The Godfather Returns by Mark Winegardner
Personally speaking, I consider The Godfather is one of the greatest literary works of all times. A perfect mix of impressive storyline, philosophy, psychology and unforgettable characters. Hence, The Godfather Returns the sequel to The Godfather became a must read for someone like me. So the foremost question is whether Mark Winegardner will be able to do justice to Mario Puzo’s masterpiece?
The Godfather Returns picks up from the same day on which The Godfather ends, starting with execution of Carlo Rizzi and Tessio with Michael Corleone taking over the reins of Corleone family as Don Corleone. The story starts from 1955 and stretches upto 1962. This time period also includes the movie,Godfather II, which covers the year from 1958-59.
I won’t be discussing the story of the book to avoid spoiling the book for those who shall be reading it. Instead, I shall touch only the positives and the negatives of the book.
The biggest positive of the book is that once again we get to see Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen. Michael Corleone as The Godfather is different from Vito Corleone i.e. he isn’t shown as a copy of Vito but there are some vital differences because of his upbringing. That's too say, he is less Sicilian than Vito.There is a chapter on Michael’s young life similar to Vito's in The Godfather in which we see Michael struggling to avoid becoming a member of family business and leaves home to join the Marines instead. Unfortunately, these are the only few positives.
The Godfather Returns has got a plethora of characters - The children of Sonny, Tom, Connie, Michael etc, the various crime families in America, a couple of crime families from Sicily etc. After midway, the story starts to get tangled up. Another flaw is that too much print space is given to Johnny Fontane and his exploits in Hollywood. At the end, the story brings in CIA, political assassinations etc and becomes a bit too fantastic. Despite these negatives, The Godfather Returns is a good read but a warning – Do not compare it to The Godfather and there will be no disappointment.
The Godfather Returns picks up from the same day on which The Godfather ends, starting with execution of Carlo Rizzi and Tessio with Michael Corleone taking over the reins of Corleone family as Don Corleone. The story starts from 1955 and stretches upto 1962. This time period also includes the movie,Godfather II, which covers the year from 1958-59.
I won’t be discussing the story of the book to avoid spoiling the book for those who shall be reading it. Instead, I shall touch only the positives and the negatives of the book.
The biggest positive of the book is that once again we get to see Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen. Michael Corleone as The Godfather is different from Vito Corleone i.e. he isn’t shown as a copy of Vito but there are some vital differences because of his upbringing. That's too say, he is less Sicilian than Vito.There is a chapter on Michael’s young life similar to Vito's in The Godfather in which we see Michael struggling to avoid becoming a member of family business and leaves home to join the Marines instead. Unfortunately, these are the only few positives.
The Godfather Returns has got a plethora of characters - The children of Sonny, Tom, Connie, Michael etc, the various crime families in America, a couple of crime families from Sicily etc. After midway, the story starts to get tangled up. Another flaw is that too much print space is given to Johnny Fontane and his exploits in Hollywood. At the end, the story brings in CIA, political assassinations etc and becomes a bit too fantastic. Despite these negatives, The Godfather Returns is a good read but a warning – Do not compare it to The Godfather and there will be no disappointment.
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