Gangster is a wonderfully crafted epic about the rise of Angelo Vesteri to become one of the most decorated dons to have bedecked the arena of murderous mobsters in the United States. The narrative opens with the events leading to the escape of Paulino, Angelo’s father, from the Mafiosi in Italy. The morally upright, alas unlucky, Paulino forms the initial canvas on which Angelo’s destiny to be one of the greatest gangsters is written. As Angelo grows up in hardship and watches his father suffer for being a honest hard worker, he realizes that the only way to survive in a dog-eat-dog world is to become the most feared dog in town. Angelo’s life is revealed to the readers through the recollections of Gabe, an innocent boy who was given shelter and raised by Angelo.Powerful imagery is as rampant throughout the novel as the bloody killings. The scene of the exodus of Italians to the United States as illegal immigrants is captured vividly and remains stuck in the reader’s head. The author refers to the fleeing Italians as a “moaning assembly of humanity” to emphasize the trauma they face due to the sudden severing of their ties with their homeland. Many instances of figurative language further illustrate the pain and suffering experienced by them. An example would be the beautiful instance of alliteration in “dirty hands dive for the delicacy.” The narration is done in an anecdotal style to allow the reader glimpses into the lives of the main characters such as Paulino, Angelo and Pudge. This enables the audience to understand the characters and the reasons behind their actions. We understand the immense complexities behind Paulino’s decision to pull the trigger on his own son, a decision which haunts him throughout the rest of his life. His action turns him into a symbol of morality in the eyes of the reader. This idea of morality is questioned throughout the novel by Angelo which probes the reader into thinking about the issue at a deeper level. At one point Angelo tells Gabe that the ruthless attitude apparent in gangsters is no different from the backstabbing and political games which are ever-present in the civilian world, well-masked by the veneer of civility and customs.Irony and parallelism are embedded in the narrative. Just like Paulino, Maddy’s father takes the high moral ground and detests gangsters who live off the ‘blood money’ of others. Similarly, Niko is the muscle in the gang who listens to his leader and carries out the dirty work. While Gabe is made to look like the next Angelo, misunderstood and rejected by society, the author adds a brilliant twist of irony into the novel by completingGabe’s character as the successful version of Paulino. He represents the possibility of living a good life in America by being a good man. By making Gabe reject Angelo’s ways, the author seems to bring Angelo to taste defeat at last, in a kind of poetic justice for all his vicious crimes. However, the fact that Gabe is unable to be the next Angelo only accentuates Angelo’s status as an unparalleled mafioso who will always be the greatest gangster who lived.Angelo’s panache and flamboyance is displayed in his shockingly sleek killings of his rivals. The way he shoots the corrupt officer James Garett at the church can be seen as the epitome of a ruthlessness mixed with charisma which is unmatched by any of the other gangsters who lived during Angelo’s time. While Angelo reveals few vulnerabilities, he is relatable to the readers because of the poignant moments he shares with people like Ida, Pudge, Isabella and Gabe. These few characters are the only ones who even knew that a different Angelo existed; one who knew how to love and care; one who knew the value of life; one who would willingly give up his own life for those he loved. It is this Angelo that we root for and it is him that we will remember at the end of the novel, just like Gabe.Few can criticize the novel for its plot or narration. The plot is tight and the narration is engaging. Creative use of language, such as “magazine handsome,” and literary devices leave a powerful impact on the reader. There is enough drama in the novel to keep the reader thinking about the book for days, even after reading it. My only gripe, quite trivial though, would be that certain scenes are melodramatic. The birth of Angelo, as the ship burns and his mother dies, just after saying a few emotional words, could have been delivered in more believable manner. The twist at the end of the novel, while powerful, requires a degree of suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience. Other than the occasional ‘drama-mama’ moments, the novel is a brilliant read. The author brings the readers down for an elaborate tour of the underworld to witness the spectacular rise of Angelo Vesteri, a gangster.
