The prestige of the "Godfather" trilogy is world-renowned, especially "The Godfather 1" was remade as a movie, hailed as a man's bible, the sum of wisdom, the answer to all questions. Among the many characters in the book, we can find our own shadow in them. Such as Don Corleone's resourcefulness and vision; Tom Hagen's calm restraint and loyalty; Sonny's grumpy but loving family; Michael's firm will... By looking at the solutions these characters face things, we always benefit a lot.
Today, I want to introduce you to the work of Mario Puzo, the last part of the "Godfather" trilogy--- "The Last Godfather".
Mario Puzo (1920–1999), one of America's most successful best-selling fiction authors. His masterpiece "The Godfather" ushered in a new era of gangster fiction, occupying the New York Times best-selling list for 67 weeks as soon as it came out, setting a miracle of 20 million copies in just two years, and is still the number one best-selling novel in the history of American publishing.
"The Last Godfather" encompasses corruption, entertainment, betrayal, assassination, romantic love... Of course, there is more important – the meaning and value of the family. - Time Magazine
"The Last Godfather" is a masterpiece, and the increase in age has made some writers mediocre, but others have also been polished to great wisdom. Mario Puzo is the latter. - Publishers Weekly
Mario Puzo is a master storyteller, and the whole book is divided into light and dark lines, intertwining two closely related stories.
The story is set in a great war between the Claricuzio family and the Santadio family. And the Ke family's Qianjin fell in love with the grand duke of the Sang family. The two are eager to use the romance of Romeo and Juliet to persuade the two families to cease war. Don Domenico pretended to agree to his daughter's marriage contract and agreed to the Sang family's request for an armistice. However, behind his back, he instructed his nephew Pippi and his three sons to kill all the people of the Sang family on the wedding night. Even though her cousin was pregnant with Rokko, Pippi still killed her husband mercilessly. The Ke family's qianjin went crazy because of this. A few months later, her son Dante was born, and at the same time Pippi's son Cross was born.
And the beginning of the story, also from decades later, Cross and Dante have grown up. The story of the bright line is that the world-famous actress Antina was intimidated by her ex-husband and did not dare to continue filming in Hollywood, which incidentally pulled out a lot of dark stories about Hollywood. Later, with Kroos's help, she completed the film production and fell in love with Kroos.
The story of the dark line tells that Pippi longs for Cross to inherit his position as the "hammer" in the family (i.e., the family killer). But the overly shady killing methods aroused Kroos's disgust and led him to the idea of quitting the Claire Kuzio family. His cousin Dante, on the other hand, is a bloodthirsty and cruel man who has been plotting to get rid of Pippi after learning that he killed his father. A bitter internal family struggle began.
Mario Puzo's storyline is full of twists and turns, but its purpose is to create characters. Like The Godfather 1, the protagonists in this book, ---- Pippi father and son, are portrayed to life.
Pippi de Reiner
The "Hammer" of the Cracuzio family, in the battle with the Santa dio family, plays the role of a general.
In life, Pippi is very charismatic, enthusiastic and generous, and enjoys the pleasure of interpersonal interaction. Therefore, both men and women are very relaxed with him.
In terms of work, he is extremely serious and has learned to calculate early in his dangerous life, which is an important reason for his success. As the top killer in the family, he did not look like a reckless butcher, but like a skilled technician. Pippi's actions have always been carefully planned, and the murders he planned can basically be described as seamless. It is precisely because of his good use of tactics and brave qualities that Pippi has been respected by everyone.
In terms of family, Pippi tries her best to be a good husband and a good parent. Give gifts to your wife often and respect her private life. When encountering major conflicts, he often relies on his good temper to maintain the feelings between husband and wife. For children, at a very young age, they are taught to protect their families, love the family, and respect every member of the family. Teach them how to build the world, how to protect themselves, how to avoid harm.
