Customer Reviews

The Godfather

5 star:		(350)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The Godfather is, in many ways, not just a novel - it is an experience, after which your life will never be the same again. I have not the least of doubts in calling it 'the best, most influential and deep-cutting that I have ever read.' In its sheer departure from being just a general, run-of-the-mill tale about idolizing a particular individual, the novel presents to us with a ringside view of the workings of the Mafia, and more importantly, the lives of the people who are involved in it, directly or indirectly.

The novel starts off with a quote from Balzac - "Behind every great fortune, there is a crime." That, in effect, sets the tone for the entire novel. Mario Puzo, the author, ruthlessly captures the travails of a New York Don, Vito Corleone, who is, to quote the words of his son, "not a crazy gunning mobster", and his family.

Puzo presents to us an entire array of different characters - be it the short-tempered Sonny, or the dreary undertaker Bonasera, or the ever-faithful Luca, the cool-headed Tom, the 'Turk' Sollozzo, or the pleasant outsider Kay Adams, each character enters our world, refusing to leave. We are impressed by most of these essentially evil people because the story is told in an entirely closed world (of crime) and so we tend to love characters whom we would, in the normal course, detest.

The novel is, basically, about just two persons, Don Vito Corleone and his son, Michael, who after refusing to accept his father's ways, finally comes to terms with the reality and takes up the 'family business'.

Puzo shows us why he is the great author he really is! The character of the Don pervades our thoughts more than most (or almost all) other fictional characters do. Though the nature of his business is violent, the Don is portrayed as a genial, kind and reasonable man. To say the least, the Don is someone whom `every son will look for in his father, every woman will look for in her husband, and any mortal will look for in an inspirational leader.' In fact, the Godfather is what every man aspires to be - a strong, powerful and wise yet cunning genius and family man.

I have not read a better novel - chances are, you won't either! Do not miss the Godfather movies too.

I first read Mario Puzo's THE GODFATHER three decades ago, and the impact it had on me was overwhelming. Here was a rare novel that hooked the reader from the very first page, a novel to be savored and absorbed by the author's grim yet masterful prose.

Through the pages of this book the reader is introduced to the shadowy world of organized crime--more importantly, to the fiercely interdependent workings of the mafia. Deeply embedded in its Italian heritage, it was a culture of unspeakable violence, but it also fostered family, honor, community, loyalty, friendship. Vengeance. If you are downtrodden, or unfairly victimized, all you need do is approach one of the "families" and request a "favor." Proclaim your devotion and friendship, the favor will be granted. And then--even though it may never happen--you must be willing to return the favor.

Or suffer the consequences.

Puzo's novel brings to life the Corleone family, headed by its aging patriarch, Don Vito Corleone. In post-World War II New York, Corleone faces a changing world, but he is still plagued by the relentless "turf wars" with the other major families. Intense pressure is brought to introduce narcotics to the list of "services" provided by his family--pressure that Corleone emphatically resists, to the bleak detriment of first himself, and to those he loves. The subsequent development of the story--of the Corleone's strategy, of the emergence of one of the Godfather's sons to perpetuate the family's power and considerable clout--is spellbinding.

Few novels of the last thirty years have had any lasting effects on our cultural lexicon. THE GODFATHER is one of them. Highly recommended.
--D. Mikels

Before I even realized that there had been a book, I was an avid fan of The Godfather and loved the characters of Sonny, Michael, Vito, Lucca Brazzi, Peter Clemenza, and the other unforgettable faces that made the film great. Then, one day I came upon a first edition of the novel at an antique shop and bought it. I read it quickly (the book travels at a breakneck speed) and with much relish, and when I was done I was satisfied. The movie was good, but the novel was BETTER. Puzo's Corleone family is a well-illustrated, clearly defined group, each member with his own strengths and weaknesses. The storytelling is gripping, the dialogue brilliant, the characters charming. Puzo, in addition to the main bent of the story, delves into the shady side of old-school Hollywood and makes an interesting read of it. For any lover of the Godfather saga, this book is a must read. Check it out, and enjoy!

