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Rating: 
Summary: Mama holds it together
Review: A great tale of an Italian family living in poverty and how they struggled through. Sometimes we do what we have to no matter whether it is right or wrong or good or bad, but just because we have to do it to survive. In an age of five TVs in every room, it is hard to comprehend stealing ice to bring home 50 cents to your family, or saving for years only to have it wiped out by the Depression -- well, maybe not so hard with the Enron mess. A good tale of family stife and love and sacrifice and pain.
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Summary: A Mothers Strength
Review: As written in the preface by Mario Puzo, this book was his all time favourite. Even though it didn't sell as well as his other blockbusters, readers would sense how personal it was to Mario Puzo. It was written with grace & eloquence and for once, it only briefly touched upon mafioso. Rather, the book emphasised upon the mother of a family, Santa Lucia who went against all odds in a distant land to bring up her family. Through the years, her life was struck by tragedies and yet, she clinged on & persevered through the hard times, including the Great Depression and subsequently, World War 2. Suffice to say that nothing is far fetched in America and your life is what you made it to be. It is still as pertinent today as it was many years ago. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Best Novel about living in a Italian Life Style.
Review: Great... Can not compare. This book to any other book about Italian Life Style. i like the book so much, Not because i am Half, it is because, It has a very creative story. Creative Names. About the life of Lucia Santa, moving from southern Italy to new York City to live a better life, and she finds out it is not as she thought it would be.
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Summary: A good and worthwhile immigrant piece
Review: Many of you will no doubt be attracted to The Fortunate Pilgrim riding on the fame of Puzo's mafia novels, especially the Godfather. The Fortunate Pilgrim is more of a drama in the traditional sense of the word. It tells the story of Lucia Santa - an immigrant widow living in a small appartment in New York and raising her children. This book exposes the reality of the life of immigrant Italians in all it's harshness, with the very tight budgets and subsistent living, domestic violence, a clash between the traditional Italian values and modern American ones, the generation gap and the temptation of crime.This is characterized in Lucia's children. The daughter is an assertive, educated type determined to become big in the real world. One of the sons is a womaniser and all-round good guy. The other sons are archetypes of kids growing up during the depression. A moving, though at times slow book. If you want to see and enjoy a different side of Puzo as a writer, this novel is ideal.
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Summary: Realistic touching family drama
Review: Mario Puzo's writing style was so wonderful to read because it somehow flawlessly glides from one point of view to another. One minute, you're reading about the events from the mother's perspective where she talks about Vinnie, then suddenly you're reading about Vinnie's thoughts of his family, and so on. I loved The Godfather and now this is a favorite as well. This story is not just about family members prevailing through tragedy after tragedy, but it's also each member finding a role in life and why they must fulfill the role. It's an inspiring tale of a family in the Depression era.
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Summary: Puzo impresses again
Review: The Angeluzzi-Corba family with its central character Lucia Santa, battles against 'unfortunate' hardships to preserve her strong Italian values. Lucia Santa believes the family is continually punished; yet it is the survival through these difficulties that is both 'fortunate' and touching. I enjoyed this story, both for its characters and subtle plot.
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Summary: Simply a Masterpeice
Review: The book I am reviewing is "The Fortunate Pilgrim" by Mario Puzo. I chose to read Fortunate Pilgrim because I had heard from numerous sources that this book was actually better than Mario Puzo's most known and best-selling novel, The Godfather, which I had read and enjoyed greatly. I found it hard to believe a book so over-looked from the public could be better than the masterpiece, The Godfather, and decided to read "The Fortunate Pilgrim" myself and draw my own conclusion.
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" tells the story of a single mother, Lucia Santa, holding together her split family of six children and no husband. Lucias every day life is a struggle, to make sure there is enough money to feed her children and prosper during WWI and the Great Depression. Lucia's first husband died in an industrial accident, and her second husband ran away, leaving her with his 3 children. I personally found the Mother-Daughter relationship between Lucia and her oldest daughter, Octivia very sad yet interesting to read. Octivia wants to become a modernized American and schoolteacher, and discourages her mother for "living in the past". I find the dialogue between Lucia and Octivia on page 23-26 an important passage in the book, as Octivia denounces her mother and fiercly tells her "He's not my father!" when Lucia brings up the hard topic of her stepfather.
