The Godfather

Rating:
Summary: As much a part of America as Mustangs and Baseball
Review: The Godfather is one of the best pieces of literature ever written. Mario Puzo paints this elaborate picture of the Sicilian mafia through the eyes of Michael Corleone, a returning Marine Corps hero who at first wants nothing to do with the elaborate crime family that his father has built.

Don Vito Corleone, an Italian immigrant who goes from poverty in Little Italy to create one of the Five Families of New York with the help of his friends Peter Clamenza and Salvatore Tessio.

His inferiors include his sons, the short tempered Santino "Sonny", the clumsy Fredo, and of course Michael. Wounded war Vet Rocco Lampone, and the tough Luca Bracsi.

The Godfather starts in a 1945 New York. A mob war is brewing between the Corleone's and a rival family. The dilema of getting into drug trade and betrayal are at the heart of this literature classic.

The reason that the Godfather is so good is the depth of Mario Puzo's characters. They aren't just evil criminals. They are real people. Puzo romanticises the mafia life and that time period altogether.

He also does something perfectly what other books have tried to do and miserably failed at. He parodies real life characters into his novel. Johny Fontane the saloon singer is his fictional Sinatra and it is perfectly done.

This is easily ther best book you will ever read. Also check out Puzo's other mob stories and Mark Winegardner's "The Godfather Returns" but only AFTER you read their inspiration, The Godfather.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest book ever written in the times of jesus christ
Review: I do have to start with the admission that I do feel the movie was, in the case, better than the book. Anyway, I enjoyed it more. That could be just me though. That being said, I do feel this work is well worth the read. It certainly will grab your attention and hold it. I would rank it a bit above pulp fiction as the author's style and character developement is quite good and the story line certainly works. Even those who do not particularly enjoy "ganster books," (I fit that category), will find something to like about this book. It is simply well done! I would certainly approach the book as entertainment rather than a social comment on our society, as I am not sure of the accuracy of the research that went into it. Anyway, read it and enjoy and I do highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: book's good, MOVIES ARE BETTER
Review: it was a close call for me, but i enjoyed the movies better. not that the book wasn't awesome.. it was. you certainly get more of a feel for all the characters and a better understanding of their motives and feelings. (i especially enjoyed how the book described Tom's feelings of guilt at the loss of Sonny where the movie did not, to my recollection) it's an excellent book as everyone here knows, but i was pretty bored with the chapters devoted to Sonny's girlfriend, her surgeon boyfriend, and for that matter Johnny Fontaine as well. these diversions would've been perfectly fine by me if they had tied back in more dramatically with the overall story. i can't see how they added much to the story and i can easily say that they distracted me from the main story. i kept waiting for Puzo to tie the threads together. sorry but these parts seemed like page fillers to me. Why do i need a graphic description of Sonny's girlfriend's surgery? actually these portions detracted from the story considerably i my view. Still, i did not want the book to end, as i was just as drawn to the characters (especially Vito) as i am when i watch the movies. Plus i really enjoy Puzo's grasp of the familial relationships he writes about. honor among brothers, and devotion to family and such. Good book. better movie.

Rating:
Summary: An Offer You Can't Refuse...
Review: I was surprised to hear that Mario Puzo wrote "The Godfather" after attempts at "literature" hadn't provided enough income. According to the source I read he wrote this book for the money. What can I say? I heard Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the same reason.

Whatever his inspiration, Puzo's tale is one I couldn't put down. I don't know how many today read the book before seeing Coppola's movie - one of the greatest films by almost any measurement. I read the book back in the 70s before seeing the film, and the movie vividly brought the characters in my head to life. The advantage in the book is that Coppola is able to allow you inside the heads of the characters and flesh out much of the back and side stories. Remember the undertaker who opens the movie, asking for the Godfather to render justice to the two punks who violated his daughter then were set free by the American court? In the book we find out what happens to those punks. The movie star Johnny Fontaine is fleshed out with a little Hollywood Babylon. We get to read the story of the young Vito Corleone and how he came to become "The Godfather" - a story that doesn't show up in until the second movie with DeNiro as young Vito and Bruno Kirby brilliant as the young Tessio. We find out how the Irish kid Tom Hagen becomes like an adopted son to the Godfather and how his intelligence enables him to go to law school and become the Godfather's next Consigliore. We get to find out about the fearful Luca Brasi and why he's pretty much the only man that makes Vito Corleone a little nervous.

Puzo creates a fictional world that is rich and profound and populated by larger than life characters. Only recommended for those who want to read the quintessential gangster novel.


Rating:
Summary: I must be too biased for the movie
Review: I think if you read most reviews here you will see virtually everyone loves "The Godfather." That said let me just say I enjoyed the book but I think I preferred the movie (Actually the book touches on both Godfather I and II) instead. This is unusual because I almost always enjoy the book over the movie but this is an exception. Let me explain why:

1. The book focuses more on the woman Sonny is having an affair than the movie did. Minimizing her in the movie was a smart idea.

2. The scene in Godfather I where Micheal descibes how to get away with killing McClusky and Sollozzo seems to be an important turning point in Micheal's "career path". In the movie Sonny is surprised his college bound brother wants to get involved in the family. The book version seems ridiculous, with Sonny saying basically "It is about time you joined us..."

3. I liked how the book focuesd more on Johnny Fontaine but it was sort of long winded at times. I can see why the movie cut that part out.

It is a good book, but to me the movie is just so much better.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece...
Review: I don't get why everyone likes the movie so much more. This book contains subplots that were vastly important, but that the movie lacked. Johnny Fontane's struggles were heart-wrenching. Santino's girlfriend, and the doctor were a perfect diversion. And the cop turn hit-man was a wonderful look into what must have happened to Luca Brasi. And this Godfather is not a thinly veiled thug like the one Marlon Brando played. He's a caring person, who sometimes has to have people killed for what he sees as the greater good.