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Summary: An essential part of the American literary canon
Review: I first read _The Godfather_ in 1978 when I was 12 years old. I thought that it was a good book then but being a callow youth I didn't realize how brilliant it was. Recently I went on a long trip and picked this up to read on the plane. I was enthralled. Mario Puzo wrote a brilliant classic in this book, on one level _The Godfather_ is a straight crime novel about a Mafia family and can be enjoyed on that level. On another level _The Godfather_ is a brilliant rumination on the meaning of the American Dream and how it is pursued. Reading _The Godfather_ is also fun because you try to figure out who some of the characters are based on. Johnny Fontaine is supposed to be based on Frank Sinatra, who had significant mob ties. The Jewish gangster character Moe Green is supposedly based on Bugsy Siegel. If you haven't read this book then buy it right now. You won't be disappointed, and if you haven't read the book or seen the movie you should buy both of them, the movie is one of the most brilliant adaptations of a novel ever to hit the screen.
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Summary: The Ultimate Mafia Tale
Review: There is no need to tell anything about the characters in this book as every one knows the story.I'v just finished reading it for the umpteenth time and am still thrilled,satisfied and completely enthralled by this great read. I even went to the extent of cooking green peppers Italian style! It's still my number 1 read of all times!
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Summary: A Classic Book
Review: This is the book that swept the world. This book turned into three classic movies. The story of Don Corleone and his children made for a spellbinding reading experience. The trials and challenges of running a crime syndicate are profiled well in this book. During the time that Vito is down due to being shot, Sonny attempts to lead the family but loses his life due to the treachery of Connie's husband. This brings about the return of Michael who was forced to leave the due to killing a police captain. Michael takes over the leadership reins of the family after the death of the family. After this Micheal is able to take total control of the Syndicate due to some well planned assasinations. This book is classical,legendary, any other term this is complimentary that you can apply to it. Read this book, it is truly a classic.
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Summary: A model family?...
Review: Hey, it's Kathy, my other review will probably be right under this one or something. I thought of something to add. How many times have you read of a family with this much reality in it? The love-hate relationships, the respect, the worry, the caring, the "arguements" (no one dares to TRULY argue with the Don), THE FOOD! As an Italian at heart and in my blood this book makes me hungry for spaghetti and gardenare (sp?), peppers, sausage, garlic bread, gravy... you get me. Brilliant, it's real, it's true, believeable. How anyone could not connect with this outstanding book is beyond me.
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Summary: Aghhh, very decent work
Review: I thought the God father would be like the movies were we all knew what would happen at ever minute and ETC... I read it and found that i liked it more than the movie. Lots of explict language, but it is good.
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Summary: A masterpiece!
Review: It is truly the best book I've ever read! It's entertaining, suspense-filled, it has everything! And it is well worth 5+ stars if possible!
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Summary: A Book As Fine As The Film
Review: Before I even realized that there had been a book, I was an avid fan of The Godfather and loved the characters of Sonny, Michael, Vito, Lucca Brazzi, Peter Clemenza, and the other unforgettable faces that made the film great. Then, one day I came upon a first edition of the novel at an antique shop and bought it. I read it quickly (the book travels at a breakneck speed) and with much relish, and when I was done I was satisfied. The movie was good, but the novel was BETTER. Puzo's Corleone family is a well-illustrated, clearly defined group, each member with his own strengths and weaknesses. The storytelling is gripping, the dialogue brilliant, the characters charming. Puzo, in addition to the main bent of the story, delves into the shady side of old-school Hollywood and makes an interesting read of it. For any lover of the Godfather saga, this book is a must read. Check it out, and enjoy!
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Summary: The best book I ever read in my life!
Review: This was the best book I ever read in my life! I loved every part of it!
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Summary: Trashy, but absorbing nonetheless.
Review: The canonization of Francis Ford Coppola's two-part adaptation of this book in the film world has made us forget that, upon its release, The Godfather (the novel) was actually considered quite pulpy, and not of the high-art status that the films have achieved.Personally, I couldn't care less -- Mario Puzo is an entertaining storyteller, and the characters he created were marvellous -- the seemingly docile Michael Corleone; hothead Santino; Tom Hagen, the brilliant lawyer with an identity crisis; Luca Brasi (underused in the film version), the subhuman brute; Albert Neri, a man driven by circumstances into the world of crime; and of course Vito Corleone himself, the elegant mastermind, a man with a dream, a romanticization of the crimelord as a patriarch of King Lear proportions. The novel benefits from its chosen form. A scarcely acknowledged fact about the Godfather pictures is that much-needed exposition often had to get excised because there was so much back story to each character set up in the book that the film form couldn't handle adequately. You might notice in the Godfather films how Michael's return to America is completely unexplained; Luca Brasi's power and strength are never shown onscreen (he appears at the wedding, then dies in the bar at the hands of the Tattaglias); Paulie Gatto becomes a skimpish character; Genco Abbandando disappears; and Tom Hagen's conflicts about being consigliere are minimized. Even given two three-hour films, the amount of information in the one source novel couldn't be disclosed properly, resulting in huge gaps of information. Puzo's novel does it well, with exaggeratedly elevated language, character behaviour, and third-person narrative. It works beautifully, even given its trashier inclinations (eg. commentaries on Lucy Mancini's anatomy, and the large Johnny Fontaine/Nino Valenti subplot). Small wonder that this larger-than-life novel spawned the most famous film series of all time, the first entry of which has been called the best film ever made (I have contentions with that). The Godfather can be read as pure entertainment and, if so desired, as literature.
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Summary: Great story...suburb telling.
Review: The classic story of the Corleone reign during the 1970s, and one of the defining novels on the Cosa Nostra. Puzo's tale of power and family is, in a word, fantastic, bringing to life the workings of a close-knit Italian clan and the deadly stuggle of the Don in his position in the underworld. The movie is incredible, and the book is even better. Must read.
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