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4.25 AVERAGE
4.25 AVERAGE
The Godfather is one of my favourite films and I knew I'd get round to reading this one eventually. Still though, I was surprised at the instantaneous enjoyment I received when I started reading. It's exactly like the film, only more so. The details are finer, the characters are inspected in depth, and the morality and culture are explored more thoroughly. So much of the plot is recognisably the same, but there is a deeper quality of richness in the telling that can come only from literature. The avenues that Puzo pulls us down are plentiful, and nearly all of them contribute to the fascinating tale of the Corleone Family.
I need not go into the plot, other than to say that some of what appears in The Godfather Part II film is here: namely Vito Corleone's entry into crime. Much of the rest of the plot is otherwise the same as the film. This is of course due to Puzo writing the screenplay too.
The middle does sag a little. Each auxiliary character gets their own chapter, most of which are engaging. But by the middle we have strayed too far from the magnetic pull of the Corleone Family, and while the tales within are still interesting, they lack the charisma and enigma of our main characters.
My chief complaint in an otherwise marvellous book is the misogyny. Writing in the late '60s, Puzo has some attitudes around women that I suppose were of the time. Of course he is writing about characters within a deeply patriarchal and conservative Italian framework, so it's expected that his characters be sexist. But I believe Puzo's own sexism is layered on top of that. Why else would we hear so much about the ancillary character Lucy Mancini's loose vagina? In a vulgar and frankly gross chapter, she is diagnosed during sex by her doctor boyfriend, who arranges surgery to tighten it, and boasts how he will try it out afterwards. It's revolting, and its inclusion taints an otherwise exceptional book.
Leaving that middle section behind though, we turn back to the Corleones and to Michael's rise to power. The pace picks up, the drama becomes more gripping, and I found myself once again racing through the pages.
I got this for £1 during Sidmouth Folk Week at a sale at the library.
I need not go into the plot, other than to say that some of what appears in The Godfather Part II film is here: namely Vito Corleone's entry into crime. Much of the rest of the plot is otherwise the same as the film. This is of course due to Puzo writing the screenplay too.
The middle does sag a little. Each auxiliary character gets their own chapter, most of which are engaging. But by the middle we have strayed too far from the magnetic pull of the Corleone Family, and while the tales within are still interesting, they lack the charisma and enigma of our main characters.
My chief complaint in an otherwise marvellous book is the misogyny. Writing in the late '60s, Puzo has some attitudes around women that I suppose were of the time. Of course he is writing about characters within a deeply patriarchal and conservative Italian framework, so it's expected that his characters be sexist. But I believe Puzo's own sexism is layered on top of that. Why else would we hear so much about the ancillary character Lucy Mancini's loose vagina? In a vulgar and frankly gross chapter, she is diagnosed during sex by her doctor boyfriend, who arranges surgery to tighten it, and boasts how he will try it out afterwards. It's revolting, and its inclusion taints an otherwise exceptional book.
Leaving that middle section behind though, we turn back to the Corleones and to Michael's rise to power. The pace picks up, the drama becomes more gripping, and I found myself once again racing through the pages.
I got this for £1 during Sidmouth Folk Week at a sale at the library.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the sexism was waay too distracting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
The Godfather story is insurmountable, it is beyond a classic, it is unashamedly ignorant of cultural, geographical or age boundaries – it resonates with all of us and has so ever since it first appeared in print in Mario Puzo‘s epic novel in 1969.
Nino Rota‘s world famous main theme song is etched in the depth of my memory from my childhood days when the music filled my grandparents’ house in Iran. My grandfather loved the movie and music and from that tender memory, the Godfather has held a special place in my heart all my life. I knew the music many years before I watched the movie first, and that came a decade or so before I read the novel.
Now, and only now, after reading the novel do I understand why he loved this story so much and why he repeatedly watched and listened to the music. Now I feel closer to my grandfather and marvel at his taste in what I find to be a remarkable story. How I wish he could be here today to tell me his thoughts on the Godfather, now that I can appreciate it. We may express the gratitude we feel toward our families while we have the chance, but why is it that the true understanding of that gratitude often greets us bitterly late in life?
