So what did you think of the book?

I finished reading it a month or so ago. The experiance was very much like a horse following a carrot. Tells you just enough to perk your interest and then side tracks you for 15 chapters with 5 million subplots/substory lines etc. etc. It was fun--a tad aggravating at times though.

Though I think the subplots made the book. The actual main story line was so-so. And when you finally figure out about the santadio "war"...yeah the details struck me as kind of stupid. It's like he was trying for a dark re-enterpertation of Romeo and Juliet and threw the mob in for fun. I hate Romeo and Juliet...and so that part of the plot came off as a tad melodramatic and stupid. But it's written by Puzo, so it's magnificent at the same time. I think The Last Don really proves the idea that it's how a book is written just as much as what it's written about. I think Puzo could write about pencils lying on a table and I'd be entranced.

But anyway for the sake of not rambling on and on--what did you think of the book?

I just finished reading about a week ago and loved it.

I was mighty disappointed with "Last Don." I expected a real Mafia novel from the author of "The Godfather." Instead, I found a vehicle for Puzo to show off what he learned about Hollywood. Puzo's one of those authors (like Ian Fleming) who can't resist loading you up with details about things he's learned. Fleming did it with great panache--and he was a swell travel writer, too.

Not so Puzo. In "Godfather," he creates a boring story about Jules and Lucy just so he can describe her gynecological operation, which he probably heard about from a female friend or relative and interested himself in. In "The Last Don," all that Hollywood BS drags the novel right into the ground, and buries it. One of the reasons that the TV movie was so much better than the novel was that it dispensed with most of the Hollywood BS (the other reason was Danny Aiello).

It's been years since I read The Last Don (I plowed through it during a chilly winter break from college back in '02) The Hollywood stuff did make the novel drag at points (I don't care about the Valentino-like star that everyone had to touch after he died, or the suicidal novelist). The stuff about Vegas, and the history of the Clericuzio's, and the De Lenas' involvement with the family. It, to this date, is still the only Puzo novel besides The Godfather that I've been able to finish.

Now, that you've all got me thinking about the book again, I need to see if I can find a dvd of that tv movie that they made.

If you can find it, look for the first TV movie--it's the best.

I got fed up with it after 5 chapters!

Too much side-tracking for me, I found it hard to enjoy unlike The Sicilian which was most enjoyable to read

. . . it's a spectacular book and i've yet to see the adaptation that was produced for television but i just checked out the cast on the internet movie database and it's a must-see . . .

. . . found the hollywood soap opera stuff intriguing and well-written, if not a tad boring. he really lays into the hollywood movie industry pretty hard in his material. but the mafia material is riveting. the assassinations -- the kills -- are the high points of any Mario Puzo work, i just love the way he goes into the details of how the rub-outs are plotted. skannet's kill is great and the death at sea of the guy who wants to fix the superbowl game is incredible . . .

. . . one surprise: thought for sure dante would disobey the don's wish and undertake to assassinate the president of the united states with his own people on his own in order to position the vice-president to help pass laws to legalize the family's gambling empire . . .

. . . the death of the writer (bantz?) showcases puzo's brilliant ability to tell us what his characters are thinking, what goes through their minds, at the time of death. another wicked puzo death . . .

. . . the thing about puzo is that at first glance his stuff appears, perhaps if you're not a seasoned reader of thick novels, somewhat intimidating. however, once you start reading it you realize it's fun trashy pulp fiction, easy to read . . .

. . . absolutely loved the ending of the last don. the last don is satisfying and worth reading . . .

I've been rereading this book. The swift change in Pippi when he realizes that that Nalene doesn't love him and wants to take both kids is pretty good writing. The mask comes off the wolf.

And Pippi's implicit and explicit threats to kill her sort of echo Michael's line in GF2 "Don't you know that that is an impossibility. That I'd use all my power to prevent that from happening?"

"Strangers decide their lives. Other people veto their existence. I don't let anyone do that."

"Isn't it enough for you to know that they both love you better than me? That they would miss you more than they would me?"

Wait till you get to all of the Hollywood bullshit. It all but ruins the entire book.

I just finished this book for the second time and have a few other questions/comments.

Although the events and times are quite different one can make an argument that Puzo just created different versions of the same character in Don Vito Corleone/Don Domenico Clericuzio/Don Raymond Aprile.

All three are throughly practical, extremely ruthless men who nonetheless have an odd sense of humor or irony, especially around their children.

But it seems that Puzo made each Don more "evil" in some respects.
Don Vito Corleone hesitates to avenge his son by murdering his son-in-law.

In the same situation, Clericuzio does not waver from the act. He is not only willing to put his daughter's life at risk but says later that Pippi made a mistake by not murdering her.

Don Raymond Aprile can not even conceive of mercy and makes it a point of honor to eliminate the friends and family of his enemies. Even the people who insult him unknowingly place their lives and those of their families in forfeit.

Which one was the worst? Which Don was the most realistic?

Why would Don Clericuzio say such a thing about his daughter?

Would his sons REALLY have killed their sister on Pippi's orders or watched as Pippi did it?

I agree. The first tv movie is the best. The Last Don was the first time I ever watched a drama about the Mafia. I was deeply impressed with the story about a powerful Mafia boss that wanted his grandchldren/future family to disappear into the legitimate society and I have been hooked on reading Mafia books and watching Mafia films since. The Last Don was my first invitation into an interest in a glamorous but at the same time violent dangerous world. The book is a good read at times but is spoilt with too much emphasis on Hollywood. But when the book concentrates on Don Clericuzio and his family it is a very good story.

Just finished reading it the other day - like most of Puzo's work, it's engaging, enjoyable trash. Nothing wrong with that.
The only novel I've read of his that really stands out as literature is The Sicilian.

It was kind of irritating to find the occasional grammatical mistake in The Last Don, or silly mangling of phrases - "illusions of grandeur" was almost on the "for all intensive purposes" level. Sure, anyone can make mistakes (just look at any internet forum), but an established writer? Not to mention whoever edited the book.

That's just quibbling though, I did enjoy it. Main problem seems to be that it's on far too epic a scale for a story with so little real substance, much like the big, dumb Hollywood films Puzo seems to be commenting on in the novel.

Will track down the TV adaptation, I imagine the brutality with which novels are treated by screenwriters could work wonders for this one. Sure did for another sprawling Mob soap opera Puzo chucked together a while back.

I thought it was a good book and movie! Liked the fatter and son characters piplpy and cross, the two hammers!