Customer Reviews

Omerta

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you're a writer and release a novel such as "The Godfather" you know you've set the standarts very high, and everything you may write afterwards is condemned to be compared to it.
With "Omerta" the problem of comparison to other works doesn't even exist, since it is far inferior to almost everything the great novelist had written before. I suspect Puzo hasn't really written this novel, or at least, he hasn't written the whole novel: was he feeling too sick during the last three-four years of his life to write another novel, not necessarily outstanding, but at least as good as the most part of his prior works? Did someone else give him a hand to finish it? Or was this last work intended to be a script? If so, why do they call it a novel? It seemed too hollywoodish to me to be a Mario Puzo work, especially the happy ending. There's no deep character development, no vibrant, poignant dialogues, and the plot itself it's not as hypnotic or riveting as you expect it to be. I wasn't captivated by any of the characters of this book, although (believe me!) I desperately wanted to: the author never forgets to remind the reader how charming Don Aprile and how cunning and power-radiating Astorre viola is, but you never really, naturally feel it the way you do while reading about Michael Corleone, Salvatore Giuliano or Don Clericuzio.If only Mario Puzo had really written this novel...

If you're a writer and release a novel such as "The Godfather" you know you've set the standarts very high, and everything you may write afterwards is condemned to be compared to it. That's what happened to Puzo in the seventies and eighties: after having written his true masterpiece he went on writting novels such as "Fools die", "The sicilian" and "The last Don", very, very good ones, but not as beautiful, magnificient and wonderfully written as "The Godfather".
With "Omerta" the problem of comparison to other works doesn't even exist, since it is far inferior to almost everything the great novelist had written before. I suspect Puzo hasn't really written this novel, or at least, he hasn't written the whole novel: was he feeling too sick during the last three-four years of his life to write another novel, not necessarily outstanding, but at least as good as the most part of his prior works? Did someone else give him a hand to finish it? Or was this last work intended to be a script? If so, why do they call it a novel? It seemed too hollywoodish to me to be a Mario Puzo work, especially the happy ending. There's no deep character development, no vibrant, poignant dialogues, and the plot itself it's not as hypnotic or riveting as you expect it to be. I wasn't captivated by any of the characters of this book, although (believe me!) I desperately wanted to: the author never forgets to remind the reader how charming Don Aprile and how cunning and power-radiating Astorre viola is, but you never really, naturally feel it the way you do while reading about Michael Corleone, Salvatore Giuliano or Don Clericuzio.If only Mario Puzo had really written this novel...

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.

Mario Puzo must really love those Sicilian guys. They can do no wrong in his eyes. This book is a fast read, kept my interest. But the ethical conclusions are that "true" Mafioso are somehow blessed (by God?), maybe by the Virgin Mary, because Christ, being after all a man, cannot be fully trusted (op. cit.). Astorre Viola, the product of a union between a 78 year old Sicilian "Don" and his last lover, who dies right away, is destined to become a "man of respect." Yes, he shoots people in the head, and orders his henchmen to do the same. But so what. He also shows mercy to people who catch his fancy. What a great guy! Just about all the other characters surrounding Astorre are murdered before the end of the book, including an FBI agent. But he lives happily ever after in Sicily, on an estate left him by his father, married to the woman who lured two of his victims (hit men) to their final bunkers. It was obvious, from the beginning, who was going to survive and who was not going to survive. Idealizing the Mafia seems wrong, somehow. Astorre is the hero of this book, but people who take him as a hero are likely to condone killing, as long as said killing demonstrates "loyalty" and "keeping your word." Youth gangs come to mind. Mike Davis in City of Quartz noted that the gangs of Los Angeles resembled "proto-Mafia" assemblages, and no doubt such gang leaders admire the Mafia. Puzo does the world a disservice in making Astorre an enchanted hero. But the world is fascinated by evil (cf. the local daily newspaper) so Puzo only complies with the world's wishes. What other entertainer, who wants to please his public and make money, has not done the same? (They're all sellouts!) In that respect, he does a good job. It is a fascinating account of evil overcoming evil. Diximus.

One cannot write a review on a Mario Puzo novel without referring to The Godfather, which is arguably one of the greatest classics of all time. Omerta comes close to indulging the reader into the suspense of the underworld. However, the indulgence is short lived due to many twists in the story that can confuse some readers, not only that but the twists themselves seem too coincidental that it degrades the overall "underworld mystery" that is taking place. Overall, however, I really enjoyed the story, it keeps you on the edge of your seat one minute while describing a romantic love scene the next. The feel of the story as a whole felt very much like a combined Godfather and Last Don. This story makes a decent ending to a wonderful series.