The Godfather Returns : The Saga of the Family Corleone

Rating:
Summary: Heavens, What a Mess!
Review: A weak, dumb, hole-laden plot. Gratuitous sex that lends little to the story. Page after page of leaden storyline, waiting for something interesting to happen. This is simply not worthy of carrying the franchise.

Rating:
Summary: Just a Comment
Review: I think readers need to understand that this book is a continuation of the Mario Puzo novel, not necessarily the Coppolla films. In the Godfather novel there is no Frank Pentangilli. Cuneo and Stracci are not killed. Etc. Etc. If you treat this new novel as a continuation of the Puzo novel it will make more sense.

Rating:
Summary: "Jeffrey Archer" does the Godfather (poorly)
Review: I was attracted to this book, given a long personal interest in the Godfather franchise and Mario Puzo's work.

If your motivation is the same you'll be disappointed, but probably finish the book out of pure curiosity as to where Winegardner will go next.

In this novel, Fredo Corleone plays a more central role giving you more insight into his motivations.

There is a lot of padding, the inclusion of unnecassary incidental characters from the family and a lot of recapping the original Godfather story (I guess for the benefit of anyone new to the franchise). I found it easy to skip several pages at a time without losing anything, unlike with any Puzo novel.

The "Jeffrey Archer" element is the blatant inclusion of real-life American history, such as the Kennedy family, events during their time in office and the inclusion of Sinatra's "rat pack" - although thinly guised and the actual mention of both Al Capone and Andy Warhol. This loses something from the more subtle ambiguity of the Johnny Fontane character in the original. The attempt to make it an all inclusive Archer-type blockbuster doesn't work for me.

One wonders if any of this novel is based upon ideas of Puzo he never had time to put into a novel or whether Wineberger had largely a free reign. Whichever, Wineberger's writing style does not sit comfortably with the Godfather's legacy/franchise.

In conclusion the Puzo estate "sold out the old man!" on this one.

Where are all these positive reviews coming from? The publisher?

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and unfairly panned here on Amazon
Review: I'm surprised at the venom of the reviews of The Godfather Returns that have appeared here on Amazon. So, OK, I get that Winegardner is not Mario Puzo and that this book is not written in the way that Puzo would write it. How could it be? These are two different authors writing in two different times. But I think Winegardner delivers much of what can be reasonably expected of a novel like this -- entertainment that's not too challenging a read, suitable for an airplane ride or diversion on a snowy weekend at home.

It's important not to confuse this novel with the Godfather films, in which some characters appear who are different from those in Puzo's books. People who expect a continuation of the movie plot lines will be disappointed.

But Winegardner does come up with his own versions of how Puzo's main characters develop and grow. Take Fredo, for instance, whom Winegardner expands beyond the one-dimensional dimwit depicted in the original novel and in the films. Here, Fredo is much more sympathetic, so that while one can still see that he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, the reader is less inclined to dismiss him as simply a craven moron.

I also enjoyed the new novel's addition of characters such as Sonny Corleone's twin daughters, Francesca and Kathy, and the Shea brothers, who are clearly meant to evoke John and Robert Kennedy. And the way that Francesca and Kathy deal with Francesca's philandering husband, Billy Van Ardsdale, is a truly inspired plot twist.

I would recommend this novel to those looking for a pleasant diversion; but if you take your Mafia stories too seriously you are likely to be disappointed. Watch reruns of the Sopranos instead.

Rating:
Summary: An offer you can refuse
Review: I, like many others, was intrigued by the possibility of picking up the Godfather saga and carrying it into new possibilities and new characters. This book does neither!
I read quite a lot, and I very rarely give up on a book. But this one is just an overblown, poorly written, colossal bore. I got about half way through it and decided that I could think of much better ways to waste my time. The characters are hard to follow and keep straight, and even if you do manage that you really don't care about any of them anyway. The pacing is
horrifically slow, and in the first half of the book nothing much happens. Save your money and your time. There are much much better books out there.

Rating:
Summary: BASTA!
Review: I, like so many others purchased this book in the hopes of once again escaping into the Corleone world. Only 100 pages into the book, I feel as though I have been robbed. The characters that Winegardner fabricated were bland at best. Winegardner relies on telling the reader how smart or scary a character or situation is rather than letting the scene or dialogue speak for itself. His obsession with sex and real-life characters completely kills the world Mario Puzo so artifully set up. I only hope that this sterco doesn't kill my love for Puzo's novel or the movies.

Rating:
Summary: Not the Corleones, not Puzo, not interesting
Review: Sorry Mark, I know you had an impossible job, but this sullies the whole thing. I'm a die-hard Puzo fan, a Copolla fan, a Godfather fan, but couldn't even finish this book. Puzo was a master storyteller -- he told interesting stories about fascinating, captivating people. Winegardner is trying too hard to be a NOVELIST, trying to impress with clever devices and novelistic crap. (I had to re-read passages over and over just to figure out what the hell was happening. And usually, not much happened at all, except for whining and despair and angst. Zzzz.) He ruined Fredo as a character. He made Michael a paper cut-out. Clemenza didn't sound like Clemenza -- but some Soprano wannabe. Hagen is a snooze. Sonny's kids. . . what a bore.

He should have just told a story. He wrote a damn novel pretending to be profound and deep and insightful.

I'm going to erase this from my memory.

Rating:
Summary: Fredo is the lucky one, he didn't have to read this book!
Review: The worst. A huge p.u. I wish I had my money back, but I'd give twice that just to have my "time" back! Charactors went no where! Could have been a great book with just a chapter or two about Clemenza, Frank Pantengli, how Fredo unknowingly set up Michael.... anything! All we got was countless boring pages about nieces, cousins, wives and crap! The book gives you absolutely no additional information about the Corleones. I could now sit through insurance seminars for days and days with a big smile on my face. When people say, "how can you stand it?" I'd reply, "'cause I spent four days reading the Godfather Returns!"






Rating:
Summary: No writing at all
Review: This book tries very hard to come up with "stories" to fill the gap of those years we had previously read and saw in the movies...but it becomes more a event list than a fiction.

Disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Forget about it!!!!!!!
Review: What an insult to readers. The NY Times gave a good review and that is why I bought the book. It was awful and I gave up on it. It is too hard to follow and with characters you wish all got "wacked". No good eating descriptions.