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Summary: Not a mafia book.
Review: I was expecting a simplified Godfather but instead was very happy to read something completely different: regular people trying to survive in NY. First rate descriptions of family life, urban settings. This reminds me a lot of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Question: Is there (was there) a movie in the works? Answer to Singapore: Frank kills himself in the sanitorium by smashing his head from a fall from the ceiling. Correct me if I am wrong. I look forward to reading Mario Puzo's other books.
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Summary: Great book!
Review: If you like "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith ,you are going to love this book.
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Summary: Classic story about the "Human Condition"
Review: In what should have already been considered a Puzo classic, "The Fortunate Pilgrim" has not received the recognition it deserves. This beautifully written story is an account of an Italian family's struggles in Hell's Kitchen. Puzo focuses particularly on the mother of the family. Showing her pain and sometimes her joy. The story was difficult to put down. Although not very much of a "pick-me-up", this book makes one think about what should or should not be considered a blessing AND what should or should not be considered a curse. Of course, it's not meant to be a "pick-me-up", life isn't always GRAND. Puzo captures this fact of life perfectly.
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Summary: Hard figthing...
Review: Lucia shows what hard work and a strong character can do, its like traveling to the 20's to see a woman taking its family ahead, i strongly recomend this magnificent novel to everybody.
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Summary: This is excellent reading!
Review: Many books that I have been required to read for a class haven't made me feel very eager about opening them up to read the assigned pages, but Mario Puzo's "The Fortunate Pilgrim" had a different affect on me. His unique style of detailed writing kept me interested as a reader. It gave me a clear picture of what was going on in the story. I also liked how he used many similies and metaphors throughout the story when explaining things. Puzo realistically portrays an italian family suffering from poverty in the streets of New York and what one woman, a widow and a mother, name Lucia, goes through in order to achieve her American dream. Lucia keeps her important family traditions in her family and still manages to keep her pride as well; I admire her strength. The family does what it needs to in order to survive, and they accept that with a good attitude. When they are young and have to stay home and clean or work instead of go and play with neighbors they willingly get the job done. That sets an example for me. This novel is not a nail biting thriller, but it is realistic and that makes it more powerful. It hits you harder while you read this knowing that some people actually live lives similar to those portrayed in this book. It makes me feel lucky for all that I have and all that I have to give. Not only will reading this book enrich your vocabulary, but it will give you a taste of Mario Puzo's writing!
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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: His Mother Took Over
Review: Mario Puzo feels that this novel, written before THE GODFATHER or any of his more popular novels, is superior to them all. In a creative sense, THE FORTUNATE PILGRIM is the parent, and the rest of his books are the offspring. In the hands of someone like Puzo, the creative process is a wonderful thing to observe. He relates how he set out to write a novel in which he was the hero and the rest of his family were villains who wanted to stifle his writing career; and how, stalwart young man that he was, he succeeded in spite of them and the stumbling blocks they placed in his path. He was unable to write this version of his life, not even as fiction. Truth and the memory of the strength of the woman who reared him wouldn't allow him to deny the impact she had on his life. Puzo wrote, but not what he had planned, or even what he thought he was writing. At some point he realized that the book wasn't about himself. It was about his mother. THE FORTUNATE PILGRIM's Lucia Santa is the personification of Puzo's mother and this book is her book as surely as if she'd written it herself. When we read about Lucia Santa's life in Hell's Kitchen, a single mother as we would call her today, as she raises six children, we are constantly amazed at her strength. Her oldest son becomes a Mafia Union Organizer (read strong arm man and collector of "protection" money) against her will. But Lucia Santa prevails. Her daughter spends six months in a sanitorium for her lungs and comes home too assimilated for Lucia Santa's taste. But Lucia Santa prevails. One of her sons commits suicide. But Lucia Santa prevails. One tragedy follows on the heels of another. But Lucia Santa prevails. After the death of her son, her neighbors bewail her misfortunes, "First husband dead; second destroyed for life; a grown son, already a breadwinner, struck down. What tragedy, what misfortune!" But how does Lucia Santa look at it? A grown daughter, a forelady with a hard working sober husband. One son who has given her grandchildren and is making a good living. Another son working on the railroad and no longer giving her troubles. Yet another son winning awards in school. Yes, Lucia Santa prevails. Lucia Santa is, in every way, Puzo's mother. Is it any wonder that she dominates this novel? The choice as to who was the hero (or heroine) was never really Puzo's to make. It's a better novel and a more honest one the way it wrote itself (with a little assist from Puzo). Puzo says that, not only is this her novel, but so is THE GODFATHER. From his mother's mouth to Puzo's ears, to the written page, we have Lucia Santa to thank for these books. Oh, by the way, Mario, thanks for channeling them for us, the readers. If you only read one of Puzo's books this probably should be it.
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Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: Mario Puzo took the everyday life of an ordinary Italian immigrant family and turned it into a masterpiece! A treat for the reader. By the end of the book I felt like I know this family personally. His character depth is amazing. After reading this book I have a much better understanding of what my own grandparents went through when they came over from Italy. Living in today's world filled with conveniences, we tend to forget the struggles of the generations before us. I recommend this book to readers of all ages.
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Summary: Setting of NYC
Review: Mario Puzo's "The Fortunate Pilgrim" is the story of Lucia Santa who is an immigrant from Italy in New York City in the 1930's. She finds herself in a bad marriage and raising six children on her own in Hell's Kitchen. Puzo does a great job of emphasizing and giving great detail to setting, whether it be the train depot, city streets, or the tenement in which the family lives. From the setting the reader gets to know and understand the family's story and hardships that they face in their everyday world.
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Summary: The Fortunate Pilgrim
Review: Mario Puzo's the Fortunate Pilgrim is a very good book. I was required to read the book for my English 11 class. At first I was disappointed that I didn't get a novel that I thought would be more interesting. All of the characters seem very real and believable the book shows all of the struggles that immigrant families must have encountered when they came here. It gives you an understanding of what immigrants had to go through. Each family member has their own personality and their own problems. By the end of the book you become attached to the characters and hope that everything works out for them.
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