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Book Review: The Godfather
Written by Benison Pang
Friday, 15 June 2007
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."
Immortal words, by Marlon Brando, playing Don Vito Corleone in the movie version of this book. The Godfather is a thrilling epic, chronicling the events and happenings of the Corleone Family, one of the Five Families in New York. It was written by Mario Puzo, drawing upon his years of experience as a journalist to write a story loosely based on the real-life Mafia, including the multi-tiered structure of a Mafia family, designed so that the highest levels of command i.e. the Don himself would be free from legal prosecution.
The book actually follows two storylines, : one chronicles the rise of a young Vito from a boy running away from the Sicillian Mafia which killed his father, to become the greatest Mafia chief in the United States. It is a direct look into the inner workings of the family, and the tactics employed by the Don and his family in extending their empire. The other storyline follows Johnny Fontane, the Don's godson, and his path to success in Hollywood. This storyline branches out from the beginning of the book, where Fontane meets the Don for advice on how to handle his life, and is far more subtle than the other more direct storyline. In the Fontane story, the Don takes a backseat, in terms of visibility, but we get to see the effects of his power from a more indirect manner. In a sense, this makes his power even more chilling, as it seems to extend everywhere.
While there is plenty of action in this book, including murder and guns, it is written in an almost reporter-style, objectively, without any unnecessary narrative flourishes. It is very unlike pulp fiction novels of today where the action is written in almost excessive detail. In 'The Godfather', the description involved in the action is kept to a minimum, since the key of the book is the purpose of the action, and not the action itself.
For all that, the main underlying theme behind the book is power. The Don is an immensenly powerful character, with the understanding that to be successful in life, one must not let other men's will overpower his own. To this end, he has several fundamental beliefs that are the keystone of his power. For example, one is the belief that business must be separated from emotion. As one of the characters says: "It's business, not personal." A reading of this book will give a much clearer understanding of the concepts behind the personal force of a man.
A five star book which led to a five star movie. I know this is an extremely old book (it is set in the post-WW2 period, when the Mafia was extremely powerful in the USA), but the concepts and ideas in the book are immortal.
Review by Benison Pang (co-author of wholly books for bookaholics)
About Benison Pang "Simply put, books are my life. I read all the time. In my room, while walking, in the train, while eating, even in the shower, for god's sake. Unlike most kids, the reason I had to wear spectacles at a young age was because I read too many books, not because of computers or the television. Call me a bookwhore, and you won't be too far from the truth.
But I'm not a literature person. Far from it. I failed literature in school, mainly because I hated writing an essay about a text which I felt was mostly bullshit and hardly deserved such in-depth analysis. Just my humble opinion of course. Don't take this to mean that I dislike classic literature, because I enjoy it. I just don't like analysing it the way it is done in school.
So you now have the measure of me. I hope you like what you see.
