Scan barcode
agratzel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
iolexx's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
riddlersboyfriend's review against another edition
4.0
rating: ★★★★ - i couldn’t put the book down but not in my top 10
why i chose this book: i'm writing a mafia novel myself, so i wanted to read The classic mafia book of all time to get some better insight on how it all worked. plus, i've been curious about this book for a couple years, so i figured now was the time to finally read it.
things i liked:
• sonny. i love sonny corleone so much. his love for his family, his temper... he reminds me of me when i was younger. he made a big impression on me early on
Spoiler
and i was wrecked when he died.• tom hagen. loved how everyone's like "he's irish!" but he's actually german-american (i am all of those things). loved the found family aspect of it and how he's basically a corleone too. and i love his relationship with sonny.
• the way the story comes full circle. michael is his father and kay is his mother (metaphorically) at the end of the book
• johnny fontane and his love for singing. as a fellow singer i understand this all too well
• the way nino valenti's depression and alcoholism is covered. he's not jealous of johnny's singing voice, he's jealous that johnny feels so strongly and so happily about it! he doesn't have anything he cares enough about like that!
• mama corleone, god bless her. her relationship with kay is so good
•
Spoiler
CARLO RIZZI DIES!!!!!!!!!!!!things i disliked:
• what was the thing with apollonia about. did we really need to see it
• the lack of development freddy got. do i understand it, yes. do i kinda wish i'd seen more of him though? also yes
•
Spoiler
tom hagen getting kicked out at the end• oh the way women are treated (kay especially, and especially by michael). i know this is like 1950s and they're italian so the bar shouldn't be high but i had qualms with how
Spoiler
michael ditched kay and then she just went back to him almost as soon as he came back from sicily.• i... do not like michael very much. wish he was less of an asshole
was it worth the money?: absolutely yes it was. i like this writing style, i like how the characters come alive and leap off the page, and i like how the author was NOT in the mafia and didn't talk to anybody IN the mafia and yet wrote an exceedingly accurate mafia book anyway. don corleone taught me some life lessons in this one yall
freddielloyd15's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
pudejr's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bliar's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
kdawn999's review against another edition
2.0
It hurts a little to rate this book lowly since it was such a myth-maker in the American canon, but it can’t really be helped. This book suffers from a number of flaws, and it is fortunate that Coppola helped Puzo revise and refine the screenplay we all know well now. The book and the movie start off almost beat for beat in the wedding scene of the youngest Corleone child. The energy of Brando’s Don in the receiving of his supplicants is spot on with the book. It started to become obvious when I got to scenes not featured in the film that there was a reason for the cut. Puzo, perhaps for lack of skill in character development beyond simplistic backstory, follows many ancillary, non-Mafia characters and their sex lives—particularly the story of the singer Johnny Fontaine. These bits were incredibly boring to me, not giving much insight even into the book’s core machismo mythology. I think Puzo wanted to say something about the emptiness of movies or showbusiness—perhaps to vent his frustrations as an underpaid Hollywood writer. But he has nothing juicy to say here—unless he is actually describing disgusting and degrading sex scenes. Yes, every woman written into this novel is a weird, unearthly sexual object. I suppose these sex doll characters are written to like what they do, but that’s so easy to write it’s laughable. In a story where the energizing animus comes from the poker faces of the Corleone Dons and their ability to see several steps ahead of the competition and take their revenges coldly, these dumb sexual episodes and poorly written female characters either show Puzo can’t actually imagine the subtleties of female sex politics or he has zero interest in doing so. I honestly think it might be the former. The Godfather is true to the narrow suggestions of its own title—imagining a simplistic male fantasy of total (but sportsmanlike and honorable) dominion.
Some use the book has is that if there is anything you don’t understand about the Corleone hierarchy from the movie, the book will explain it. This sadly takes much of the secrecy and complexity of the plot and character motivations away and spoon-feeds the reader—oftentimes giving away the outcome of a climactic action (murder) sequence before we even get to it.
One part that did surprise me was the ending of the book, which tries, in a few pages, to give some small depth of insight to the women Kay and Connie. The strange, halting ending, told from Kay’s viewpoint, perhaps reveals the author’s desire to have us reflect on the morals at stake in lionizing the Don. It’s not enough, though, and I may even prefer the curt ending of the movie, which leaves these judgements to the viewer without trying to defend itself.
Some use the book has is that if there is anything you don’t understand about the Corleone hierarchy from the movie, the book will explain it. This sadly takes much of the secrecy and complexity of the plot and character motivations away and spoon-feeds the reader—oftentimes giving away the outcome of a climactic action (murder) sequence before we even get to it.
One part that did surprise me was the ending of the book, which tries, in a few pages, to give some small depth of insight to the women Kay and Connie. The strange, halting ending, told from Kay’s viewpoint, perhaps reveals the author’s desire to have us reflect on the morals at stake in lionizing the Don. It’s not enough, though, and I may even prefer the curt ending of the movie, which leaves these judgements to the viewer without trying to defend itself.
fedeapi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ayem's review against another edition
Had to return to the library 😔 if I could finish books in a timely manner it would be so over for you h0es 😤 Guess I’ll watch the movie 🤪