Hi Friends,
Mario Puzo, the creator of legendary novel The Godfather, has missed out this time. And this is not the first time he has failed to deliver after The Godfather. He missed in The Sicilian also, which was actually a sequel of The Godfather (For more about The Sicilian, please read my review of The Sicilian because a lot of criticisms are common).
Let?s have a look why The Last Don is not a very exciting novel.
Do remember however that I am saying that it is not an exciting novel, never have I said that it is not a good novel. It depends on what parameters are you checking the goodness of the work of fiction. It is a novel, good to read, has a reasonably good ending and through out the story that plot is very fast, the story keeps on moving forward very easily. There are some interesting things about Hollywood and Mafia and their relations, but my point is that the punch of the novel is missing.
It is good but it is not that good, it is not irresistible, like The Godfather was.
The story of the novel is about Don Domenico Clericuzio. He has three sons Giorgio, Vincent and Petie. The fourth son Silvio has been dead for more than 30 years in a war with Santadio Family.
Don also has a daughter named Rose Mario. When Don lost his Son-in-law in the Santadio war, she became insane after that and she constantly gets fits of insanity.
Don has another person named Pippi de Lena. He is the son of his sister, has the Clericuzio blood and is the number one hammer of the family. He was the one who designed the Santadio war to such perfection that they won it, though they had to loose some people.
Pippi is now the chief of the operations of the west and owns half of a hotel in Las Vegas. He is rich and a much respected man in the family and is very loyal to Don.
Don also has some grandchildren Dante and Cross being the important ones to discuss. Dante is the son of Rose Marie, and is very lovable to Don. Don loves and cares for Dante too much, may be because he lost his father in a war because of Don. The other one is the son of Pippi de Lena ? Crossifixio or just Cross. Cross is also lovable to Don and he treats them both as same but to Dante there are some special rights.
Now the story starts. Don is 80 years old and wants that before his time comes he must arrange for the family to stop all illegal operations in the USA and enter the society in a legal blanket and live their lives in their in safety. For that he opens a restaurant chain, a construction company and a share trading firm in Wall Street for his three sons. For Cross he has the 50% share in Xanadu Hotel in Vegas. While all the planning is going on, Dante and Cross grow up. Both have to take participate in some operations of the family under Pippi to show their ?balls?. Cross proves to be a little soft-hearted but he still is able to kill people. Dante however, it seems enjoys killing people and Pippi tells about this to the Don.
Now, as Don starts to execute his plans to evaporate in legal blanket by ending up all illegal business by selling it to other families and taking the protection money from them and finally owning legal businesses, Dante proves to be a problem. The young man is muscular in built and knows no fears. He wants to become a great Don like his grandfather.
He also knows that the only obstacle in front of him is Cross and his father Pippi, he decides to kill them. In the mean time, Cross?s sister Claudia goes to Hollywood and becomes a very successful screen writer. She is working in LoddStone Studios.
After the Claudia is introduced the story moves to Claudia?s adventures in Hollywood, that how she became a successful screen writer and her struggle days. The story moves completely to Hollywood and its ways of working. Then story moves to a woman named Athena Aquitaine. She is a very successful star in Hollywood.
Story goes into the background to Athena and Claudia?s like. Pippi?s young days, his marriage, birth of Cross and Claudia and then the bitter divorce of Pippi and his wife and to the life of Athena, her crazy husband and her background.
Now, Claudia comes to Cross with some of his Hollywood problems. The long ago divorced husband of Athena had come back and was threatening to kill her so she has refused to work on the present project, which was a 50 million dollar movie. Claudia requested Cross to do something. Cross met with Athena and fell in love with her. He planned and executed Boz Skannet, the crazy husband of Athena and made the execution look like a suicide.
Athena returned to her project and fell truly in love with Cross. He finally decided to move out of family business to Hollywood and make movies.
When everything was set and Cross was about to move into Hollywood, Pippi de Lena was murdered, six shots to his head. A LAPD detective named Jim Losey was on Clericuzio payroll and he said that a mugger had killed Pippi for money. Cross was too smart to accept it. He made his own investigation and he found out that Dante was responsible for the murder, it was Dante who had murdered the Pippi otherwise it was just not possible for a mugger to get so close to Pippi.
Cross felt that Don might have his hand in the execution, is that was true now Cross could not be spared because he will avenge his father. Cross was summoned to the Enclave ? The Don?s house. Don made it clear to Cross that there was no hand of Don the execution of Pippi, or that he ever wanted it to take place. He also hinted that Dante might have a hand in it. For the first time Don revealed it to Cross that Dante has Clericuzio and Santadio blood because Rose Marry fell in love with eldest son of Santadio family and in her fits she said to Dante that it was Pippi who executed his father, however the execution was ordered by Don, Pippi never let this thing known.
Dante was very aggressive and rebellious. He often went out of the family rules and he was the sole problem in getting the family evaporate in the legal blanket. He was very ambitious. Don hinted it to Cross that he must protect himself off Dante because he hated de Lenas.
Cross executed Dante and Jim Losey and their bodies were never found.
Don declared Cross guilty but forgave him, but Cross had to sell his share in the Vegas hotel, which he did and went to live in France with his beloved Athena.
Don was relieved that now the biggest obstacle Dante out family will easily move into legal blanket. He was pleased how the things went, as Don always used to say ? The world is what it is and we are what we are!!!!
A nice ending but that is the only saving grace of the novel, otherwise there is not a single interesting thing in this novel that I feel is worth reading. The Hollywood and Mafia part uselessly stretched long, there was practically no use of devoting a full long chapter to the life of Athena but it had been done which has stretched the novel.
So, the novel is uselessly stretched at time which makes it a big 482 page when it could have been easily around 430 pages. The stretches also makes it irresistible and boring at times.
Try it out at a weekend or a boring long journey. Still if you can get something better than this novel avoid it, because there is not much to read I have given the summary of the story above, if you have read that no need reading novel and wasting your time.
Mario Puzo looses his punch and disappoints in this novel.
Not recommended.
Mr. Gautam