I just finished the Godfather by Mario Puzo. The story itself was good but the writing was poor. It read like a supermarket novel.
It took me over a month to finish this book, mostly because every time I picked up the book to read, I wanted to put it back down again. Also, it didn't help that the weather was beautiful over the last few weeks and I wanted to be outside enjoying the spring weather.
I love the movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I must have watched it dozens of times already and as I am typing this review, I have a desire to watch it again.
The story of the movie and the book are very similar to each other. The book includes the back story of Vito Corleone; this was told in Godfather II. And the story of Johnny Fontiane, how he lost his voice and got it back; this story was cut from the film. The story itself was good but Puzo's writing is not-so-good. I really can't put my finger on why I didn't like the writing; I think it is because he told me instead of showed me through context and dialogue. Puzo would frequently write stuff like, "He was angry". There is nothing wrong with the sentence itself but shouldn't I get how the person feels from the context or dialogue. Also, the dialogue was flat. The richness of the dialogue in the movie was brought about by the actors and director of the movie; in the book, even though the lines were similar, everyone in the book essentially had the same voice, they all sounded alike and not in a good way.
Overall, I don't recommend this book--just stick to the movie. The story was good but the writing was not good (or at least it was that way for me). Not recommended. :(
