Book Review

BOOK REVIEW


The Dark Arena

-By Mario Puzo

Today I finished reading “The Dark Arena” by the famous author Mario Puzo… I thought I should start my blog by writing a short review of the book and my ideas on this book.

The Dark Arena is a story revolving around Walter Mosca who returns home to the U.S.A. after the war but soon returns to the land which he had left. The story is staged in Germany which shows the aftermath of war.

The book starts with Brother Karamazov’s idea on hatred. In that it is said that hell is the suffering of being unable to love.

Mosca is shown as a man who does not posses any feelings. He comes to his home country U.S.A. but soon returns to the land (Germany) where he was fighting- The land of the enemy. He meets Hella who had been waiting for him since the time he had left. He lives with Hella even though it is against the rule. At every step it shown that American cigarettes will buy almost anything. Then there are his friends Eddie, Wolf, Gordon………. And many other characters..

The climax shows a bitter and tragic end of the affair between Mosca and his girlfriend Hella.

The book makes you to think about Mosca’s character. Is it the brutality of long years of war that makes him a stone-hearted person that he is shown ? He does not regret when he decides to leave his home, his mother, fiancée and brother and does not reply to letters.

The title “ Dark Arena ” truly suits the story.