Genres: Fiction
We all know about THE GODFATHER. The trilogy of movies, purely Italian, the director, and the performers. The famous book cover with the black background and a marionette puppet theme. The novel deals with a mob war fought between the Corleone family and the other four of the five Mafia families in New York. It is quite different from the movie. A glance upon the trilogy of the movie, reveals that the story of latter parts: The Godfather II and The Godfather III are completely different from the book.
To have not read this book is a felony indeed. Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER is undoubtedly one of the great books written on organized crime and the Mafia. This book details the life of Don Vito Corleone and his operations as the head of the Corleone family. The Corleone family is one of the Five Families in American mafia scene of the New York. Don Corleone is shown as a just and authoritative man. Well-respected by all and is equally feared. His influential capacity is legendary and are his policies. The Don, lovingly referred to as the Godfather, has a list of principles which he abides by, no matter what. It follows the lives of the Don and his family and how the least involved and distant son goes on to take up his father’s empire. The intricacy and the twists and turns in the plot will leave you stupefied at times.
It is a scorching portrayal of the 1940’s criminal underworld in America. The book is written with a pace which a reader might find slow, but on devoting his attention towards the text wholesomely, it will be harder for the reader to look somewhere else except the text of the book. The book is full of chilling and mesmerizing events. Puzo’s writing has described each event related to the Corleone family in a tangible realistic way. On reading the book, every scenario is described in a way by the author to the reader such that it is easily graspable in one’s imagination.
Puzo leaves no loopholes when it comes to create a master plot and the characters. Infant, Puzo seems so intrigued by his own creation of the this Mafia world that there is one time when it seems that his characters are creating driving the plot on their own. There is no need of the writer, their master, who gave them a life. Puzo’s writing is natural, narration satisfactory, his characters real, the story is fantastic. Of course, there is a sub-plot in the book that I thought to be steered unnecessarily. You will get to know what I am talking about, when you read the book.
The reading time of the book is consumable but it depends on person to person. I can say, hardly I ever do this but I really enjoyed the time I spent reading it. This is a book, ‘you cannot refuse’ if you get your hands on it.
4 out of 5
Love this book. Good review!
Thanks Sandra 🙂
Great book, and a great film.
Agreed!
This book as long been on my “to-read” list, I think it will shift to the “must have” list very soon! 🙂
I hope you do read it sometime and enjoy your time with it 🙂
Junkie that I am for all things mafia, and albeit half-Italian, I have never read The Godfather. I’m not sure why. Overdosing a little bit on post-modern literature, I’ve been hankering for an epic novel to read. It’s now on my list. Thanks for your review!
You’re most welcome 🙂
One of my favourite books. So much so I own a first addition. Great review.
Wow! First addition, that’s amazing 🙂
The Godfather was a best-seller when it first came out, and it deserved its success.
Mario Puzo followed it up with The Sicilian–and if you can figure out what the story was about, man, you’re a lot smarter than I am!
Haha I’ll try my best to figure it out Lee and will let you know 🙂
I have nominated you for a Creative Blogger Award… http://leeduigon.com/2015/06/02/i-have-been-nominated/
Thanks Lee, much appreciated! 🙂
This has been on my TBR since I don’t know when!! Hope I get to this one soon!
It will be definitely a good read!
I’ve been meaning to read this book for such a long time!!! And now I am so excited to get it… Really interested in organized crime (does that sound bad?) and secret societies.
Haha organised crime doesn’t sound bad (if it’s a business) and yeah the book is really a good insight of that era.