Book review - The Godfather

I believe there are two kinds of good novels or good movies. One kind is where the plot – the story – is all important and it moves the characters and another is where the characters are more important and they move the plot along. While in the first kind it is imperative for the author to have a good unique story, in the second kind it becomes mandatory to portray powerful characters. And there isn’t a more powerful character portrayed in English fiction than Don Corleone.

It is said that Mr. Mario Puzo – author of The Godfather – spent close to 3 years with the head of a mafia family to understand the mafia’s customs, its mechanisms and its structure. The Godfather is his portrayal of the don and his story of one of the most powerful mafia families in America. Mr. Puzo puts all his storytelling expertise on show in this novel – something he hasn’t been able to replicate in his later works – and as a reader that is as good as it gets.

As I have said up front, there isn’t a more powerful character portrayed in English fiction than Don Corleone. And Mr. Puzo doesn’t take long to establish that. Through the opening sequence of the Don’s daughter’s wedding he quickly lets everybody know who the boss is. Immediately you are in awe of this man they call The Godfather. And that man keeps you in that state throughout the novel. This is actually quite contrary to how he presents himself. He is very restrained in the way he talks and the way he acts. He chooses his words carefully and acts of extreme nature are reserved for just those kinds of occasions – extreme. He is remarkably intelligent and a very shrewd judge of people. He is an astute tactician who thinks far ahead of the situation. Besides all this – he claims – he is simply a man who wants to provide for his family and look after their safety.

The story is pretty straightforward. Corleone family is one of the strongest Mafia families in America. They control the unions and have the best contacts. But the main source of their prosperity and strength is gambling. As they are at the height of their powers a new gangster (Solozzo) approaches Don Corleone with an offer to trade in drugs. Don refuses the offer and also refuses to offer his blessings to the trade. Solozzo knows without Don’s blessings and his contacts it will be impossible for him to run drugs. So, he hatches a plan to acquire Don’s contacts by taking him out of the way. This results in an all out Mafia war and the novel describes how the Corleone family fares with it.

There are a few subplots, too, to complement the main plot. Some serve to establish the supremacy of the Corleone family, some to move the plot along, some to tie up the loose ends and others as a means for characterization. The story moves along at a good pace and is packed with great moments. And that makes a compelling viewing, too, as was seen in the well adapted motion picture. There is nothing ingenious or complicated about the storyline. And, at the risk of repeating myself, what keeps us glued to the novel is the characters. Tough, varied and cool characters.

And while we are talking about great and cool characters, we cannot afford to not talk about Michael Corleone – the youngest son of Don Corleone; the one who takes over the family business after the Don’s retirement. He is the smartest of the siblings – as smart as the Don himself – and he is just as ruthless. He goes to any lengths to right the wrong that has been done to his family and spares none who were a part of that wrong. Initially he is a patriotic American raised in American tradition who also enlists in the army to be a part of the war. But, as his family comes under distress he has to forego his former life and take the plunge into this white collared American underworld. He is everything that a Don’s successor should be. What makes this character infinitely cooler is the fact that Mr. Al Pacino played this part in the adapted motion picture.

You see, as much as I want to disassociate the motion picture from the book – because I think it doesn’t do justice to the book – I have to mention it here for the way Mr. Marlon Brando and Mr. Al Pacino have portrayed the characters of Don and Michael Corleone respectively. I read the book first and then saw the movie, yet their portrayal remains the defining interpretation of both these iconic characters for me. And so, I will recommend watching the motion picture to all those who haven’t done so yet (though I do realize there must be very few).

So far I have talked extensively about only two characters and only very briefly alluded to others. But rest assured, all of them are more interesting than most others whom we call great characters in other novels. Take for instance the other two fascinating characters Luca Brasi and Albert Neri – another pair of predecessor and successor. Don’s theory about how to control such men, their exploits and the terror they strike in the enemies’ heart make for a very interesting reading. Then there is the bull headed Sony and the cunning Barzini’s and Tessio’s. The wimpy Fredo, the intelligent Tessio, the loyal Tom Hagen, the jolly Clemenza who is lethal with a garrot and many others have their fair share of space in this universe.

What’s good about the book apart from characterization that I have mentioned so exhaustively? As I have said already, the storyline isn’t much to write home about and the pace is steady. Mr. Puzo’s detailed description of how a mafia family works, their customs and their structure makes for an educated reading. Though the narration is mostly linear, Mr. Puzo’s occasional departures to non linearity are good for their shock value. He never tries to complicate his plot too much and keeps his focus on the people throughout. Yet, somehow we never get involved too much in the narrative emotionally. While we are interested in turning the page to read what’s coming up, we never feel what the characters feel in the novel. We don’t feel their pain, we don’t rejoice in their happiness nor are we engulfed in their sorrows or dilemmas. We read it all in a detached way. Perhaps it is because of the environment created in the novel. The family tends to keep itself restrained to the point of being impersonal. Everything is for business and not for passion. Another reason could be that Mr. Puzo refuses to infuse any moral dilemma in the novel. While it helps in keeping things simple, it also keeps them uninvolving.

Apart from these few drawbacks, the book is a great reading experience. I have always thought that The Godfather is the ultimate guy Novel. Because it is about something that all guys are crazy about, apart from women of course – it is about power. The whole book is driven by people’s lust for power. How to gain it, how to retain it, how to increase it is all that people think. And in this quest for power emotions and women become a secondary thing. The pleasures of normal life almost become nonexistent and sacrifices need to be made. And someone somewhere always wants that power badly enough and is willing to be more ruthless than you are. It is a risky life and one cannot live peacefully in such an environment and raise a normal family. The Don and Michael Corleone understand that and hence their want of turning all their operations and money to legal forays.

This book became immensely popular in America upon its release – it still is recognized world over as a classic. It made gangsters stylish and cool. You can see the influence of the book in the motion pictures that released in America after the book. In fact, it still influences movie making everywhere.

In short, this is a book you cannot not read. (I know it’s clichéd and it is cheap. I also had to accommodate negation for this sentence to make any sense at all. But then, I absolutely had to include the line in this review somehow, didn’t I?)