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Summary: A book not to be missed
Review: Be forewarned, if you pick up this book, you will not be able to put it down.Yes, it *is* that good.
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Summary: A novel you can't refuse!
Review: All you've ever wanted to know about the Cosa Nostra in America. With brilliant characterizations and just the right amount of factual history, Mario Puzo' masterpiece captivates. The comparisons and contrasts between Don Vito and Don Michael(father and son)unfold beautifully as the pages flash by. What keeps the novel from being "perfect"? Mama Corleone's lack of reaction to her husband's death seems inconsistent with her attitudes of faith, duty, and loyalty
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Summary: The Godfather is a very good, suspensefull book.
Review: The Godfather is one of the best books that I have ever read. Once you pick this book up, you cannot put it down. One of the things that I liked about the book is that Mario Puzo takes you into the mind of all of the characters, even the minor ones. If you liked The Godfather then you will also like Mario Puzo's new Mafia potboiler, The Last Don
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Summary: Brilliant writing!
Review: The Godfather is one of the best novels i have ever read. It feels so real in a certain way and you really get to know the people in the book. I love it!
Peter Wärring
Stockholm, Sweden
P.S Thank you Mr.Puzo D.S
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Summary: The definitive audio version!
Review: This audiocassette version, by Brilliance Corp, is the best version available for this classic novel. Don't settle for less!
--Geoff
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Summary: A book about the family, and a man's man.
Review: This is by far the greatest book I have ever read, blowing away any "Great American Novel" or Shakespearean play for both depth of plot and riviting story line.
In addition to it's pop culture standing as the difinitive title concerning mafia life, this book teaches valuable life-lessons as applicable in New York's rough streets as in the Heartland. Puzo's definition of family and duty are among the most valid and vivid since Vergil.
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Summary: The Godfather - An Amazing Book
Review: Whoa!!! This book makes you an offer you can't refuse! It's like
when you start this book, you have this ENORMOUS need to finish
it! The Movie Is an American Masterpiece, but if you haven't read
the book, you're only getting Half the story! I doubt i'll read
another book, quite as amazing as this one, any time soon!
Rating: 
Summary: amazing
Review: now dont get me wrong i love the book. i gave it four stars however because of the incredibly boring excess of parts about johnny fontane,lucy mancini, etc. the rest of the book is an amazing portrayal of the world of the mafia but not only that but their families as well. it illustrates the concepts of honor, loyalty and justice in a setting where if you think about it seem like they would matter little. we are talking about career criminals here. i think thats what really draws our intrest. the fact that we grow to love characters that have such good qualitities and away from the crime setting would be considered wonderful people. just my opinion.
i could hardly put this book down...except i was staying up to early hours of the morning to read and drowsiness overtook me. some aspects of the book are better than the movies...like how it explains the actions and motivations of some of the smaller players more. but the movie i am grateful skipped over many insignificant parts that were unnecessary. both are amazing so check them out!
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Summary: A riveting classic
Review: It becomes clear after watching the movie before reading the book that The Godfather novel is better than the movie even though I rank The Godfather movies as one of the best ever. This saga about Corleone Family, gives the best definition of the mafia genre than all the written works that may be known. The character development is unrivalled, the plot is marvelous, the pace is fast, the setting is engrossing and with the complex though fascinating lessons contained within the lines, one gets something close to a catechism. I think that is why Francis Ford Coppola did not have to alter much in the story to produce the movies.
"Behind every great fortune, there is a crime," Wrote the French novelist Balzac. This quote is the forerunner to The Godfather. It takes a short while into the novel to realize that The Godfather transcends being just a novel. Many readers have confessed that it altered their perception of life after reading it. It certainly is a classic with the most influential and deep-cutting influence on the minds of its readers. This novel presents us with the uncommon code and workings of the Mafia. It also explores the lives of the people who are directly or indirectly involved in it. Throughout the novel, one is forced to view Don Corleone as a very good bad man.
Mario Puzo's The Godfather is rich with wide-ranging characters as well. There is Don Corleone's first son-the short-tempered Sonny, Fredo the weak-minded second son, Michael the reluctant son with his father's steel-mindedness who ends up to save the family and Connie the baby sister who follows her impulses all the time. Then there is Amerigo Bonasera the dreary undertaker, the wily Genco, the ruthless capo-regimes, the psychopathic but faithful Luca, the cool-headed and loyal adopted Corleone son Tom Hagen, the women who married into the family and come to accept the reality of their new worlds, loving characters that are detestable to the real world. In the end, this novel revolves around Don Vito Corleone and his son, Michael, who like a reluctant disciple finally takes over as the head of the Corleone family.
You will not be happy when you read the last page because you will be wish for more about the lives of the Corleones and their fantastic world. For sure the character of the Don will last long in your mind, because beyond being violent, Don Corleone is portrayed as a kind, considerate, strong, reliable and reasonable, man. In his person is to be found the ideal father, husband, friend, Godfather, son, leader and business man. Fame, power, wealth and common place idealism make this book the great story it has been over the past three decades.
DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE is another novel with ingenious characters and an inspiring hero.
Also recommended: THE USURPER AND OTHERS, THE UNION MOUJIK
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Summary: Captivating novel about power and family
Review: Don Vito Corleone continues to be a fictional figurehead of the American mafia's underworld. He is the portrait of a modern mafia boss, despite being thirty five years old and set in the 1940s. The Godfather is about power. Don Corleone's insatiable desire for power combined with a total refusal to play by someone else's rules-i.e. the government, created an amiable but villainous Don in control of the greater part of New York City's underworld. He is heralded as an angel-granting alms, help, justice, equity, protection, citizenship and whatever else you can imagine. Puzo makes you revere Don Corleone, like all of those poor people whom he has helped over the years of his reign. Granting favors is how he remains with so much power, innumerous people owe him for the "good deeds" he has done them.
Unlike other mafia novels, Puzo ensures that the blood and the gore take second stage to the decision to exercise power. After reading the explanations and unfortunate circumstances that these characters find themselves in, there is no choice but to exercise power by making their enemies "an offer they can't refuse." Why and when Corleone exercises power is the interesting point in The Godfather, because it demonstrates how and in what circumstances he loves possessing power.
With all of the talk of Don Vito Corleone, he is not the true protagonist. Michael is. Michael Corleone, the third son and most like his father. The second key theme of the novel is the importance of the family. Michael was an idealist, not interested in working in the "family business." But after unfortunate circumstances of Don Corleone's attempted assassination, Michael must step up and fill the vacancy in his father's war room. He is essentially forced into his crimes through loyalty to his family. This loyalty is instilled in him at an early age by his father, learned as an age-old Sicilian adage and necessity.
Michael's internal conflict between desiring a legitimate life and following his father's footsteps is the main conflict of the book. Unfortunately, Puzo does not develop Michael enough to fully leverage this conflict into powerful writing. The plot points which drive Michael to eventually become Don Corleone himself are sufficient to explain why he made the decisions he made. For example, the necessary hit of Sollozzo and the assassination of his new bride drove him deeper into the family business. But Puzo lacks clear manifestations of an ongoing internal struggle that he set up Michael to have: he wants to be legitimate-he wants to live a normal life but can't because he is a Corleone. Puzo's only good example of Michael's desire for legitimacy is how he tries to withdraw the Corleone's from New York and take them to Las Vegas. But this seems more of an idea of Don Vito's than Michael's. Without directly writing Michael's internal dialogue, Puzo could include more conversations and evidence that he is truly struggling with his decision.
As the all-time bestselling novel in publishing history, The Godfather has an intricate plot with many distinct and intriguing characters that keep you guessing what happens next.
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