The Godfather | Mario Puzo

This episode of Books for Men features The Godfather by Mario Puzo. An epic novel about a 1940s Italian crime family spearheaded by Vito Corleone. It documents the succession of the family business to his son Michael. It's an examination of power, influence, honor, family, and “making it” as an immigrant. Listen for more!

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Welcome back, the Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I am sharing an absolute classic, and it's a pretty tall task for me actually, because what could possibly be said about this story that hasn't already been said, but I will try my best. And so that book is The Godfather by Mario Puzo. And the reason why I wanted to share it with you was I feel like the popularity of the movie, and for good reason, because it's as one of the greatest, if not the greatest movie of all time by many film critics, so the fact that the book has kind of taken second fiddle to the movie is not really a knock on the book at all. But with that being said, I think it's still interesting that it has, especially considering that it sold, I think something like 9 million copies in two years, which is insane. So, it was massively, massively popular. And I think that that's a true testament to the story.

(01:14)

Yes, when you're talking about cinema, there is a lot that goes into the storytelling experience that isn't the written word, and that's a major, major difference between film and novels, right? I actually just heard Dennis Lehane talk about this on a podcast, where he basically said in short words that writing a novel is significantly harder than writing a screenplay. And that's not a slight on screenwriters, it's just a completely different medium. He's got extensive experience in both, obviously. And the reason why he says that is because when you're writing a novel, you're writing it to be consumed. So every word is extremely important, whereas when you're writing a screenplay, it's a blueprint to a much larger thing that's going to be worked on by, I don't know, 200 people or something to make that movie actually become a reality.

(02:17)

And so it's just a much different thing. One's an individual pursuit or mostly an individual pursuit, while the other is a collective pursuit mostly. Now, again, obviously, I don't want to make it seem like novels. There's only one person that touches 'em because there are editors and all different kinds of people who work with the author, but you get the point. And so I don't want to get too far off the beaten path here, pulling it back to The Godfather. This book does some pretty unique stuff for a crime novel, especially at that time. The thing that really made this movie so great was the story, and that's not always the case because there are so many other elements that are at play. Now, I'm not shortchanging Marlon Brando's iconic performance or Al Pacino's iconic performance, Francis Ford Coppola, or any of the people who were involved in creating this great movie because they were undoubtedly, undoubtedly not just amazing, but needed to create the greatest movie perhaps of all time.

(03:24)

With that being said, the core of the movie is the story. Without that, obviously, it should be clear that this does not happen, which is perhaps why Mario Puzo was so integral in writing the screenplay with Francis Ford Coppola because of his intimate knowledge of the actual story itself. I think you could really tell if you read the book and watch the movie that the actual essence of the story is there in both. That's not always the case. When you read a book and watch a movie, they sometimes diverge to put something on a screen. It has to be dramatized in a way that a novel doesn't have to be. And in doing that, you could actually lose the essence of the story that was represented in the novel and have a completely different interpretation on the screen. Again, I don't feel that that's the case with The Godfather, and I do think that they are so tightly linked together, and that is perhaps one of the strengths.

(04:30)

So you've heard me say the word story a bunch already in this episode, so it's probably a good time to tell you what the book is about. To me, the most important aspect of this book is the arc of the Godfather's son, Michael. This book follows the Corleone family, which is a crime family in New York. Vito Corleone is the Godfather, the head of the family, but he's much more than that. He's this looming, large figure in society that has worked his way up from street peasant immigrant who came over from Italy to this revered, respected, and probably feared figure. So his power and influence reach the political world, the entertainment world, and you get all of that in the novel. But the real story here is the arc of Michael because this book takes you from Vito being in power to the succession of the family business into the unsuspecting eventual don of the family, Michael Corleone.

(05:44)

And his journey is really, really powerful. At first, he is shown to be somebody who doesn't really want anything to do with the family business. He has a lot of respect for his father, and he loves his father, but I don't want to say trying to live the straightened arrow, but he's a respected war veteran who just came home and he's dating this woman who is straight lace, not inside of organized crime at all, or familiarized with that. So he's sort of trying to keep her hidden from it, and he's just this really unsuspecting, shy, calm individual. And his journey going from not being involved to then being the head of the family is a really fun journey to watch because you see this individual just get broken down, little bit by little bit, and pulled into the family business, and you could tell that he wants to look out for his family and be there for his family.

