The Godfather
by Mario Puzo · first published 1969
46% recommend50% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Crime novel about a mafia family's power and succession, valued for its sharp characterization of Don Corleone and its epic scope; it stands apart from the films and suits fans of sweeping, character-driven stories.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The Godfather is a crime novel by American author Mario Puzo. Originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, the novel details the story of a fictional Mafia family in New York City (and Long Beach, New York), headed by Vito Corleone. Puzo's dedication for The Godfather is "For Anthony Cleri". The novel's epigraph is by the French author Honoré de Balzac: "Behind every great fortune there is a crime." The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955 and includes the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.
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no serious critic would place it on a list of 1,000 best novels. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fict... ... Lush Life by Richard Price The Godfather by Mario Puzo V by Thomas Pynchon ... I don't know why everyone has to crap on that novel every time the movie comes up. Much of the movie is a straight copy from the book, including plenty…
on “The Godfather almost never happened” ↗Anyone who makes that mistake should read The Godfather. Very polite. No explicit threats at all. But pretty much the opposite of a pushover.
on “Oracle v. Google: Judge leaves Oracle reeling on viability of its damages claims” ↗…suggestion. Read the story of David, all the way through, continuing into the early years of his son Solomon's reign. Pay special attention to Absalom's rebellion and the aftermath. Then read "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo. Compare and contrast Solomon with Michael Corleone. The Godfather movies are also outstanding, maybe better than the books. But they don't resonate the Bible story's theme of generational…
on “What's the use of stories that aren't even true?” ↗The novel "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo was outstanding and should be read in order to fully enjoy the films.
on “The Godfather almost never happened” ↗…seems like forever, and while its a bit hit and miss i’ve liked alot of the short stories by stephen king / richard bachman. Over the past couple of years I’ve enjoyed ‘making money’ - Pratchett, ‘The Godfather’ - Puzo, ‘grapes of wrath’ - Steinbeck, ‘vernon god little’ - Pierre & ‘shogun’ - Clavell. Whenever I travel I’ll try and read a book set in the country I’m traveling to. As a child I just couldn’t put…
on “Do you read?” ↗Go read the Godfather - it's an excellent book. Mario Puzo does some good work. Another really interesting one is his book on the Borgias[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_(Puzo_novel)
on “‘Warcraft’ sets records in Chinese market while stumbling in the U.S” ↗The Godfather -Mario Puzo The Running Man -Richard Bachman (A Stephen King pen name) Never Split The Difference -Chris Voss "The Godfather" is a classic that features my 2nd favorite evil genius Don Corleone (Hannibal…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…book is an epic experience and a teaching (that also takes time). The film is a good film. I saw it after reading the book. The effect is the same as reading Mario Puzo and after seeing the movie The Godfather (great movie but the book is another story)
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗If by positive impact you mean most enjoyable, then: The Godfather, Mario Puzo (Film good, Novel excellent) Anna Karenin, Leo Tolstoy (Best novelist ever IMO) Rendezvous With Rama Series, Arthur Clarke (Great) Replay, Ken Grimley? (Cool story)
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…R. Tolkien's Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Most of the Jules Verne's books, The Iliad and The Odyssey from Homer, The Godfather from Mario Puzo, Hermit in Paris, Under the Jaguar Sun, The Complete Cosmicomics from Italo Calvino, The Name of the Rose from Umberto Eco, In the World from Maxim Gorky, ... First works coming to…
on “Ask HN: What book have you re-read 3x or more?” ↗For me "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo, "Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card and the Bhagvad Gita
on “Ask HN: What books do you want to read over again?” ↗Whiteness is a theme of The Godfather, particularly the book but also the movie.
on “During WWII, U.S. Saw Italian-Americans as a Threat to Homeland Security” ↗> That said, many will claim that The Godfather movie was better than the book -I never read the book, so I cannot offer an opinion. I think I tried, lo so many moons ago. And IIRC, I can confirm that yes, The Godfather is one of the few exceptions…
on “The metaverse is bullshit” ↗> One of the characters in the book is mostly based on the author himself Fun fact: Puzo had a serious gambling problem. He did most of his research for The Godfather while gambling in a Las Vegas casino (or several?) and interviewing the manager.
on “The Window Trick of Las Vegas Hotels” ↗…never lie, 2. date every piece of paper he writes anything on, for posterity. There's a neat 10 minute fragment of an interview with him on youtube [1], about the notebook he made prior to filming The Godfather. He took the paperback copy of the novel, which he'd annotated, cut the pages out and pasted them onto larger pieces of paper so he'd have more margin to annotate in, and put the whole product in a huge…
on “Interview: Francis Ford Coppola (2012)” ↗