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" is indeed a great book. I still cannot decide whether the Fortunate Pilgrim is "better" than The Godfather, but they are both great in different ways. The Fortunate Pilgrim really makes you grateful for things over-looked by many, such as shelter, health, life, and most of all family. The Fortunate Pilgrim made myself, being Italian, think about the struggle everyday life was to my great grandparents. It makes you think of how, in the end, Lucia Santa overcomes overwhelming odds, but to much heart ache. It is hard to contemplate now what these people had to go through, the hardship of daily life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, meaningful read. The beginning starts off slow, but by the end of this book you can have a new perspective on some aspects, if not all of life. This is a book I will remember for years.
Rating:
Summary: Simply a Masterpeice
Review: The book I am reviewing is "The Fortunate Pilgrim" by Mario Puzo. I chose to read Fortunate Pilgrim because I had heard from numerous sources that this book was actually better than Mario Puzo's most known and best-selling novel, The Godfather, which I had read and enjoyed greatly. I found it hard to believe a book so over-looked from the public could be better than the masterpiece, The Godfather, and decided to read "The Fortunate Pilgrim" myself and draw my own conclusion.
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" tells the story of a single mother, Lucia Santa, holding together her split family of six children and no husband. Lucias every day life is a struggle, to make sure there is enough money to feed her children and prosper during WWI and the Great Depression. Lucia's first husband died in an industrial accident, and her second husband ran away, leaving her with his 3 children. I personally found the Mother-Daughter relationship between Lucia and her oldest daughter, Octivia very sad yet interesting to read. Octivia wants to become a modernized American and schoolteacher, and discourages her mother for "living in the past". I find the dialogue between Lucia and Octivia on page 23-26 an important passage in the book, as Octivia denounces her mother and fiercly tells her "He's not my father!" when Lucia brings up the hard topic of her stepfather.
"The Fortunate Pilgrim" is indeed a great book. I still cannot decide whether the Fortunate Pilgrim is "better" than The Godfather, but they are both great in different ways. The Fortunate Pilgrim really makes you grateful for things over-looked by many, such as shelter, health, life, and most of all family. The Fortunate Pilgrim made myself, being Italian, think about the struggle everyday life was to my great grandparents. It makes you think of how, in the end, Lucia Santa overcomes overwhelming odds, but to much heart ache. It is hard to contemplate now what these people had to go through, the hardship of daily life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a good, meaningful read. The beginning starts off slow, but by the end of this book you can have a new perspective on some aspects, if not all of life. This is a book I will remember for years.
Rating:
Summary: Reading the Fortunate Pilgrim will make you a Fortunate Read
Review: This book is really anti-Puzo. It doesn?t have much to do with the mob, crime, casinos, or gangsters, and it doesn?t have killings, executions, or any other street warfare. Heck, it doesn?t even have a plot. Instead, it?s about a family living in New York, and how the mother has learned to survive and raise a family alone. Sounds boring, right? Wrong. This could actually be Puzo?s finest work. From the family?s struggles through poverty and near poverty, to the fights of mother and daughter, to the disobedience of one son, and the suicide of another other, this book is a touching chronicle. Though not a novel you would expect from Puzo, it?s definitely his most poignant work, and shows that he can live past his Godfather typecast.
Rating:
Summary: Reading the Fortunate Pilgrim will make you a Fortunate Read
Review: This book is really anti-Puzo. It doesn?t have much to do with the mob, crime, casinos, or gangsters, and it doesn?t have killings, executions, or any other street warfare. Heck, it doesn?t even have a plot. Instead, it?s about a family living in New York, and how the mother has learned to survive and raise a family alone. Sounds boring, right? Wrong. This could actually be Puzo?s finest work. From the family?s struggles through poverty and near poverty, to the fights of mother and daughter, to the disobedience of one son, and the suicide of another other, this book is a touching chronicle. Though not a novel you would expect from Puzo, it?s definitely his most poignant work, and shows that he can live past his Godfather typecast.
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