A book as hard to pick up as it is to put down. I started this book during the beginning of summer, so it’s been a while.

  The Godfather explores many complex topics from a unique and entertaining perspective. I found myself engrossed by the descriptions of industries, professions, and the psychology of certain persons of the book. When Puzo described something, it was in thorough fashion, taking many pages to outline the facets of the topic.

  In the afterword, Peter Bart, a journalist, producer, and former chief editor of Variety gave good insight on the reaction to the book and movie. I do believe that many, not just harsh critics, but fans alike, believed the book to be a glorification of the Mafia, or unlawful and criminal actions. Critics saw this a a fault of Puzo, while I think that many fans enjoyed the fresh perspective of a just family carving their path beyond the word of law.

  I choose to believe it is something more. Many seem to just miss the point. There is irony in the book, and it draws many parallels to the growth of corporate America. “It was about capitalism as much as it was about crime.”

  Something else that was interesting was the idea of Puzo’s necessity to write this book. Bart subtlely mentioned the idea of how Puzo wanted to wholeheartedly believe that his book was made to make money. That definitely was his intention at first, due to him being in debt and in desperate need of a hit. And yet, something about this might give hints into why it was so popular. If his past two books were critically acclaimed as well as better literary works according to Puzo, why did they not make any income?

  This theme comes up in the book as well. One of the reasons that the Godfather was so successful was because he was a desperate immigrant from Italy trying to establish himself in America. There is a reason that he did it while his sons could barely live up to him. Even Michael believed in a new life for the future generation, moving to Las Vegas, hoping that his children would become doctors or lawyers or even the president so that they could fit more into American society. There is this idea of how certain environmental factors, namely poverty or harsh conditions, form the drive to do something great.

  I think that this is all in accordance to the balance of nature. It can be applied to this situation of the Mafia. How Don Corleone started it and how Michael ended it. It can be applied to the ending of the book. At first people wondered why Mama Corleone was so devout in Catholicism, and by the end of the book, Kay Adams Corleone did the exact same thing. And in general, this can be applied to families. We all hear the story of the driven, young man doing something great, but what about their son? Or their son’s son? There is something about the environment you grow up in that gives rise to this behavior. One can be born into riches and fall into complacency. Can family wealth be kept forever, or will it eventually fall? Can families trancend this cyclical nature? Can you replicate the spectrum by exacting a harsh environment in which your children grow up in?

  A funny question and no right answers. Now was this part of the irony in the book, and what does it have to do with capitalism?