3.4/5 ( )

Fast paced, violent, everything you want from a mafia story. The only annoyance for me was Johnny Fontane but, will be exploring more of Puzo's catalogue. ( )

I really enjoyed this story. Each chapter follows different characters and tales in the saga that happens, showing the different viewpoints and rounding off the tale. It didn't immediately draw me in, but I found myself swept up into the action as I got further in. Although parts can be quite gruesome, this was a really entertaining read and extremely likable and definitely gives advice and wisdom that can be practiced anywhere in business and life.

3.5 stars. ( )

This is the novel that inspired the movie, and was a sensation when published. Puzo has sworn for years that he had no connection with the mafia, and that his book is entirely fictional. If it is, it is a masterpiece of imagination, and the source of many modern idioms, like omerta, "make him an offer he can't refuse", "la cosa nostra" and "the Don". It is divided into books that each is the story of a different character or different era. The first is the classic tale of the Don Corleone, and the war of the families in 1948, and is the one that sets the pace and introduces the characters. There is a book about Johnny Fontane, a singer and actor possibly modeled on Frank Sinatra, about Kay Adams, the WASP girl that Michael Corleone eventually marries, about Lucy Mancini, a lover of Sonny Corelone, the Don's son, who is killed in an ambush in the first book, and about Carlo Rizzi, who marries Connie Corleone. The loose ends are bloodily tied up in the final chapter by Michael Corleone, after the Don's death, and as a prelude to the family's move to Las Vegas. ( )

I believe I've said it before, but there's a reason this book is a classic, and it's not just because of the movies. An excellent read! ( )