The Godfather
by Mario Puzo
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mario PuzoIntroduction: Robert Thompson
Afterword: Peter Bart
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-04
ISBN: 0451217403
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: NAL Trade
Book Reviews of The Godfather
Book Review: Journalism And Fiction
Summary: 1 Stars
There is an abiding tension between the two crafts of journalism and fiction. The practitioner of the latter art searches out, and strings together, detail from real life in a careful arrangement, as a jeweler makes a pearl necklace. The other gathers detail in the manner of a child picking up shells on a beach -- throwing them willy-nilly into a bucket -- constantly in search of the next, more shiny, example.
Reading "The Godfather", one gradually comes to the realization that, while Mario Puzo may not be much of a novelist (or even a writer, for that matter), he certainly must have been a fine, tenacious reporter. There are bits which appear to be lifted wholesale from real life, particularly in that thread of the story which follows Johnny Fontane. Puzo demonstrates a formidable knowledge of the old Hollywood power structure, its parties, its hangers-on, its washed-up starlets, its lusty moguls, its corrosive effect upon the souls of those in its service.
The problem is, however, Puzo never makes anything of these and other details. They are left hanging, unrelated to the development of the story and the characters. The most fully realized character in the entire story is Johnny Fontane, of all people. This is because the character is sunk in a fully-realized world (that Hollywood mentioned above) and ultimately takes on life as result of it.
In some respects, Puzo's approach to novelism is very much of the Tom Wolfe school. That is, the novelist is simply a journalist, in search of the "thousand-footed beast". Although Wolfe is too much of a conscientious artist to see his own precepts through to their unfortunate end (particularly in "Bonfire of the Vanities"), Puzo, a lesser artist, is an example of the danger that such a school may pose. He piles on fascinating detail after detail, probably all the result of painstaking research, but without any regard for their organization or cumulative effect in relation to the story.
In all, the result is not absolutely unreadable -- it is, however, an absolute failure as a work of art.
Summary of The Godfather
just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in.More than thirty years ago, a classic was born. A searing novel of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction, the Corleones, and the powerful legacy of tradition, blood, and honor that was passed on from father to son. With its themes of the seduction of power, the pitfalls of greed, and family allegiance, it resonated with millions of readers across the world-and became the definitive novel of the virile, violent subculture that remains steeped in intrigue, in controversy, and in our collective consciousness.
The story of Don Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia family, inspired some of the most successful movies ever. It is in Mario Puzo's The Godfather that Corleone first appears. As Corleone's desperate struggle to control the Mafia underworld unfolds, so does the story of his family. The novel is full of exquisitely detailed characters who, despite leading unconventional lifestyles within a notorious crime family, experience the triumphs and failures of the human condition. Filled with the requisite valor, love, and rancor of a great epic, The Godfather is the definitive gangster novel.
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