The Godfather (novel)
| The Godfather | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Author | Mario Puzo |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Crime novel |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| Publication date | 10 March 1969 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) & Audio Book |
| Pages | 446 pp (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7493-2468-6 (Hardback edition) & ISBN 0-399-10342-2 & ISBN 0-451-16771-6 (Paperback editions) |
| OCLC Number | 60177994 |
| Followed by | The Sicilian |
The Godfather is a crime novel written by Italian-American author Mario Puzo, originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in New York City (and Long Beach, New York) and headed by Don Vito Corleone, who became synonymous with the Italian Mafia. The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955, and also provides the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.
The book introduced Italian criminal terms like consigliere, caporegime, Cosa Nostra, and omertà to an English-speaking audience.
It formed the basis for a 1972 film of the same name. Two film sequels, including new contributions by Puzo himself, were made in 1974 and 1990. The first and second films are widely considered to be two of the greatest films of all time.[1][2]
Contents |
Title
Much controversy surrounds the title of the book and its underworld implications. Although it is widely reported that Puzo was inspired to use "Godfather" as a designator for a Mafia leader from his experience as a reporter, the term The Godfather was first used in connection with the Mafia during Joe Valachi's testimony during the 1963 Congressional Hearing on Organized Crime. See Also: United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Main characters
The Corleone family patriarch is Vito Corleone (The Don), whose surname (Italian for "Lionheart") recalls the town of Corleone, Sicily. Vito has four children: Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, Michael "Mikey" Corleone, and Constanzia "Connie" Corleone. He also has an informally adopted son, Tom Hagen, who became the Corleones' consigliere. Vito Corleone is also the godfather of a singer and movie star Johnny Fontane. The Godfather referred to in the title is generally taken to be Vito. However, the story's central character is actually Michael, and a central theme of the novel is that it is Michael's destiny to replace his father as the head of the family, despite his determination to lead a more Americanized life with his girlfriend (and eventual wife) Kay Adams.
The Corleone family are in fact a criminal organization with national influence, notably protection, extortion, gambling and union control. Under the Don is his oldest son Santino, who serves as underboss, and his consigliere, to protect the Don from implication. The operational side of the organization is headed by two caporegime, Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio.
Plot
The plot deals with a mob war fought between the Corleone family and the other four of the five Mafia families in New York. After Don Vito Corleone is shot by men working for drug dealer Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, his two sons, Santino and Michael, must run the family business with the help of consigliere Tom Hagen and the two caporegime Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio. When Michael murders Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey, an Irish police captain on the drug lord's payroll, the conflict escalates into a full scale war; this ultimately results in Santino's murder and Michael's ascension to the head of the family. He initially desires to legitimize the family business, but gradually becomes even more ruthless than his father, orchestrating the murder of all of the family's enemies, including his brother-in-law Carlo Rizzi, who played a part in Santino's murder. Michael then sells all the family's business in New York and moves the Corleones to Las Vegas.
The novel also concerns several minor characters, such as the Don's godson Johnny Fontane and his friend Nino Valenti, Sonny's mistress Lucy Mancini, and Michael's bodyguard Al Neri. Many of these subplots are not included in the movie.
Film adaptation
In 1972, a film adaptation of the novel was released, starring Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Mario Puzo assisted with writing the screenplay and with other production tasks. The film grossed approximately $269 million worldwide and won various awards, including three Academy Awards, five Golden Globes and one Grammy and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The sequel, The Godfather Part II won six Oscars, and became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The film is similar in most places, but leaves out some details, such as extended back stories for some characters. Some of these details were actually filmed, and were included in later versions such as The Godfather Saga. A subplot involving Johnny Fontane in Hollywood was not filmed. The biggest difference was that the novel included a more upbeat ending than the film, in which Kay Corleone found a peaceful acceptance of Michael's decision to take over his father's business. The film, in contrast, ended sharply with Kay's realization of Michael's ruthlessness, a theme that would develop in the second and third films, which were largely not based on the original novel. Vito Corleone's backstory appeared in the second film.
Other adaptations
The video game company Electronic Arts released a video game adaptation of The Godfather on March 21, 2006. The player assumes the role of a "soldier" in the Corleone family. Prior to his death, Marlon Brando provided some voice work for Vito, which was eventually deemed unusable and was dubbed over by a Brando impersonator. Francis Ford Coppola said in April 2005 that he was not informed of Paramount's decision to allow the game to be made and he did not approve of it.[3] Al Pacino also did not participate, and his likeness was replaced with a different depiction of Michael Corleone.
Sequels
In 2004, Random House published a sequel to Puzo's The Godfather, The Godfather Returns, by Mark Winegardner. A further sequel by Winegardner, The Godfather's Revenge, was released in 2006. The sequel novels continue the story from Puzo's novel.
The Godfather Returns picks up the story immediately after the end of Puzo's The Godfather. It covers the years 1955 to 1962, as well as providing significant backstory for Michael Corleone's character prior to the events of the first novel. The events of the film The Godfather Part II all take place within the time frame of this novel, but are only mentioned in the background. The novel contains an appendix that attempts to correlate the events of the novels with the events of the films. The novels and films dovetail in a curious fashion.
The Godfather's Revenge covers the years 1963 to 1964.
Continuing Puzo's habit, as seen in The Godfather, of featuring characters who are close analogues of real life events and public figures (as Johnny Fontane is an analogue of Frank Sinatra), Winegardner features in his two Godfather novels analogues of Joseph, John F., and Robert F. Kennedy (the Shea family, in the novels) as well as an analogue for alleged organized crime figure Carlos Marcello (Carlo Tramonti). In The Godfather Returns, Winegardner also dramatizes the sweep of organized crime arrests that took place in Apalachin, New York, in 1957.
Winegardner uses all of the characters from the Puzo novels, and created a few of his own, most notably Nick Geraci, a Corleone soldier whose role in the two sequel novels is as important as those of the Puzo-created characters. Winegardner further develops Puzo characters like Fredo Corleone, Tom Hagen, and Johnny Fontane.
Real-life influences
Large parts of the novel are based upon reality, notably the history of the so-called 'Five Families', the Mafia-organization in New York and the surrounding area. The novel also includes many allusions to real-life mobsters and their associates; Johnny Fontane is based on Frank Sinatra,[4] Moe Greene on Bugsy Siegel,[5][6] etc.
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt_year.php
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/chart/top
- ↑ Godfather film director whacks Godfather game - by Tor Thorsen, GameSpot, April 8, 2005, retrieved April 8, 2005.
- ↑ Bruno, Anthony. "Fact and Fiction in The Godfather". TruTV. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/the_godfather/6.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
- ↑ "The Not-so-famous Alex Rocco". Boston Globe. November 13, 1989. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADEF1D219E2215&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2008-07-20. "Until this year, Alex Rocco was best known as Moe Greene, the Bugsy Siegel character who was shot in the eyeglasses at the end of "The Godfather. ..."
- ↑ "Snap Judgment: Betting against the odds". Jerusalem Post. January 31, 2008. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1201523800474. Retrieved 2008-07-20. "Moe Greene is, of course, Lansky partner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who spearheaded the building of Las Vegas's first luxury casino-hotel, The Flamingo, ..."
External links
- The Official Mario Puzo's Library entry for The Godfather
- 20th-Century American Bestsellers's Entry for The Godfather
- Mark Winegardner
- The Godfather Returns
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book:The Godfather series 
Category:The Godfather
|
||||||||