Rating: 
Summary: A hairs breadth from a classic
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: A life in words, so beautiful. I loved it.
Review: 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?
Rating:
Summary: A "book" you can't refuse!
Review: This is one of the great books of literary fiction that has been written in the last 30 years. Mario Puzo had a stroke of pure genius when he wrote this classic novel of the Corleone family. From the first page to the last page it grips you hard and takes you on a mesmorizing journey of greed at all costs, loyalty to familly above all else, and destruction at a grand scale. The charactors Puzo writes about from Vito Corleone his son's Sonny, Michael and Fredo, the supporting character's of Tom Hagen, Johnny Fontaine (based on Frank Sinatra) are so interesting! The plot is outstanding as well as the "sidebar journey's" in the book. I can't say enough about this book or the movie's that are based on this fine work. You wont be able to put it down once you start reading it. "Grazi!" to the late Mario Puzo!
Rating:
Summary: Dramatic dialog, vivid imagery make for good summer reading!
Review: Great literature this aint. But Mario Puzo's The Godfather is a lot of fun. The imagery alone is breathtaking - an injured mobster in a white suit running in the streets, holding his hat to catch the blood flowing from his neck...a bloated, bearish Godfather suffering a heart attack among the plump tomatoes in his garden. This is luscious stuff. Before reading the novel, I thought Coppola was a genius. Puzo is the genius. I'm convinced any director could turn this novel into a great film. OK, well maybe Coppola is a genius, but he couldn't ask for better material. Take this one to the beach this summer!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you haven't seen the Godfather I or II then read this. If you have then you won't find much discrepenacy. If you're a big fan of the movies and want to learn more then read these because there are some extras that the movie doesn't have. Its a good book and the fact that the movie stays so similar only better proves that.
Rating:
Summary: Celebrating 30 years of crime...
Review: This is a totally engrossing novel centering on the exploits of a fictional family of gangsters, their violent lives and deaths. Puzo tells a complex story brimming over with interesting characters, and while his narrative is sometimes overly sketchy, it is always riveting. The real crime committed in my version (the 30th anniversary mass market paperback) is the horrendous proofreading. Typos abound, most of them glaring and easily corrected with even the most rudimentary spell checking. Such things pull me out of a story quickly, and it's a testament to Puzo's power as a storyteller that I still found myself enjoying the story as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastico!!!!
Review: What a brilliant book! Puzo is a great story-teller (although it is probably based on fact). This is a very long book but it gets you in the story straight away and you can't put it down. The Don, Sonny, Michael Corleone & the rest of the Family make compelling reading - this book has something for everyone who enjoys crime fiction and you know that this what NY would have been like in the 30's-60's. I am sure that the character Johnny Fontane was based on Frank Sinatra. Although I am Italian, I never really got interested in the Mafia, until The Sopranos. This books has made me rent the trilogy video as well as get other books from Puzo. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest novels ever written.
Review: Mario Puzo, an otherwise quite forgettable author, has penned in "The Godfather" not only the greatest crime novel of the 20th century, but in reality, one of the greatest novels of any genre in the 20th century. The action opens quickly, there is good character development, excellent background material, triumph, tragedy, and love. Most of all, the novel demonstrates a type of "Old Testament" system of honor totally unknown any longer in modern society. The novel demonstrates that, even among the underworld of society, there exist many of the same problems that the rest of us deal with: family difficulties, desire for freedom, security (or lack thereof) and religious crises. An outstanding read, well made into a series of good movies.
Rating: 
Summary: amazing how bad this book is. Proves good movies=bad books
Review: Here's the review of the book if it weren't a cultural icon - cheesy 70s mafia book banking on the overall popularity of mob figures and the mystique of the mafia in particular. Some historical facts mix in with the fictional family including a cameo by Al Capone (who shows up in mafia books as much as Aleister Crowley shows up in horror books) and a barely disguised version of Frank Sinatra (the offer that could not be refused with the band leader happened with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra I believe) serve to pad out a pretty good storyline. It would have been a forgettable book if Coppola had not used it to make the greatest movie ever. All the good scenes from the movie are not so great in the book. Many of the good scenes from the movie aren't even in the book. The background of Vito Corleone does not have the power of the Godfather II storyline, and you really don't get much of a handle on the character of Michael either. Worse is what is added on. There's an entire storyline based on the bridesmaid that Sonny has sex with at the wedding. In the movie that's a mintue of footage. In the book that's a couple of pages describing teh large size of both Sonny and the bridesmaid. And then there are about 50-60 pages of the bridesmaid in Hollywood getting surgery to correct that problem, since not every man is as big as Sonny. Then there's Johny Fontaine's adventures in Hollywood. He and his friends are sleeping with starlets and crashing parties. I think there were more asides but I estimate about a third of the book is taken up with material that you don't care about and you applaud Coppola for 86ing it from the movie. Anyhow. It's a good trashy book on par with Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins, but if you have seen the movie and you want to learn more about the characters don't read this book in hopes of finding out anything Coppola left out. It will only disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: The Great American (Crime) Family
Review: Mario Puzo's The Godfather is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. The story of a "benevolent king" who hands his "kingdom" over to his youngest son, is truly a classic. This is a novel that can be viewed from the story of the mafia at it's height, a fast-paced action story that will leave you entertained. Or it can be viewed from the perspective of a tale of power, and it's ability to change people. No matter your view, when you finish reading it, you'll grow to like the "bad guy's". It shows that even criminals are as human as the rest of us.
| 
