The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The Godfather : a book review

By Mario Puzo

Power , violence , and the American Dream . Mario Puzo 's book is one of a kind . It is one of the most popular books of this genre in the last 50 years and remains to be one of the most influential , inspiring many and various take-offs and imitations- not to mention the language and the so-called Mafia culture that came into popularity thanks to the book

The Godfather , a book about organized crime in the 1950s set in New York , reached such heights of popularity

and inspired such cult worship that its movie adaptation , by Francis Ford Coppola , is considered by many as the Mafia movie of all movies about the Mafioso

CHARACTERS

Of the many appeals of the book , the characters take great credit for its success . Puzo managed to create and develop characters that keep the readers hooked . The first godfather in the book was Don Vito Corleone , Capo di tuti capi , captain of all captains . Born Vitone Andolini in a small Sicilian village of Corleone , he fled to America in 1901 after his father was murdered by the local mob boss Don Ciccio for not paying tribute . After his father , the rest of his family was also murdered by the Don 's henchmen

To escape murder , he was smuggled aboard a cargo ship full of immigrants to Ellis Island . There he immediately adopted a new name . He had become Vito Corleone . In New York , he was taken by the Abbandando family

Later on he married and started his own family . He took a job as a store clerk in the Abbandando grocery . He lost his job tough when the family was forced to give the job to Don Fanucci 's nephew . This marked the turning point of his transformation into the kind of person that the Godfather is

He and his friend Peter Clemenza , who later on became one of his Caporegimes , started to do petty crimes and favors ' in exchange for loyalty , culminating in Vito 's first kill , Don Fanucci , the local padrone . What followed were a series of events that led to his becoming one of the most feared and respected crime lords in New York

Don Corleone , in spite of his dark persona and a business founded on crime , gambling , and counterfeiting , he truly loved his family . He valued loyalty to his friends and above all , family

In 1945 , an assassination attempt was carried out by Virgil the Turk Sollozzo and his men , as well as Captain McCluskey , his bodyguard , after the Don refused to use his vast political connections to protect the drug smuggling business which Sollozzo proposes

Of all his children , he was most proud of Michael , a decorated WWII veteran who finished college . He wanted him to live a life away from the crime world aspiring that someday he would hold some high post in the government

Michael a Dartmouth graduate initially did not intend to be a part of the family ' business . He...