Rating: 
Summary: Excellent - better than the movies
Review: Recently, I've read The Godfather again and I quite couldn't stop reading! Read this novel is a great pleasure. I think some people don't regard it as great literature because this work doesn't have: flowers, metaphors and blablabla's that most people admire in classic books. In my humble opinion, this is such a great story that doesn't have space for these things (and don't need them). This is a book written in a very simple style. However, as I said, Mario Puzo had in mind a great tale. The Godfather, for me, is the story of Michael Corleone, the kid son of Don Corleone (the kingpin of the Mafia in New York). This story show us how we cannot control our lives, how our families, our honor, and the enviroment around us, makes us what we are! Michael Corleone is the wisest son of Don Corleone but he doesn't want to become a Mafia Don as his father! Different of his brothers he decides to be out of his "family's business". He wants to become a typical american citizen. He goes to fight in the second world war, goes to college, dates an american woman, and he doesn't take his father's advices. He is the toughest and independent of his brothers. But in one day everything changes for Michael. In the day that his father is shot and he goes to see him in the hospital!!! When he gets a punch from a police captain that is being paid to help killing Don Corleone, Michael sees that he cannot avoid entering in his family's business anymore. Then his destiny is traced and he no longer can live the life he has been planning. Beyond the Michael tale, the lives of all the other characters in this book are well explored and detailed. This is the point where the movies are not very good, for me. In the movies we don't have access to the thoughts and motivations of the main characters, we don't see how wise some of them are, which is one of the greatest pleasures in the book. The blood thirsty of Sonny Corleone and his mafia war is not well explored in the movies (we just see some newspapers!!). The Johny Fontane character. The story of Conny Corleone, the daughter of Don Corleone, etc. There are a lot of details that aren't and couldn't be covered in the movie. For the fans of great stories I strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A true classic
Review: The Godfather is an excellent novel telling the story of the Corleone family and their family business. The novel also tells the story of the Mafia and is very informative about it. The reader can learn all about the workings of the underworld crime business. More than the Mafia though, The Godfather tells the story of the people in the Corleone family. From Don Vito Corleone to his hot-tempered son Santino, the calm and cool Michael to adopted son Tom Hagen, the Godfather is full of great characters, all of them fully developed and very believable. The story follows the family as they struggle to survive in New York with the other powerful Mafia families closing in for the kill. There is plenty here for readers. The Godfather has an exciting story, great characters, and plenty of excitement throughout. The story never slows down from beginning to end, and it should not be missed. It may seem obvious, but if you like the novel check out the movie directed by Francis Ford Copola. It is rare when a movie is as good as the book it was based on, but here both are truly great. Don't miss either! Check out The Godfather by Mario Puzo!
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing. Spellbinding.
Review: I first read Mario Puzo's THE GODFATHER three decades ago, and the impact it had on me was overwhelming. Here was a rare novel that hooked the reader from the very first page, a novel to be savored and absorbed by the author's grim yet masterful prose. Through the pages of this book the reader is introduced to the shadowy world of organized crime--more importantly, to the fiercely interdependent workings of the mafia. Deeply embedded in its Italian heritage, it was a culture of unspeakable violence, but it also fostered family, honor, community, loyalty, friendship. Vengeance. If you are downtrodden, or unfairly victimized, all you need do is approach one of the "families" and request a "favor." Proclaim your devotion and friendship, the favor will be granted. And then--even though it may never happen--you must be willing to return the favor. Or suffer the consequences. Puzo's novel brings to life the Corleone family, headed by its aging patriarch, Don Vito Corleone. In post-World War II New York, Corleone faces a changing world, but he is still plagued by the relentless "turf wars" with the other major families. Intense pressure is brought to introduce narcotics to the list of "services" provided by his family--pressure that Corleone emphatically resists, to the bleak detriment of first himself, and to those he loves. The subsequent development of the story--of the Corleone's strategy, of the emergence of one of the Godfather's sons to perpetuate the family's power and considerable clout--is spellbinding. Few novels of the last thirty years have had any lasting effects on our cultural lexicon. THE GODFATHER is one of them. Highly recommended.
