The Godfather: 50th Anniversary Edition

The canonization of Francis Ford Coppola's two-part adaptation of this book in the film world has made us forget that, upon its release, The Godfather (the novel) was actually considered quite pulpy, and not of the high-art status that the films have achieved.Personally, I couldn't care less -- Mario Puzo is an entertaining storyteller, and the characters he created were marvellous -- the seemingly docile Michael Corleone; hothead Santino; Tom Hagen, the brilliant lawyer with an identity crisis; Luca Brasi (underused in the film version), the subhuman brute; Albert Neri, a man driven by circumstances into the world of crime; and of course Vito Corleone himself, the elegant mastermind, a man with a dream, a romanticization of the crimelord as a patriarch of King Lear proportions.The novel benefits from its chosen form. A scarcely acknowledged fact about the Godfather pictures is that much-needed exposition often had to get excised because there was so much back story to each character set up in the book that the film form couldn't handle adequately. You might notice in the Godfather films how Michael's return to America is completely unexplained; Luca Brasi's power and strength are never shown onscreen (he appears at the wedding, then dies in the bar at the hands of the Tattaglias); Paulie Gatto becomes a skimpish character; Genco Abbandando disappears; and Tom Hagen's conflicts about being consigliere are minimized. Even given two three-hour films, the amount of information in the one source novel couldn't be disclosed properly, resulting in huge gaps of information. Puzo's novel does it well, with exaggeratedly elevated language, character behaviour, and third-person narrative. It works beautifully, even given its trashier inclinations (eg. commentaries on Lucy Mancini's anatomy, and the large Johnny Fontaine/Nino Valenti subplot).Small wonder that this larger-than-life novel spawned the most famous film series of all time, the first entry of which has been called the best film ever made (I have contentions with that). The Godfather can be read as pure entertainment and, if so desired, as literature.

This is my fourth or fifth time reading The Godfather, and it never disappoints . I can recite verbatim certain sections or scenes from the book, with my most used section coming when Michael is explaining to Kay how the Don was actually a great man and not just a hood. Mr. Puzo had great insight into the reality of our society and how the true power structure works. The line where Michael tells Kay that he has no intention of leaving his future in the hands of the politicians whose only ability is conning a bloc of people into voting for them is one of the great passages in the book .The movie is truly one of the best of all time , but as usual , the book is better!

This book is a mandatory reading for anyone who wants to make it in the corporate world, or in the world in general. The phylosophy of the Don Corleone is brilliant, his cold logic undeniable. The reasoning of Don Corleone is what the reasoning of anybody who wants to be successful should be. You would do well to read this book, let it simmer a little bit, then read it again.

Better than I expected and the book is not as long as you would think. I've seen bits and pieces of the movie, but never really thought about reading the book. It's good though. Now I need to watch the movie all the way through

I have read the Godfather several times in the years since it was published, and every time I am amazed at how plausible and relatable the finely crafted characters are. I find myself in sympathy with the characters and following the logic of their actions in their circumstances. And I take the lessons to heart.