For the Clericcuccio family, Pippi is loyal. In the face of Don's orders to him, he did a very good job. At the same time, for the sake of the family's interests, he dared to bear the infamy and become a satanic character. It is also with his excellent talents that his influence in the family is unparalleled.
As the book says, Pippi is a very elusive person. Although he was never rude to his wife, his nature was quite fierce; he pretended to be honest, but in fact it was mysterious and elusive; he was kind but extremely dangerous, he was passionate but ruthless. Facing their best friends, Mr. and Mrs. Barazzo, they feel like brothers and sisters. But in the end, due to the betrayal of the family by the Balazzos, he mercilessly designed and murdered them. In the face of the marriage proposal of the Santa dio family, he superficially agreed and had a lot of fun at the wedding scene of the other party, making the other party feel that he was sincere. But that night, he killed all the backbone of the Santadio family. For Pippi, everything must be careful and vigilant, everything must be prepared in advance, and everything cannot be invested in all feelings.
Kros de Reiner
The protagonist of this book. Son of Pippi, General Manager of Taoyuan Hotel. Pippi had been professionally trained since childhood, and when hunting, Kroos easily hit the prey. His abilities were on full display, his talent for firearms, his meticulous maintenance of weapons, and his ability to remain calm in the face of danger, whether it was dismembering prey or collecting corpses, which never frightened him. At the same time, Cross inherited his father's strength and excellent coordination ability. In terms of life, his mother taught him elegant socialism, proper manners, as well as dancing, dressing, grooming, etc. Arguably, Cross received a good homeschooling.
Unlike Pippi, Cross lacks a hard heart. In the face of the former respected elder Barazzo and his wife, he was unable to kill the killer, which also caused him to lose the family's "hammer" status. But it is precisely in this way that crosses the legend of Kroos even more. Kroos is fearless, but he can lower his posture; he is decisive, reliable, affectionate, and good at drawing people's hearts.
Excerpt 1
"I flew to Las Vegas to find my brother Cross. He was very shrewd and knew a lot of people. I promise he can help. Don't go, wait for me to come back. ”
"Of course not," Claudia said disapprovingly, "he helps because he loves me." Her tone was proud, "Except for Dad, he really loves me alone." ”
This is a conversation between Kroos' sister Claudia and Antina. From the dialogue, it is conceivable that Kroos has helped her solve many difficult problems, but Kroos has never let her down. Not only that, "her tone is proud" can be seen in Cross's care and love for her, and Cross's attitude towards family affection to the extreme.
Excerpt 2
Kroos shrugged. "I don't have a choice, Dante killed my dad, and now he has to kill me before he stops." He paused, then said, "I hope Don didn't know it from the beginning, and if he was on his side, then we would have no hope at all." ”
Leah said carefully, "Or you can cancel all the actions and put the problem in front of Don." Let him decide what to do. ”
"No," Kroos said, "he's not going to make decisions that are not good for his grandson." ”
The words "no" show Cross's resolute fortitude, even if he will face Tang's punishment, he will do whatever it takes to avenge his father. In the resolute tone, Cross's image of seriousness and bravery is vividly displayed, showing that he is a young man with thinking, courage and blood.
In addition, Cross's meticulous planning ability is also unyielding. In this book, the murder of Bozelney and Dante is enough to show Kroos's resourcefulness.
Summarize and share
Like Godfather 1, there are many golden sentences to share in this book.
1. Never look back. Whether it's to make excuses, justify yourself, or have fun, never look back. Who you are now is who you are, and what the world is now is what it is
2. Don't get angry easily, don't talk about yourself. Earn respect with actions, not words.
3. The most important thing a man can do in his life is to support himself. He had to earn money for his food, clothing, shelter, and support his children. Needless to say, in order to get this without experiencing unnecessary suffering, a man must have a certain influence in the world.
4. Man can keep making mistakes, but he must not make fatal mistakes.
5. A little bit of accumulated respect will always be rewarded, and a small oversight, no matter how insignificant, will one day be remembered.