Recent Reading List

Book: ‘The Business School’ by Robert Kiyosaki

‘The Business School’ by Robert Kiyosaki is a book written to promote and sell network marketing business - pyramid scheme businesses where you acquire another customer who acquires another and the chain goes on, each member in the chain earning a little commission while trying to make some ROI on the initial investment done. I am not much of a fan of the network marketing business. Although the book started by trying to address the concerns of people like me, at the end of it I was still unconvinced. So I shall leave it at that.

Book: ‘Fools Die’ by Mario Puzo

‘Fools Die’ is a novel by legendary Mario Puzo revolving around the business of casinos and gambling. The story is by and large set a Las Vegas in USA. Apart from gambling this novel also touches publishing and the film industry. 

After reading many of his novels I have observed that each of his novels is a commentary on some business area or the other. In this respect Mario Puzo has created a niche for himself. 

I loved the way the story started – by introducing four friends each a different than the others. But afterwards the story moved into a lot of things and connection was broken. 

Main characters in the novel are John Merlyn, Cully Cross, and Jordan Hamley and the initial portion tells their gambling plays at the legendary Hotel Xanadu. One night Jordan kills himself in his room and then the story takes a turn. 

In the later parts of the book several other characters die in different fashion. 

This book is relatively new as it was published in 1978. 

After reading most of his books I can say that this is the weakest of all others. I had to turn pages in ‘fast forward’ mode later on in the book. 

The author has tried to get into too much of technicalities of the business of gambling as well as of show business in later sections; forgetting that not all may be equally interested. 

But like all other classics, this one is also a Mario Puzo classic and hence I recommend it to all of his fans.

Book: ‘The Last Don’ by Mario Puzo

'The Last Don' is one of the masterpieces from the brilliant novelist Mario Puzo. I found this one equally chilling like The Godfather. 

After reading almost all of Mario Puzo novels I have observed that each of his novels is in the backdrop of some profession or the other. In this novel the author brings to us the background of movie industry. Along with that it also touches casinos (in Las Vegas) and of course the mafia. 

The story starts with Don Domenico Clericuzio who is a mafia boss now in old age planning legitimacy for his family. Then story gets into life story of his grandnephew Cross or full name Croccifixio. 

There are several parallel side-stories going on, a lot of which I did not find too interesting, but the central story is amazing one and really brilliant. 

A warning: the novel, like other mafia stories from Puzo involves violence. Chilling ones to be specific and hence you should read it only if you like reading crime or mafia stories. 

This novel is also the basis of Mini-series on Television. 

Book: ‘Omerta’ by Mario Puzo

This is a mafia story and competes with The Godfather in brilliance as per my opinion. 

Book: ‘The Forth K’ by Mario Puzo

"K" stands for Kennedy and this is a story based on presidency race of a Kennedy and the tragedies involved. A very different line of story from other books of Mario Puzo, but as brilliant as it could get. 


- Rahul

Recent Reading List

Tuki's Grand Salon Chase

‘Tuki's Grand Salon Chase’ (Flipkart Link) by Parul Sharma is a wonderful story of a young girl’s struggles with professional and personal challenges in a city like Mumbai. Tuki works at a high end salon and a large part of specially the initial portion of the book talks about that. Later the story gets into her flings with boys who chased her and one whom she chased in a way. The story is never boring and extremely well written. Highly recommended for light pleasant reading.

A Hundred Lamps

‘A Hundred Lamps’ (Flipkart Link) is a compilation of short stories about doctors. Stories come from a few legendary writers like Premchand, Renu, (all translated into English) as well from several other authors. I liked the story ‘Alloveda’ by Ramesh Upadhyay most which deals with how relative fates of Allopathy and Ayurveda changed in our country as well as the mindset of recent generation of doctors in India. It is written wonderfully. ‘Mantra’ by another gem which deals with how doctors being emotionless and only commercial minded can take toll on common masses. There are some other stories which I did not like as much but nonetheless the book is a selection of stories throwing light on different aspects related to life of doctors.

The Family

‘The Family’ (I bought from Flipkart) is Mario Puzo’s last book and tells the story of Borgia family of Italy and how scandal and crime ridden persons can even hold posts like Pope of Vatican. 

It is a chilling story filled with violence, suspense and crime all along. 

But it also tells the humane story of Rodrigo Borgia (became Pope Alexander VI) who tries hard to protect and strengthen his family. 

It is a dark and chilling story of how his plans for his sons and daughters are rather shaped by the events of chance and fate and the end is quite different from the one he meticulously planned. 

There are so many different characters all developed very well. Minute events and sentiments are captured so well by the brilliant author. When I reflect on it; this is hell of a story. Mario Puzo is mainly known for writing mafia stories; but this is very different yet as intense one as it could get. 

This is a story which you won’t forget ever. Highly recommended only if you like Mafia stories or other books from Mario Puzo.

The Dark Arena

The Dark Arena (I bought it from Flipkart) was Mario Puzo’s first novel, published in 1952, years before The Godfather. Set in Germany during World War-II, it is the story of a young American soldier called Walter Mosca and his love with a native German girl called Hella. Apart from being an intense story of a young American soldier and his sad love story with a German girl, it also tells about the life and the times. I loved the historical account the novel presents to us. Nazi Germans tortured Jews but after reading this book I realized that Germans in general suffered not less at the hands of the "victors". American soldiers could pick any girls from the streets; children begged for food all around; and people paid anything to get essentials like food (and 'American cigarettes') (only the army was stocked with plenty while common people struggled every day for everything). Whole society was corrupted due to the instability. But this is only in the background of this brilliant book which deals with stories of multiple characters, primarily of Walter Mosca. It is the story of teen revolt and pains of growing up. It is a touchy sad love story of Hella, a German helpless girl, and Mosca, a strong American officer. Another character is Leo, a Jew, whose father was German and mother Jew and he lost his childhood to the concentration camp. There are so many different characters all developed very well. Minute events and sentiments are captured so well by the brilliant author. When I reflect on it; this is hell of a story. Mario Puzo is mainly known for writing mafia stories; but this is very different yet as intense one as it could get. 

The Fortunate Pilgrim

‘The Fortunate Pilgrim’ (I bought it from Flipkart) is Mario Puzo’s second book – and importantly before he became famous and all after publication of ‘the Godfather’. Away from his previous book, the protagonist of this book is a woman. Lucia Santa is an Italian migrant who came to the United States of America to live forever. Her life journey is truly filled with struggles and difficult decisions. It is truly an amazing one. The little stories within the stories have come up so well. At so many places I broke out laughing and at many places my heart sank. The way it ended felt like a relief of a lifetime and a personal achievement. Truly a masterpiece...

Disclaimer: Written by Kumar Rahul Tiwary. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect views of organization author is associated with.