The Family Corleone

I think the author did a fine job stitching together the period between where the Godfather 2 leaves us in the flashback years segment to where the Godfather 1 begins. I appreciated his attention to detail with somewhat trivial elements in regard to such things as radio programs playing in the background and roads being traveled in that era, it shows to me that he makes the effort to research even small things to get his story as accurate as possible. To be fair I thought some portions of the story were a bit over-emphasized such as Sonny's relationships with is mistress and with his fiancée to be, but that certainly took nothing away from the Corleone Family story line, which I found to be excellent at giving the reader insight as to how things came to be. Falco paints a picture for us of how every character evolved to become who we see them as in the Godfather 1. Vito, Tessio, Clemenza, Tom, Sonny, the heads of the other families.... even Solazzo makes an appearance. I thought some of the other reviews were unfair in calling out this author as no Puzo. Falco is just telling the reader a story. A story of how he sees it: And he succeeds in getting that story told in a clear fashion. Of course he is no Puzo. It's so difficult to be Puzo, even Puzo couldn't be Puzo for the Godfather 3.

An interesting story, and a must read for die hard fans of "The Godfather" saga. Hats off to the Mr. Falco for standing in for Mr. Puzzo...I though he did a first class job. Tough shoes to fill, especially carrying forward with established characters (you keep seeing their faces from the movies), and knowing where the story is going before it starts. The main characters who get the most print time throughout the book are Vito Corleone, Sonny, Pete Clemenza and Luca Brasi...followed by the "bad guys" and their Irish surrogates. Connie, Michael and Fredo are kids, and Tom Hagen is in college, so they appear infrequently. There is also a helpful glossary with several dozen Italian slang words and phrases, which appear italicized throught the story...all brought back old memories of the NY neighborhood, where I grew up in the 50's. The tale is in two parts, beginning in the early 30's prior to repeal of prohibition (1933). The Corleone's (younger, smaller, but smarter of the 5 families) are growing and managing their buisness, Sonny (17 yrs old) is chomping at the bit to get involved, there are family stories and get togethers, we meet Genco Abbandando (Vito's consigliere), the land for the compound in LI has been purchased, business is good, things are looking up. Lurking in the background is Giuseppe Mariposa (wanna be boss of all)and his cronies, the brothers Barzini et. al., and the irish gangs. Part two starts in 1934, prohibition has ended, and the Corleone's competitors are feeling it...well, we all know how the Corelone's handle adversity, it's just a question of how and when....I even though I heard the organ music in the background! At the end Vito (as he has been referred to throughout the book), becomes Don Corleone the "Godfather". A real made for the movies blow out, which "The Corleone Family" will surely be...hope they cast it with all unknown actors, similar to the way HBO casts their series. The most interesting part of the book is the story of Luca Brasi, not to be missed. Interestingly, there is no background on Clemenza, Tessio or Genco. Further, Sollozzo appears at the end of the story for no reason other than introduce himself to Sonny. These last two things lead me to believe there will be another book (probably a movie too) covering these background stories, and the tweny years in between 'Family' and 'Godfather'. Basically a good read, although I was suprised by an error that Mr. Puzzo would have never made. On page 333 the author refers to Genco (Vito's consigliere or counselor), as Vito's caporegime, a made member with soldiers under command, like Clemenza or Tessio.

This book is presented so well you can almost envision a movie of it in your head. Narrator has extremely good grasp of different accents, and does Don Corleone and Frankie Pangelli exactly like they sounded in the movie "Godfather" You'd think Brando was there, reading his part! The most valuable part of the book is that it explains the backgrounds of Tom Hagen, Luca Brazzi, Michael, and Vito. Sonny's escapades lead to understanding about his later demise, as do the Michael scenes. It is well presented, and covers the era 15 years before the opening of Godfather itself. It ends with a wedding, just as the Godfather starts with one, with the same casts of characters filling the scenes. It also explains a bit from the movie/book "Godfather' that says, "every ten years or so we have to got to war". There is a war before, in the 30's, and the Don's ways are used to benefit him and set up the later book. Johnny Fontaine is in here, as is Clemenza, Tessio, Tattaglia, & Barzini and others we all enjoyed in the movie. Luca in this book is described as huge, tall, wide. In "Godfather" he is depicted as short, wide, more a sparkplug look, and has 'lips that look like veal', but in this he apparently looks like the "Frankenstein" character popular in that period's movies. The mechanications of the mob, and of management, which is what this really is, are well told. There were a couple reviews I read that weren't crazy about the book, but I cannot understand what they may have been expecting. This is well-done, well-told, has suspense, love, drama, evil, and provides such a background to everyone that it makes the original book understandable as to where these people came from. We never knew the shocking facts of how Tom Hagan became an orphan, nor of the doubts and conflicts Santino and his father had, nor the fact that Michael always had his nose in a book when he was 12-15 years old. Fredo is depicted with about the same qualities he later had as a man: weak, needing respect, getting none, a bit desperate. I could go on, but I recommend a person with interest go ahead on this, and get it. I am a Godfather Fan, and have also gotten "Godfather Returns" and "Godfather's Revenge." These books all fill in the gaps that the movies tried to cover, and they are all well-done. WOG

The best book .. and the best prequel to The Godfather.

Igual às fotos, entrega muito rápida.

I love this book! You're able to visualize every moment! Its a peefect homage piece to the Mario Puzo classic and gives a grand backstory full of twists and turns. Not only is it a strong backstory but it additionally answers questions you probably wouldn't of asked prior. Ed Falco did an excellent job with this book. It introduces characters known and unknown and we see the starting days of Sonny Corleone. Which ironically have an allignment with those of Vincent Mancini. Read it. Should be a movie. Where's Francis?!

Wenn ich mich noch richtig erinnere, dann beginnt "Der Pate" einige Zeit nach dem 2. Weltkrieg. Geschildert werden dort die Geschäfte der Ersten Mafia Familie Corleone. Das Buch war mit Recht ein Bestseller. In "Family Corleone" wird die Entstehung dieser Family und der Weg hin zur "First Familiy" geschildert. Überraschende oder gar neue Erkenntnisse können dabei allerdings nicht gewonnen werden. Das Interessanteste steht auf letzten Seite des Buches, nämlich das Copyright. Das gehört nicht dem Schriftsteller, sondern dem "The Estate of Mario Puzo", also den Erben des verstorbenen Autors des "Original" Paten. Offensichtlich geht es bei dem Buch dann auch im Wesentlichen darum, das Familienerbe weiter zu mehren.

私は時折同じ内容の英語版とフランス語版を比べて熟読する。モントリオールでフランス語の訳本を買って一応読んだのだが、この度この英語原書と比べて熟読玩味した。物凄く時間がかかったが非常に興味深かった。Godfatherは三回位読んだし、関連する”The Siciliians", "The Last Don"など、すでに読んでいるので、同じ登場人物が書いてあるので本当に楽しい。Don Corleoneや長男Sonyや Michael, Fredなどの子供時代、その他関連する人々が詳しく書いてあるので、すごく楽しい。Don Corleoneは自分は仕方がないけど、子供達だけはギャングスターではなく地道に安定した社会人に育てたいという必死な願望とは反対に、皮肉なことにSony, Michael,などすべてMafiaの世界の中に入っていってしまうのだ。面白いがこれはギャング同士が権力をを争う殺し合いの犯罪物語だから、愛着を感じる人々が殺されたり、死んでゆくのは本当にやりきれないが、これはフイクションだと思った。あまり時間がかかったので読み終わった時はほっとしたがこれでこの本とひとまずお別れだと思うと淋しい気もした。 長男 c ai