Stephen reviewed The Godfather by Mario Puzo (The Godfather)
Review of 'The Godfather' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
My second read-through and I very much enjoy this book. But what to rate it? I still can't decide if I enjoy the book, or I enjoy reading it and remembering the film. It feels well written. There's a few problems, the most minor being a character can't enter a scene without getting a page backstory, even with no dialogue, for instance. Terms are introduced at odd points in the book, certainly not at the beginning - maybe to show Michael's entering of the gangster world? But otherwise it oozes honour culture.
No, the weird bit is the sexism. I can maybe believe it's presenting the cast as sexist. But having the second female character's story being "she has a big vagina and meets a doctor who gets her corrective surgery"? Not particularly surprised that didn't make the film. Or nearly all the racism. As quite a few gangsters have …
My second read-through and I very much enjoy this book. But what to rate it? I still can't decide if I enjoy the book, or I enjoy reading it and remembering the film. It feels well written. There's a few problems, the most minor being a character can't enter a scene without getting a page backstory, even with no dialogue, for instance. Terms are introduced at odd points in the book, certainly not at the beginning - maybe to show Michael's entering of the gangster world? But otherwise it oozes honour culture.
No, the weird bit is the sexism. I can maybe believe it's presenting the cast as sexist. But having the second female character's story being "she has a big vagina and meets a doctor who gets her corrective surgery"? Not particularly surprised that didn't make the film. Or nearly all the racism. As quite a few gangsters have the character "doesn't like black people".
I enjoy this, but is it even "of its time"?
