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emmalaus 's review for:
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo
Having picked up this book only because I loved the movie so much, I couldn’t help but compare the two. For me, this was a rare case of the movie being far better. The iconic roles of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, soundtrack, and strategic storyline of the film are the factors that (in my opinion) made it the masterpiece it is. None of this could be captured in the book as well as I hoped.
It was undeniably engaging for the most part, although went off on tangents too often which tended to get confusing as the author strayed from the plot so often. In the film, Francis Ford Coppola made a good choice in cutting out most of these unnecessary scenes, as they added nothing to the story and only expanded upon characters of little importance. The movie had a clear and interesting storyline that made its 3 hours fly by, however the book diverged from the main storyline so often it dragged the story along. Another aspect of the movie that really stood out to me was the decline of Michael Corleone’s morals, which the book hardly showed at all. However, one of my favorite moments of the book was the closing line, "Then with a profound and deeply willed desire to believe, to be heard, as she had done everyday since the murder of Carlo Rizzi, she said the necessary prayers for the soul of Michael Corleone" (Puzo 428). Another similar line that captures this haunting realization that the family legacy has become inescapable for Michael is "He reminded her of the statues in Rome, statues of those Roman emperors of antiquity, who, by divine right, held the power of life and death over their fellow men" (Puzo 419).
Besides the storyline, I found it extremely difficult to read due to the explicit misogyny and racism. In the book its hard to separate characters from author, and it felt uncomfortable reading alot of this book due to this. Mario Puzo expanded so much on this its hard to believe he was simply narrating from the characters perspective and not projecting his own views upon the story.
Overall, this book was not made for me. It's not a genre I particularly care about or enjoy, but as I loved the movie I thought I’d give it a try. It's well written and captures the complexity of loyalty and family well but other elements of it made it hard to read and enjoy.
It was undeniably engaging for the most part, although went off on tangents too often which tended to get confusing as the author strayed from the plot so often. In the film, Francis Ford Coppola made a good choice in cutting out most of these unnecessary scenes, as they added nothing to the story and only expanded upon characters of little importance. The movie had a clear and interesting storyline that made its 3 hours fly by, however the book diverged from the main storyline so often it dragged the story along. Another aspect of the movie that really stood out to me was the decline of Michael Corleone’s morals, which the book hardly showed at all. However, one of my favorite moments of the book was the closing line, "Then with a profound and deeply willed desire to believe, to be heard, as she had done everyday since the murder of Carlo Rizzi, she said the necessary prayers for the soul of Michael Corleone" (Puzo 428). Another similar line that captures this haunting realization that the family legacy has become inescapable for Michael is "He reminded her of the statues in Rome, statues of those Roman emperors of antiquity, who, by divine right, held the power of life and death over their fellow men" (Puzo 419).
Besides the storyline, I found it extremely difficult to read due to the explicit misogyny and racism. In the book its hard to separate characters from author, and it felt uncomfortable reading alot of this book due to this. Mario Puzo expanded so much on this its hard to believe he was simply narrating from the characters perspective and not projecting his own views upon the story.
Overall, this book was not made for me. It's not a genre I particularly care about or enjoy, but as I loved the movie I thought I’d give it a try. It's well written and captures the complexity of loyalty and family well but other elements of it made it hard to read and enjoy.