Mario Puzo has forever gained my respect for writing this gorgeous novel and the movie that was the result. Two of the most beautiful pieces of art in this world. One a life of words and the other an epic. Both breathtaking. I saw the movie before reading the book, but I belive they complimented each other. In the book you get a little background on some of the things that you didn't know about it the movie, hey that happens all the time, but here the movie is almost word for word of what this book is, almost a direct translation. I know I am reading a truly good novel when i feel an emptiness in my heart upon turning the last page. This is such a wonderful book. Please if you haven't read or have at least seen the movie. Get the hell outta here and do something about it, yeah you, you're doing yourself such a diservice by just sitting here. God supposedly (I am an atheist) made beauty, so get the freak out there and go experience it. Buy the book, it will make a worthy addition to your book shelf, trust me, just take a chance. Capisce?

The canonization of Francis Ford Coppola's two-part adaptation of this book in the film world has made us forget that, upon its release, The Godfather (the novel) was actually considered quite pulpy, and not of the high-art status that the films have achieved.

Personally, I couldn't care less -- Mario Puzo is an entertaining storyteller, and the characters he created were marvellous -- the seemingly docile Michael Corleone; hothead Santino; Tom Hagen, the brilliant lawyer with an identity crisis; Luca Brasi (underused in the film version), the subhuman brute; Albert Neri, a man driven by circumstances into the world of crime; and of course Vito Corleone himself, the elegant mastermind, a man with a dream, a romanticization of the crimelord as a patriarch of King Lear proportions.

The novel benefits from its chosen form. A scarcely acknowledged fact about the Godfather pictures is that much-needed exposition often had to get excised because there was so much back story to each character set up in the book that the film form couldn't handle adequately. You might notice in the Godfather films how Michael's return to America is completely unexplained; Luca Brasi's power and strength are never shown onscreen (he appears at the wedding, then dies in the bar at the hands of the Tattaglias); Paulie Gatto becomes a skimpish character; Genco Abbandando disappears; and Tom Hagen's conflicts about being consigliere are minimized. Even given two three-hour films, the amount of information in the one source novel couldn't be disclosed properly, resulting in huge gaps of information. Puzo's novel does it well, with exaggeratedly elevated language, character behaviour, and third-person narrative. It works beautifully, even given its trashier inclinations (eg. commentaries on Lucy Mancini's anatomy, and the large Johnny Fontaine/Nino Valenti subplot).

Small wonder that this larger-than-life novel spawned the most famous film series of all time, the first entry of which has been called the best film ever made (I have contentions with that). The Godfather can be read as pure entertainment and, if so desired, as literature.

I read the reviews set forth here and wonder, what would the overall slant be if this book had not been made into one of the greatest movies ever made? Certainly, the reviews would not be as favorable and, most certainly, there would not be as many reviews. Everyone wanted to read the book after they saw the movie, and did. The movie is what it is, incredible, and the book is what it is, so-so.

This was the first adult book that I read as a child and I loved it. I read it again only a few years ago and still enjoyed it. Mr Puzo spins a wonderful tale. The family is wonderfully defined and presented. The story is a good story, not great. Because there are no good guys in this story, the reader cheers for the Corleone family, a very bad group, that goes about doing bad things to other bad guys with a moral code that only gangsters and murderers can understand.

The book loses direction in Las Vagas. What ever crossed the author's mind when writing this section I will never be able to fathom. It is boring, unsexy and too long. Might have three or three and half stars if this sidetrack was ommited.

That being said, I thank the book Gods for publishing this. For if this had not hit the book stands, we would never had the the sensation of viewing what I belive to be two of the greatest films over made: The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.

So my hat is tipped in reverence to Mr. Puzo. Read the book, you will have fun with it. See the movies and you will be incredibly awed.