(06:55)

And even though he knows that there are things that maybe he doesn't agree with, he feels this commitment to do. And this is a really compelling thing, mainly because I think we could all relate to this on some level—it's very human. Although I've kind of built up Michael's story, Vito's story is powerful in itself. I mean, the book is called The Godfather for a Reason, and it really examines power and influence in what it means to make it as an immigrant. And again, I think that this is a very human journey that millions and millions of people could relate to, and potentially why this story resonated with so many people. And when you combine the familial component and just the fun, fun reading experience or watching experience for that matter, mostly because of all of the great lines and life lessons that you learn in this movie, I often think that it teaches you what Nassim Taleb, someone who we've shared on this podcast before would call Fat Tony philosophy, which is street-sense that survives in reality but is often disregarded in theory.

(08:14)

Things that are just common sense that get passed down from generation to generation about how to act in this world or how you should act in this world. And you don't have to agree with all of these lessons, but when you look at them coming from the shoes of say, Vito Corleone, someone who's got a feeling of being slighted and marginalized and not given a fair shake and coming from the underdog perspective, you could really see why he thinks what he thinks. And again, I think that there are a lot of people that probably can relate to that feeling justly or unjustly. I don't really think it matters for it to actually have an impact on you. Now, one other thing that I just wanted to make mention of and I thought was really cool and unique for this book is that it utilizes a third-person omnipresent approach to narration.

(09:12)

So for those of you who don't know, that means it's an all-knowing narrator, almost like a God figure who can explain everything that's happening. And this sometimes is hard to do because you're head-hopping, and it could be confusing for the reader, but when it's done well, it really gives a unique quality to the book, especially in crime fiction where it's not done too often, or at least I haven't seen it done too often. So this is a really good example of that narration technique inside of crime fiction. It's something that you're more likely to see in science fiction or fantasy where there's a lot of world-building that is needed. With that being said, because it's utilized in this book, I think that the author uses clarity in a very, very powerful way as opposed to, let's say, mystery. So most crime fiction leverages mystery, whereas this book really provides you clarity of intentions, clarity of actions, and what things mean almost as if you're being let into this secret world of organized crime.

(10:23)

So, all the lingo and the intentionality behind the characters, all you know all that as it's all happening. There's not a lot of mystery aside from the fact of, well, what's going to happen next on a plot level? And that's really powerful in its own right. And again, it's not something that you see a lot inside crime fiction where you get a lot more mystery or ambiguity than you do clarity. Not to say that you don't get clarity, but this book utilizes it in a much different way. And on that note, I think that this is probably a good point to wrap it up. But before I do, I thought I would read to you an excerpt that I think will really tie a bow on some of the dynamics that I was alluding to earlier. Michael is talking in this excerpt, you've got the wrong idea of my father and the Corleone family.

(11:17)

“I'll make a final explanation, and this one will be really final. My father is a businessman trying to provide for his wife and children and those friends he might need someday in times of trouble. He doesn't accept the rules of the society we live in because those rules would've condemned him to a life not suitable for a man like himself, a man of extraordinary force in character. What you have to understand is that he considers himself equal to all those great men like Presidents and prime ministers and Supreme Court Justices and Governors of States. He refuses to live by rules set up by others rules, which condemns him to a defeated life. But his ultimate aim is to enter that society with a certain power since society doesn't really protect its members who do not have their own individual power. In the meantime, he operates on a code of ethics he considers far superior to the legal structures of society.”

(12:15)

Now, I'm not saying it's right, but that is a chilling account of who Vito Corleone is from the eyes of his son Michael. And perhaps it is why the anti-hero following this book and movie became so popular in storytelling, really. But I'm not going to get into all that right now. That is another topic for another day. This episode is finito. It is a wrap. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you did, I want to remind you to please share it with friends, family members, and other people who you think might enjoy it. Word of mouth is everything to spreading awareness. And with this podcast specifically, it's inspiring more men to read and bringing together men who do. If you're a regular listener, I am not going to let you get away without doubling down on that support and rating, reviewing, liking, following, subscribing, and all that good stuff on whatever platform you're listening to this on. It only takes two seconds, so please go do that because it will truly help more people find the show. And lastly, for more information, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you can also sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of all the episodes with full book and author information links, all the best quotes from each book, as well as newsletter only book recommendations. If you want to sign up for that, again, you could visit BooksforMen.org.