The ingenuous story and remarkable characters aside, the writing of Mario Puzo is of highest quality. Puzo’s novel speaks to every reader from every walk of life, and evidently through different generations. It runs through themes understood by all humans: family and brotherhood, sacrifice and justice, trust and betrayal, revenge and retribution, business and friendship – friendship that the Godfather held so tenderly and seriously, friendship that he offered openly and generously, friendship in the name of which he offered favors and collected them in due time. In the core of this magnificent story is Mario Puzo’s writing.
On the surface, it mostly appears to be a crime novel with grotesque scenes and unhappy outcomes but it is only the surface. The writing is solid, authentic, lustful and obsessive through and through – it takes your imagination into the scene, it places you inside the situation with the character and it demands that you fully partake in the intensity of every moment. The story endures and the writing of this remarkable author is the solid foundation of support which upholds it.
“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Court Number 3 and waited for justice….” And so we enter the under world of Italian immigrants in New York city. We encounter characters we can never forget. The depiction of these unforgettable characters – Luca Brasi, Tom Hagen, Sonny Corleone, Kay Adams, Johnny Fontaine – while secondary to our main characters, paints a permanent picture before our eyes in the hands of Mario Puzo’s masterful prose. Through these characters, we get to know our heroes, Don Vito Corleone as the head of the Corleone family and business, and the mastermind of the ingenious mafia world, and Michael Corleone, the Don’s favorite son, who refuses to follow in his father’s footsteps, joins the army and keeps a distance from the family, until one day in the deep countryside of Sicily, he meets his ultimate fate.
Perhaps, in its essence, in its very core, the Godfather is a story about father and son and their undeniable bond, which can be weakened but not broken, in the company of family loyalty and devotion reciprocating that of the Corleone family.
“I will reason with him.” – Don Corleone’s famous motto, a phrase that, when used, immediately translated to Tom Hagen, his consigliere, that the Godfather will not be persuaded otherwise, and that it would be in the best interest of the opposing party to acquiesce to Godfather’s terms because no matter what terms presented to them at this time, if they should fail to agree, it would most certainly be subject to harsher circumstances.
Some of the sub-plots running through the Godfather, non-central to the overall theme and missing from the movie, still make up my most cherished parts of this genius story. The indelible, lustful, raw passion which Lucy Mancini and Sonny enjoy for a short while is on top of that list. Even the sweet brief romance of Michael Corleone and his first wife, the Italian bella Apollonia, deliciously described as it was, pales in comparison to the passages imparting the details of Sonny’s wild affair with Lucy. Mario Puzo proves no less a gifted author in his creation of the erotic love scenes between the impassioned lovers. The love making is predatory as Lucy and Sonny devour one another with voracious appetite.
When Sonny dies, Lucy’s whole physical being aches for him, a loss and a wound that Sonny’s wife is far from experiencing. With the move to Vegas, thanks to Hagan’s arrangements to take care of “extended” relations of Sonny, Lucy embarks on a new life and adventures, including the nature of her relationship with Jules. Large or small, Puzo takes the time to first develop his characters fully – even if in isolation of others – and then to carefully weave each into the central plot. There is a reason and time for each character to play their part, pay their dues, return a favor, or bestow an act of friendship to the Godfather.
The Don, the mastermind of Mario Puzo’s creation, is the only one who knows well in advance of others – and that includes the reader – how and when each chosen one will be called to action.
The Godfather is a masterpiece and a classic, and a story that once read and consumed, leaves its readers and viewers changed permanently.
Nino Rota‘s world famous main theme song is etched in the depth of my memory from my childhood days when the music filled my grandparents’ house in Iran. My grandfather loved the movie and music and from that tender memory, the Godfather has held a special place in my heart all my life. I knew the music many years before I watched the movie first, and that came a decade or so before I read the novel.
