The Dark Arena [Hardcover]

Mario Puzo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 11, 1971

A novel by the author of "The Godfather". Walter Mosca returns to the USA a changed man, hardened and embittered by the brutality of World War II. But he is compelled to return to Germany, the land of the enemy, by his need for Hella, the woman who accepts the rage and cruelty of the world.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fierce, intense, compelling."
-The Boston Globe

"ONE OF THE FINEST WORKS OF FICTION TO COME OUT OF THIS COUNTRY’S OCCUPATION OF GERMANY."
-The Nation

"PUZO TELLS HIS STORY BRUTALLY, VIOLENTLY, AND UNDOUBTEDLY VERY MUCH AS IT ALL MIGHT HAVE BEEN."
-San Francisco Chronicle


From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

From the Publisher

7 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd (October 11, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0434604925
• ISBN-13: 978-0434604920
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,302,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of its time, October 28, 2002

By 

R. L. MILLER (FT LAUDERDALE FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dark Arena (Mass Market Paperback)

Back in the days when Elvis was suffering the "Hup-two-three-four Occupation GI Blues" and Bing wondered what you did with a general when he stops being a general, an obscure author who would later become the definitive writer of Mob fiction painted us a stark picture of postwar military occupation life. A decade later, on the threshold of the Peace Now era, Joseph Heller would give us "Catch 22", a story of a bomber crewman and his ongoing identity crisis. John Farris' "Glover" was the story of a tough-guy soldier at play in the English countryside. Evan Hunter's "Sons" dealt in part with the issue of bomber crewman and locals in WW II Italy. See the contrast? It was no biggie to be candid during the 'Sixties era about the tendency of occupation soldiers to treat their unwilling hosts as less than people--Gwynne Dyer once said that the only foolproof way of turning a civilian into a fighting man is to include some form of suggestion that the enemy aren't people in his training. But back in the early 'Fifties when this book was written, popular fiction hardly ever approached the issue of American occupation of a defeated enemy from any side but that of the Pentagon. In this story, GI Walter Mosca gets involved in a local shackup arrangement in Germany at the end of WW II, comes home to find that he can no longer relate to the Girl He Left Behind, so he returns to Germany as a civilian employee to seek out the girl he hadn't realized he was falling for. Her effect on him causes him to be a lot more analytical of his own behavior towards the locals in general, that of his colleagues as well--but more than that, it also gives him a view of the perspective of the people he's there to help "keep in line". All sorts of things can happen to a person's worldview when he becomes romantically involved outside his native culture. I have no actual details on which to base this, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the late Mario Puzo drew on his own experiences in service during WW II as source material. He wouldn't be the first.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good for a young writer!, March 8, 2003

By 

G. Shkodra (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dark Arena (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the very first novel the young Mario Puzo wrote during the fifties and he certainly pulled it off. It's not so difficult to notice already the strokes of the unknown, aspiring writer who'd later become undoubtfully one of the best of his generation.

There are many similarities between this novel and some of those of the lost generation writers, the most similar to it being, of course, "A farewell to arms" by Ernest Hemingway. The 20-th century best american writer used to write about people and events taking place during the war, whether it was WW1 or WW2, while Puzo's work is more about war's aftermath and how it affected and changed people's life.

The novel's main character is not as sympathetic or attracting as, let's say, Hemingway's Frederic Henry or Remarque's Gottfried Lenz. I found it somewhat difficult to sympathize with Mosca's slovenly attitude, his lack of feelings or interest in anything or anyone surrounding him, but I understand him, or at least I try to: he slowly understands that his persona has changed, and not for the better, and that he has become the enemy, as he puts it towards the end of the novel; he loves someone (in his own way), but he doesn't know it; his loved one first loses his first child and later gives birth to his second one, but he doesn't seem to care. I think it's interesting to compare Puzo's work to some of Hemingway's novels: while hell to Hemingway was war itself, to Puzo "hell is the suffering of being unable to love!", as the great Dostoyevski puts it in "The brothers Karamazov". And Mosca is unable to love and care about someone or something.

While Hemingway would go on and write mostly about war, fatalism and despair, Puzo would later change his subjects and describe the american corrupt worlds of politics, underworld, the casinos and the movie industry. Later on, his main motto would be to prove that "the secret of a big fortune with no apparent cause is a forgotten crime".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, January 14, 2010

By 

K. Ventura - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dark Arena (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a Puzo fan in general, but this book may be his best. He manages to deliver a beautifully crafted tale about a young man in post-WWI Germany. His characters are complex and the novel gives each person a distinct and vivid personality. Going beyond the characters, the setting is surreal and moving. You are placed in a desolate wasteland with crumbling ruins.

Somewhat setting the spirit of "mafia" books which come later in his career, here Puzo does a great job describing the political makeup and inter workings of the occupation government and flourishing black market.

Overall, the book is incredible (perhaps flawless) but like others said, this is not for the weak and weary. The themes get darker and very heavy toward the end. I would describe the reading experience as almost transformative.

Puzo is a master. If you like his other works, read this book.