Review for "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo

As a boy, he had been truly tenderhearted. That he had become a murderer as a man was simply his destiny.



Rating: 4 stars

I read this book as a part of my America's Best Loved Novels Reading Challenge and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think I can say in detail all the things I want to about this book. There are just certain themes, and certain emotions evoked, that I can't put into words in a way that will do it justice. But of course, I'm going to try.

JUSTICE
This is the most obvious topic broached in the novel. There are so many circumstances where the reader is left either feeling that something unjust has been glossed over in an unnervingly insensitive way, or that the characters are completely justified in their vigilante pursuit of people who have wronged them. There are so many "eye for an eye" situations in the novel; not at all surprising considering it's all about the Mafia. But some of the highlights of how unjust the system itself is got to me. Of course, I think murder is deplorable. But when the situation is revealed, and you find out that the person murdered was a pimp who cut up young girls and women for sadistic fun, you definitely find yourself questioning who was really in the wrong there. The book really highlights systematic problems with defining justice, and just problems in general faced by criminal justice systems in the 40's and 50's.

LOYALTY
There is probably no organization on Earth that relies as heavily on loyalty and trust as the Families comprising the Mafia. This is supplemented by the fact that when that loyalty and trust are broken, your neck promptly is as well. This book really shows the differences between allegiance and friendship. The book also deals with trust--who can trust who both in business and pleasure.

DESTINY
This term is constantly mentioned throughout the book, and it's layered interestingly with the concepts of American freedom and autonomy. There are conflicting arguments - is a man's future bound by his destiny, or does he have a choice in what he becomes? The most obvious case of this question is with Michael Corleone. He chooses one path for himself, a path that strays from that of the rest of his family (even going so far as to make himself a self-proclaimed outsider), and yet somehow he is the one that inherits the family business. It's not a particularly encouraging theme, but I loved reading about the characters' struggle to define themselves while submitting to their "destiny" at the same time.

RELIGION
This topic is not touched on a lot until the end of the book, where it is revealed that the main Don's wife is so religious because she is praying for her husband's soul, and the new Don's wife follows suit. While this isn't featured a ton throughout the book, I wanted to point it out in my review because I think it's a brilliant way to wrap up the justice theme. These women know that their husbands do awful, illegal things, yet they also know that they are in some capacity deserved by the victims. The question raised is whether or not God will view these transgressions in the same light. (I mean, probably not, but they can still pray.)

There comes a time when the most humble of men, if he keeps his eyes open, can take his revenge on the most powerful. 

Some things that really sold the book for me:
The novel is formatted and the story is told is such a way that you can't get bored. You cannot become uninterested in the story. Basically, there is not a main character in the story. Everyone is connected in some way to Don Corleone and his Family, but that's not to say that Don Corleone is really even the main focus of the novel. The chapters rotate between different characters and their storylines and it's brilliant. There are things foreshadowed in a very intriguing way. For example, Character A is told by Character B about Character C's death at the end of a chapter, and then the next chapter switches the spotlight to Character C and how his death came to pass. I loved the storytelling of this book; it was just really fantastic.

One problem with the book is that because of the previously mentioned alternating storylines, it is sometimes difficult to tell when everything is happening. Like is the current chapter set at the same time as the beginning of the last chapter or the end of the last chapter? It is just a bit difficult to keep track of the timeline because of all the perspectives and different events transpiring in a close but not always simultaneous time frame. Also, I did feel like the book dragged out a little more than it needed to. There were some parts/chapters that I just found unnecessary; they didn't add to the story and their follow-up in the resolution was concise and unmoving. The book could've been 400 pages (instead of 450) and it would have been just as good and less tedious. (For the record, I was only feeling this drag at the end of my reading - last 70 pages or so. You don't even notice how much you've read for the bulk of the book.)

Overall, I highly recommend this one, especially if you've never read a book about organized crime. This was a first for me, and I think that it is an excellent choice if you've ever been interested by the Mafia. I know the movie is like the second most popular movie of all time, so it's going immediately onto my TBW (to be watched) list!