--D. Mikels
Rating:
Summary: The Godfather
Review: I loved this book. I read because a friend said it was a good book. I also read it because, I didn't understand the movie. This book has a lot of detail in it. This a great book, for anyone. But I would have little children read this book, because there is sex and violence. It is about the Corleone flamily. They are a New York Mafia family. It is mostly about the head of this family, Don Vito Corleone. He is dies and his son, Micheal becomes the godfather. The reason they are called 'Godfather' is because they are godfather to different people in there family. The movie were based on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The movies are better than the book
Review: Usually the old maxim of "the book is better than the movie" holds true. I can think of a million examples, yet strangely, I'm drawing a blank at the moment. No matter, I bought this book to read on an extended vacation. I never finished it. Why? Because it's boring and poorly written. It's strange, but Coppola & company were able to add the depth to the characters that is sorely lacking in Puzo's novel. It's not even good as pulp fiction, as say a Raymond Chandler or a Dashiell Hammett is. This is a lousy book that was turned into 2 of the greatest films ever made. Why it became such a bestseller in 1969 just proves true that other old maxim: "A fool and his money are easily parted".
Rating:
Summary: A great work of literature
Review: This is one of the greatest novels ever written. If you enjoy reading in the slightest bit, you'll love this book. Some of the greatest characters ever created in literature are right here in this book. Michael, Sonny, Freddie, and Vito Corleone, all amazing characters who are gentlemen as well as members of the Mafia. As the story unfolds, showing the nice college boy Michael Corleone trying to resist the Corleone Family, yet being pulled in him, you'll be right with him the whole time. In the very first part of the book, you'll be dying to learn more about the Corleone family and its past. Believe me, you won't put this book down until you've read the very last sentence of the very last page.
Rating:
Summary: The Don of all crime-fiction lit.
Review: The Godfather is a classic. Both the movie version and the book are terrific. I was surprised to see some poor reviews on the book, because the book is very, VERY similar to the movie..except for a few lines and scenes that were included in the film.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Romantic. Powerful. Just. Exciting. Philosophical. And more. The Godfather has it all. Its not just about the Mafia and the Italian community. Its about why men become what they are. And what makes them as human as anyone else. Its about what loyalty, principles, vengence, lust, love, fear are all about.
The book starts of with a very detailed and well thought about introduction of all the characters. Except the Don himself. Vito Corleone. The whole book has to assimilated to really know what the Don is all about. There is very little detail about what the Don really thinks and believes in. There is very little known about what motivates him. The whole book is a testament to what the Don has built and what he is. And other characters go about describing him to us by what they speak about and what they do.
The book is organized into 5 main parts. Book one gives us introductions and builds up to a great family dispute. At the end of book one we know the family structure and other details that are important to the whole book. Book two talks about how the Don became the don and more importantly how he became the Godfather. This part has awesome details about how people react to fear, and how a threat is never uttered, and what people really are. The section where the don contempates the power of Fannucci gives you a glimpse of how the Don must've operated to get on top of all the New York Families. Book three is extremely romantic and is a very good read. This is the section where Michael Corleone spends two years in exile in Sicily. Book four gives us an insight into how Las Vegas works. This is unarguably the most boring part of the book. Takes away the pace from the narrative and is totally unnecessary. Couldve been removed. No wonder this part is not a part of the Godfather movies. Book five is about how Michael becomes Don Michael. This introduces new characters and finally the end itself tells us the crux of the book. You could actually read it as the journey of a young man from being a conscientious war hero to finally ending up as the most feared Mafia Chief in the country. The book is full of delightful characters whose shades of gray have been very well brought out. There are attitudes of people that leave you wondering whether people could ever live like that. Death becomes cheap. Life's goals are ridiculously simple. Male chauvinism is taken to new heights throughout the book. There are glorious one liners like "Revenge is a dish that tastes best when cold". "You should always have friends that underestimate your virtues and enemies that overestimate your faults"...... A great book. My personal fiction favorite.
Rating:
Summary: I love the book more than the movie
Review: I read the book first, and watched the movie and its sequels few years later. The book was a page-turner and the language is smooth. But the movie...., sorry to tell you, I fell to sleep halfway although it was awarded the Oscar's Best Movie! I rather enjoyed Bruce Willis's Die Hard.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: I had somehow managed not to ever see the Godfather movies. I guess I thought they just weren't my thing. I was glad that I had not seen them when I picked up this book on a whim in the bookstore one day, as I don't like to read books after I've already seen the movie. This book was simply excellent. The characters were all very well written, I felt like I really knew who they were, and the plot is great, it has everything, love, sex, violence, crime, action... There is nothing missing. After reading the books, I did finally watch the movies and discovered that they were as good as everyone says they are as well. I was a little surprised to find that a lot of reviewers didn't like this book as much as the movies, I can't really understand why. I would recommend reading this book regardless of whether you have seen the movie or not.
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