I read this when I was in my early teens and it really helped me understand the fact that everything in life isn't black ad white. Like Kendrick Lamar said "we adapt to crime". Not that crime is the right way to go, or that it can be excused, the fact that Angelo Vestieri's 'son' refuses to live the life his gangster 'father' led shows that the author wasn't trying to condone crime anyway. He just shows how some are driven to a gangster life because no other opportunities were available to them. Anyway, its a good read for anyone who enjoys early to late twentieth century gangster/mob books. I found that the novel was also a really good timeline of the twentieth century, highlighting the Italian immigration of the early twentieth century up, to the new upstart black gangsters in the late twentieth century which threaten Vestieri but are also disorganized. He even manages to throw in a Marcus Garvey reference somewhere in the middle. Anyway, good read.
What do You think about Gangster (2002)?
3 STARS"Love. Violence. Destiny. These powerful themes ricochet through Lorenzo Carcaterra's new novel like bullets from a machine gun. In Gangster, he surpasses even his bestselling Sleepers to create a brutal and brilliant American saga of murder, forgiveness, and redemption.Born in the midst of tragedy and violence and raised in the shadow of a shocking secret, young Angelo Vestieri chooses to flee both his past and his father to seek a second family--the criminals who preside over early 20th century New York. In his bloody rise from soldier to mob boss, he encounters ever more barbaric betrayals--in friendship, in his brutal business, in love-- yet simultaneously comes to understand the meaning of loyalty, the virtue of relationships, and gains a perspective on the lonely, if powerful, life he has chosen.As the years pass, as enemies are made and defeated, as wars are fought and won, the old don meets an abandoned boy who needs a parent as much as protection. By taking Gabe under his wing and teaching him everything he knows, Angelo Vestieri will learn, in the winter of his life, which is greater: his love for the boy he cherishes, or his need to be a gangster and to live by the savage rules he helped create.A sweeping panoramic with riveting characters, a unique understanding of the underworld philosophy, and a relentless pace, Gangster travels through the time of godfathers and goodfellas to our own world of suburban Sopranos. But this is more than just an authentic chronicle of crime. Setting a new standard for this acclaimed author, Gangster is a compassionate portrait of one man's fight against his fate--and an unforgettable epic of a family, a city, a century." (From Amazon)I liked this novel about the mafia and suspense.
—Kris - My Novelesque Life
Angelo Vestieri is the coldest ganster I know. He is colder than all other gansters I have read about or saw in movies or tv shows. I mean he is as ruthless and vicious as he is efective and intelligent. Angelo Vestieri was born surrounded by death, smoke and fire. And he died surrounded by posibly the last two people alive that could love a man like him. With what started with stories about old gangster and the how and why the mafia was originally formed, Angelo Vestieri was raised to become a man of the mafia. He was formed to become a leader of the mafie. He was a key player in shaping the mafia into a internacional network of crime. This is the story of how a boy grows up to become the Number 1 mafia boss in the US.
—Francisco
This was different than the books I usually read because it focused not on a specific mystery but rather was the life story of a gangster. We are taken from his birth (under extremely tragic and bizarre circumstances) to his childhood an conflicts with his father, his mentorship by two women (one, a mafia widow and another the owner of a tavern that has mafia connections) his friendship with the brutal but somehow likable Pudge, his descent into the world of organized crime, his reign as a crime lord, where we see him weather "wars" with other gangsters, and finally to his deathThe book, while mostly written in third person, revolves around a man who, as a child, was befriended by Angelo (the main character) and Pudge. This child was taken under the gangster's wing and groomed to be his successor. At the beginning of the book we know that the child grew up and didn't follow in Angelo's footsteps, instead marrying and living a life in the legitimate field of advertising, but we don't know why or how he got to that point. The story is told while Angelo is lying in a coma dying, an elderly man.The story held my interest very powerfully. The main character of Angelo was a heartless criminal, and Pudge was even worse, but somehow I was really interested in their fates and what happened to them. The author successfully created a world that was very authentic seeming and captured the time of 1930s New York very effectively. The book was highly entertaining and I was eagerly turning pages to see how it turned out.
—Sarah