Now, and only now, after reading the novel do I understand why he loved this story so much and why he repeatedly watched and listened to the music. Now I feel closer to my grandfather and marvel at his taste in what I find to be a remarkable story. How I wish he could be here today to tell me his thoughts on the Godfather, now that I can appreciate it. We may express the gratitude we feel toward our families while we have the chance, but why is it that the true understanding of that gratitude often greets us bitterly late in life?
The ingenuous story and remarkable characters aside, the writing of Mario Puzo is of highest quality. Puzo’s novel speaks to every reader from every walk of life, and evidently through different generations. It runs through themes understood by all humans: family and brotherhood, sacrifice and justice, trust and betrayal, revenge and retribution, business and friendship – friendship that the Godfather held so tenderly and seriously, friendship that he offered openly and generously, friendship in the name of which he offered favors and collected them in due time. In the core of this magnificent story is Mario Puzo’s writing.
On the surface, it mostly appears to be a crime novel with grotesque scenes and unhappy outcomes but it is only the surface. The writing is solid, authentic, lustful and obsessive through and through – it takes your imagination into the scene, it places you inside the situation with the character and it demands that you fully partake in the intensity of every moment. The story endures and the writing of this remarkable author is the solid foundation of support which upholds it.
“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Court Number 3 and waited for justice….” And so we enter the under world of Italian immigrants in New York city. We encounter characters we can never forget. The depiction of these unforgettable characters – Luca Brasi, Tom Hagen, Sonny Corleone, Kay Adams, Johnny Fontaine – while secondary to our main characters, paints a permanent picture before our eyes in the hands of Mario Puzo’s masterful prose. Through these characters, we get to know our heroes, Don Vito Corleone as the head of the Corleone family and business, and the mastermind of the ingenious mafia world, and Michael Corleone, the Don’s favorite son, who refuses to follow in his father’s footsteps, joins the army and keeps a distance from the family, until one day in the deep countryside of Sicily, he meets his ultimate fate.
Perhaps, in its essence, in its very core, the Godfather is a story about father and son and their undeniable bond, which can be weakened but not broken, in the company of family loyalty and devotion reciprocating that of the Corleone family.
“I will reason with him.” – Don Corleone’s famous motto, a phrase that, when used, immediately translated to Tom Hagen, his consigliere, that the Godfather will not be persuaded otherwise, and that it would be in the best interest of the opposing party to acquiesce to Godfather’s terms because no matter what terms presented to them at this time, if they should fail to agree, it would most certainly be subject to harsher circumstances.
Some of the sub-plots running through the Godfather, non-central to the overall theme and missing from the movie, still make up my most cherished parts of this genius story. The indelible, lustful, raw passion which Lucy Mancini and Sonny enjoy for a short while is on top of that list. Even the sweet brief romance of Michael Corleone and his first wife, the Italian bella Apollonia, deliciously described as it was, pales in comparison to the passages imparting the details of Sonny’s wild affair with Lucy. Mario Puzo proves no less a gifted author in his creation of the erotic love scenes between the impassioned lovers. The love making is predatory as Lucy and Sonny devour one another with voracious appetite.
When Sonny dies, Lucy’s whole physical being aches for him, a loss and a wound that Sonny’s wife is far from experiencing. With the move to Vegas, thanks to Hagan’s arrangements to take care of “extended” relations of Sonny, Lucy embarks on a new life and adventures, including the nature of her relationship with Jules. Large or small, Puzo takes the time to first develop his characters fully – even if in isolation of others – and then to carefully weave each into the central plot. There is a reason and time for each character to play their part, pay their dues, return a favor, or bestow an act of friendship to the Godfather.
The Don, the mastermind of Mario Puzo’s creation, is the only one who knows well in advance of others – and that includes the reader – how and when each chosen one will be called to action.
The Godfather is a masterpiece and a classic, and a story that once read and consumed, leaves its readers and viewers changed permanently.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
some people said i resembled marlon brandos don corleone after my wisdom teeth surgery