"The Godfather" Book Review

Since I mentioned "The Godfather" in my previous post, I am adding today my review from goodreads.com. I will do the same with "The Italian" in a minute. Enjoy! Please feel free to comment on my reviews and argue with my opinions :)

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Mario Puzo's novel spans several generations of the Corleone family, going as far back as turn of the century Sicily. The book is a riveting page-turner, with little plot lines jutting out from the principal one - Don Vito Corleone, with three grown sons, struggles to keep the Corleone "Family" together and strong. Don Vito is a fascinating character to both the novel's internal characters and to its readers. He is a family man, a man of honor, brave, intelligent, and loved. He is also the leader of one of the strongest mafia clans in the world. When he becomes temporarily unable to lead his family, someone must step up, and that someone surprises everyone. War hero and family baby, Michael, steps up to fill his father's very large shoes.

The novel goes into many details about several characters that never make it onto the silver screen, or if they do, for very brief moments. Johnny Fontaine, Lucy, and many more make for some of the novel's most interesting chapters, and it is too bad that each character's featured chapter could not be made into a feature film.

For those who have seen the films, Puzo's novel stops where the first film stops, though the second and third do pay homage to some earlier scenes from the novel. However, the novel cunningly leaves Michael's future to be determined by the reader, and one of the films' successes must be owed to the fact that Puzo himself was involved in adapting the screenplays, keeping the characters true to their hinted futures.




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