Viola must protect his family, from the FBI, rival mobsters, and renegade cops and at the same time seek , the now famous, Puzoian revenge (remember Al Pacino in Godfather).But who was
it that did the hit? Was it Kurt Cilke, the morally tormented FBI man who recently jailed most of the Mafia bosses? Or Timmona Portella, the Mob boss Cilke still wants to collar? How about Marriano Rubio , the womanizing, epicurean Peruvian diplomat who wants the Don's daughter Nicole in bed - did he also want her papa's head? You will find out as you turn the pages .
An avid reader might pick up the book just like that and still figure out its a Mario Puzo creation. His trademarks are all over this book . A lean prose, a romance with the Old Country, a taste for olives in barrels, a jaunty cynicism , an affection for characters with flawed hearts, like Rudolfo the $1,500-an-hour sexual massage therapist, or his short-tempered client Aspinella Washington
the NYPD detective. The simultaneous courtship of cheery Mafia tramp Rosie and identical hit-man twins Frankie and Stace Sturzo makes you fall in love with them all--and feel a genuine pang when blood proves thicker than eros. Before I move on let me just say that the ever-so famous Puzospeak is all over Omerta . How about ''The dead have no friends'' or the best of them all ''You cannot send six billionaires to prison.Not in a democracy'' .
Throughout the novel we are introduced to the inner workings of the Aprile family. Puzo's magical ability to enrapture the reader into the underworld does not hit short in his final book. Here is a conflict between the Family and the legitimate business world... a world known for it's overwhelming display of honor where everyone is a sell out. As with his other books the lines between good and evil are blurred. Family honor, Omerta, justice all intermingles with each characters' sense of right and wrong and plays with the readers own beliefs of the two.
But in all its greatness the book falls short of the standards set by Puzo .Dont get me wrong , this is not a bad book, merely an average book by a great writer .
Gone are the days when Puzo would have made one kid a crook, one a cop, and one a priest. The characters in Omerta, and the way they interact with each other, are stolen from a dozen different miniseries, in what seems to be Puzo’s failed attempt to update his characters for the new century .
The conflict within the FBI is tame, more the stuff of The X-Files than a true conflict. Even FBI Agent Kurt Cilke has a strange, silent conflict with his wife that he can’t resolve after a very long marriage.
Another drawback is 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.
The plot is an interesting one, but it is not fully developed enough to be as gripping and exciting as it could be. It definitely seems incomplete in areas. For example, the book refers to Astorre's years in Sicily, but we only catch glimpses of those formative events. Also many of the characters (especially the Don's children) seem only partly drawn, never fully formed .
Omerta is clearly the least successful book in Puzo's Mafia trilogy.
It can't come close to equaling the brilliance of ''The Godfather'' or even ''The Last Don.'' That doesn't mean it's a bad book. I actually enjoyed reading it very much. But when judged by the standard that Puzo set in the past, ''Omerta'' has to rank as a disappointment of some sort.
