I always have stereotyped Mario Puzo with the Mafia, dons, pacy action-packed thriller kind of stuff. Honestly speaking, I picked up "Fools Die" with the same implied anticipation. I won't deny it, a substantial chunk of the novel through, I still could not fathom that this was a markedly different Puzo. I just took it that the story was merely building up before the Mafia, CIA, FBI and the like all jumped in.
In all earnestness, if nothing else , " Fools Die" finds me looking upon Puzo with a hitherto non-present reverence as a story teller. He can write about emotions and man, does he do a good job at it. With "Fools Die" he proves ( to me I should confess it was a discovery) that he can narrate a story about real people, real emotions , real incidences and not just some high-adrenaline- out-of-the-world -uber-paced -hyped-up super humans and mega conspiracy straightforward account. Puzo for sure is a classy author and his Academy Awards were not for nothing.
The story is debatable and many might not agree, for sure not find appealing , that the controlled,level-headed ,simple Merlyn comes out as a winner viz-a-viz the more generally accepted success idol personalities epitomised by the likes of Osano, Janelle or Malomar or even the wily Cully and the upright Artie. The novel has an all sweeping undercurrent of realism , and a dark realism at that. Keep a simple humble honest code to life and whoa , you are through . Give wings to your passions and fancies, and you are doomed. The waves of Romanticism are dashed against the rocks of the stark reality and pragmatism that life actually is. Be it the writer Osano, the artist Malomar, the love crazy Janelle, the hustler Cully, or the rock upright Artie, ...... they all are possessed by one or the other emotion and falter. Through this whirlwind , Merlyn is able to navigate his way through, ..... a sane head standing tall and steady when all around passions are flying berserk.
The setting is perfect for such a tale. The mad gambling Vegas,the passionate literary cream , the passioante Hollywood ---- all provide the perfect backdrop to put into relief the Romanticism of the faltering characters.All in all, it was not vintage Puzo. But the tale tickles in a subtle way. Kudos to Puzo!!!!