The Godfather is one of the great novels of the twentieth century and constitutes the defining story of organized crime in America. Oh, other novels have and will be written on this subject, some of them very good indeed. But The Godfather stands alone, far above all others of the genre. This is a classic and great novel. Seven stars at least.

This is the story of Don Vito Corleone, whose Sicilian father (family name of Andolini) is murdered by the local Mafia Don in Corleone, Sicily. Relatives spirit young Vito away to America, for otherwise he too will be murdered to prevent the otherwise certain day when he will come for revenge. Vito comes to America and builds an empire of organized crime.

The triumph of this novel is that it explains the Mafia as the Mafia sees itself. As Vito's son Michael explains, Vito (known to friends and associates as The Godfather, a traditional term of respect) sees himself as the equal of presidents, senators, and governors of the states, and sees no reason to be "a fool" or to accept the rules of society that condemn others to (what he perceives as) lives of failure and subordination. Accordingly, Don Corleone rejects the rules of society, the fact that governments restrict the use of violence to themselves, and builds his own society--La Cosa Nostra ("our world"). Within the narrow limits of this world he is more powerful than the government.

The book can be criticized for somewhat glorifying the underworld, but in reality by the time the reader completes the novel the corruption, violence, and destructiveness of organized crime are depressingly obvious.

The other amazing thing about this novel is Puzo's ability to tell an extraordinarily complex story involving many characters in a coherent fashion that never loses the reader with too much detail. By the time I finished the novel I felt that I knew Tom Hagan, Michael and Sonny Corleone, the Don himself, Johnnie Fontane, and a whole host of other characters. Most novels founder in confusion when they try to present so many characters and so many interconnected sub-plots. Not here. Puzo tells his story with superb prose and flawless coherence. From a craftsmanship standpoint, this is precisely the type of novel that all novelists aspire to write. Few succeed. Puzo succeeds brilliantly.

Before reading this novel I had never understood the role of the Mafia in American (or Sicilian!) society, and how complicity by the authorities is what really allow it to function. Puzo did understand these things, and the novel explains with insight and clarity.

This novel stands head-and-shoulders above most other American novels of the Twentieth Century, and is the defining novel about organized crime in America.

Somehow, I find myself reading this book time and again--it's like an old friend. And as one reads it, one is amazed at Puzo's ability to create characters that are so real in such an atypical setting as a crime family. There is not a single character without his or her own reality--from Mama Corleone who silently watches her husband meet his destiny and still goes every morning to church so that he doesn't go "down there", to Michael, who slowly gets drawn into the family business, and a life very different from the one he had originally planned as a math professor, to Nino Valenti, who'd rather die an alchoholic than be a Hollywood star.

This story has remained a fascinating read for more than thirty years...that's a lot of staying power. It misses being a legitimate American classic only because of the idiotic gynecological subplot Puzo inserted into the text to guarantee some prurient readership if the main story struck out. The rest it is a great accomplishment.

I first read _The Godfather_ in 1978 when I was 12 years old. I thought that it was a good book then but being a callow youth I didn't realize how brilliant it was. Recently I went on a long trip and picked this up to read on the plane. I was enthralled. Mario Puzo wrote a brilliant classic in this book, on one level _The Godfather_ is a straight crime novel about a Mafia family and can be enjoyed on that level. On another level _The Godfather_ is a brilliant rumination on the meaning of the American Dream and how it is pursued. Reading _The Godfather_ is also fun because you try to figure out who some of the characters are based on. Johnny Fontaine is supposed to be based on Frank Sinatra, who had significant mob ties. The Jewish gangster character Moe Green is supposedly based on Bugsy Siegel. If you haven't read this book then buy it right now. You won't be disappointed, and if you haven't read the book or seen the movie you should buy both of them, the movie is one of the most brilliant adaptations of a novel ever to hit the screen.