Book: Six Graves to MunichAuthor: Mario Puzo wiriting as Mario Cleri
Publisher: Maclehose Press
Pages: 200
Price: Rs 399
Eisha Sarkar
"Now, why did Puzo think of writing on Munich?" It's a question that dwells on your mind even after you've finished Mario Puzo's 'lost book' Six Graves to Munich. The creator of The Godfather is known well for painting Sicily and New York with words. How does Munich, East Berlin and Budapest fit in? The Nazis make good tales of torture, but doesn't Mario Puzo write about the cruel-but-honourable Italian mafia? The questions play on your mind, till you search up Puzo on Wikipedia.
On Wikipedia you read, "After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany." Slowly, it all falls into place - the choice of location for this novel and the one preceding it titled The Dark Arena.
In Six Graves to Munich, Puzo weaves a tale of vengeance. Seven senior Nazi officers torture American Captain Michael Rogan, murder his pregnant wife and leave him for dead. After the end of World War II, Rogan's torturers escape to new lives on both sides of the Iron Curtain. But Rogan survives, recovers from appalling injuries and plots for 10 years to exact his revenge.
He traces them down, one by one, with their new identities and new facial features and systematically eliminates them one by one, till he falls for another victim of torture and rape, Rosalie. Whether he should pursue vengeance or sacrifice it for the sake of happiness is the choice Rogan has to make.
Written before the monumental The Godfather, Six Graves to Munich is dark, violent and even grotesque at times. Unlike his mafia novellas, Puzo doesn't play with the side-tracks here. The story's simple, it's like an obstacle race Rogan has to win. There is no space for any diversions. Moving back and forth in time through distrubing flashes of memory, this is a book that will compel the reader to read from cover to cover. The big font works to the reader's benefit.
The book rarely found a mention among Puzo's bestsellers such as The Godfather, The Sicilian and Omerta till it was republished in 2009. For a hardcore Puzo fan, this book doesn't match up to the mafia tales that Puzo admits to have written to "make serious money". You may actually feel let down because you know the story and how it's going to end. But if you've got a long commute ahead of you, you may as well grab this one.
Publisher: Maclehose Press
Pages: 200
Price: Rs 399
Eisha Sarkar
"Now, why did Puzo think of writing on Munich?" It's a question that dwells on your mind even after you've finished Mario Puzo's 'lost book' Six Graves to Munich. The creator of The Godfather is known well for painting Sicily and New York with words. How does Munich, East Berlin and Budapest fit in? The Nazis make good tales of torture, but doesn't Mario Puzo write about the cruel-but-honourable Italian mafia? The questions play on your mind, till you search up Puzo on Wikipedia.
On Wikipedia you read, "After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany." Slowly, it all falls into place - the choice of location for this novel and the one preceding it titled The Dark Arena.
In Six Graves to Munich, Puzo weaves a tale of vengeance. Seven senior Nazi officers torture American Captain Michael Rogan, murder his pregnant wife and leave him for dead. After the end of World War II, Rogan's torturers escape to new lives on both sides of the Iron Curtain. But Rogan survives, recovers from appalling injuries and plots for 10 years to exact his revenge.
He traces them down, one by one, with their new identities and new facial features and systematically eliminates them one by one, till he falls for another victim of torture and rape, Rosalie. Whether he should pursue vengeance or sacrifice it for the sake of happiness is the choice Rogan has to make.
Written before the monumental The Godfather, Six Graves to Munich is dark, violent and even grotesque at times. Unlike his mafia novellas, Puzo doesn't play with the side-tracks here. The story's simple, it's like an obstacle race Rogan has to win. There is no space for any diversions. Moving back and forth in time through distrubing flashes of memory, this is a book that will compel the reader to read from cover to cover. The big font works to the reader's benefit.
The book rarely found a mention among Puzo's bestsellers such as The Godfather, The Sicilian and Omerta till it was republished in 2009. For a hardcore Puzo fan, this book doesn't match up to the mafia tales that Puzo admits to have written to "make serious money". You may actually feel let down because you know the story and how it's going to end. But if you've got a long commute ahead of you, you may as well grab this one.
1 comment:
My dad's actually reading it as I type this. I shall take over once he is done
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