The+Godfather


 * __Show respect… Or not.__**

Mario Puzo 479 pp. New American Library. $7.99.
 * //The Godfather//**

**//The Godfather//** is a fictional, exciting, suspenseful tale of The Corleone family, a New York Mafia Family headed by Don Vito Corleone, an Italian immigrant from Sicily, the birthplace of the Mafia. The Mafia, an organization shrouded in crime and corruption, found a new haven in New York due to the many Italian Immigrants living there. In order to make a living in the Mafia-run neighborhoods, businesses must give respect, in the form of money, to one of the five Families. If they refuse to, they will be “convinced” by a made man. The book shows the inner workings of The Family, from the low-ranking //Soldado// to the crafty //Consigliere//, or counselor, head lawyer to The Family. Just what is the Mafia’s view on lawyers? "A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns." This of course goes along with corruption. If a family gets in a spot of trouble, all you have to do is get your //Consigliere// appeal to your favorite congressman and he can save you jail time. The book also delves into Sicilian traditions. The first we see of this is at Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding. Throughout the festivities, three men follow the Don with their eyes. They are waiting to see the Don in private hoping to ask him a favor, because no Sicilian man can refuse a favor on the day of his daughter’s wedding, and no Sicilian man turns down the chance to ask the godfather a favor. In return for the favor, what does the Don ask? As he told Amerigo Bonasera, a mortician who wanted revenge for the beating of his daughter, “Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do me a service in return.” Puzo is an incredibly gifted writer. Through the entire story you could be thinking that Puzo has been a gangster himself, yet Puzo claims he’s never even met one. He definitely gets the overall mood of New York City right, having grown up in Hell’s Kitchen himself. His writing style is very descriptive. If somebody gets their nose broken, he will go into detail about how their nose is now bent, and the side of their face is now caved in. His descriptive style is not always appreciated, because he does use it to go into lewd behavior, such as Sonny, cheating on his wife with his sister’s maid of honor. Puzo also explores certain elements of human nature, often using the extremes of the behavior. Sonny, 2nd in command to the Don, is an extremely volatile person. He explains that the only way to stop Sonny from hurting you, is to just go into a state of submission. All in all, **//The Godfather//** is a good read for anyone who enjoys tales of the Mafia underworld. It is a true coming of age story for Michael, and a tale of rising to the top for the entire Corleone family and Johnny Fontane.