The Godfather Returns: The Saga of the Family Corleone

one of the greatest gangsta novels ever written

without reading this book i would not understand any of the other charecters in the godfather it gave great insight into charecter that i loved from the films this book was so addicting i read it in one sitting and in one day but i can not wait till mark writes the next godfather novel i heard the next title of the 3rd book will be the godfathers revenge i praise you mark praise you for your talent as an author

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Horrible!!!

Fredo with a tv show? Michael telling kaye abiut his business? This is not the way Mario Puzo wrote these characters. Don't waste your money on this trash!

NOT RECOMMENDED! Thoroughly disappointed. Too many characters

NOT RECOMMENDED! Thoroughly disappointed. Too many characters to keep up with, and too many of their unimportant stories. NOT RECOMMENDED!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Godfather meets bozo the clown

there is absolutely no plot to this novel. If there is it is extremely confusing and non-existent to the average reader. Why after Mario Puzo's classics would any publisher print this dribble. The book is not even worth giving away

Godfather returns should have stayed away

The Godfather returns is a lame attempt to explain the missing years of Michael Corleone. The story is weak, confusing and character build up is non existent. The difference between The Godfather and the The Godfather Return is like night and day. This attempt to link what Mario began and finished and the years in between should have been left unsaid.

I do not recomment this book as a gift or even a book club selection. If possible borrow it from someone, don't waste your time or money. WEINGARDNER, PLEASE NO MORE ATTEMPTS AT EXTENDING A MASTERPIECE WITH A SO_SO MAFIA THRILLER

Same style as Puzo but a bit more intelligently written

Mario Puzo was no dummy by any stretch of the imagination, but his writing style was not exactly intellectual. He wrote "The Godfather" and all his other books in a style that spoke to "the common man" - he didn't use high-falutin' words, and none of his characters were sophisticated, urbane men about town. Those that on first glance appeared as that type of person proved to be either as phony as a three-dollar bill; or came from somewhat questionable backgrounds and worked very hard to conceal their true origins.

Mark Winegardner has copied Puzo's style to a T, yet has at the same time raised the level of that style to reach a wider audience. And with all that implies, he hasn't strayed from the descriptions, personalities, and emotions of the characters Puzo laid out so memorably in "The Godfather", and which Francis Ford Coppola brought to such vivid life in the first two "Godfather" movies.

With all that, however, I think that Winegardner has gone as far as anyone can go with filling out the untold history of the Corleones and their fellow-travelers. It was nice to visit with Michael and Tom and all the rest, but I think I'd like to let them rest in peace.

Solid Addition...

Bought this when it first came out, only got around to reading it recently. Really enjoyed it, filled in holes from the original and the movies. Not as good as the original classic (what could be?) but a very solid addition to The Godfather collection...

An Offer You Shouldn't Refuse!

Can anybody really get enough of the Corleones? If you are a true 'Godfather' fan (love the movies, love the book by Mario Puzo) you absolutely must read this book. This book makes the movies make more sense and picks up where Puzo's book left off. If you are a politics/history buff, you will enjoy the story as played out because there are characters that are obviously modeled after the Kennedys, and of course there is much ado about Cuba and the situation there in the early '60s. Buy this book, you won't regret it. Read this book and you'll love it.

Very Enjoyable Read

Fills in a lot of blank spots. Fleshes out certain characters in a very believable fashion. Winegardner did a superb job.

Major disappointment

Did you ever wonder what Dorothy and the Scarecrow chatted about as they walked along the Yellow Brick Road? That's what this novel is like. Mario Puzo's original novel moved (pun definitely intended) like a shot. In this novel, nothing happens. I mean absolutely nothing. It's just a bunch of mobsters sitting around talking about their feelings! What pointless drivel. 'The Godfather' was arguably the greatest gangster story ever written. Winegardner has turned it into chick lit. If Puzo's estate is planning any more sequels, please let someone else take a (here we go again) stab at it.

Just when I think I'm out...

Utterly disappointed by the book, for many reasons. Poor Fredo, as if he didn't have enough problems, now the author makes him gay... Other than the familiarity of the characters, the book brings nothing new to the table, and more often than not relies on actual historical events (the Shea brothers, Cuba, Castro) to fill in the background. An altogther lazy effort by the author, showing a lack of imagination with respect to the development of the plotlines laid out in the original novel and movies. Unless you're hopelessly addicted, not worth the money, time or effort required.

Readers miss the literary boat, hop on pulp scow...

First off, this novel is well written, which may stick in the craw of your average Puzo reader... Secondly, this is a novel--not a movie. If you are comparing the movie versions to the novel, then you really don't understand how things work in hollywood. I am always stunned by people who mix genre in reviews--are you totally deranged? How do you compare literature to the spit out drivel of the movie versions? Ultimately, this may be too much within a literary vein for most fans of Puzo--Mr. Winegardner's only mistake was to write at a higher level than most people can understand. This is a great filler for those lost years in Puzo's novels, and sets us up (hopefully) for some more great returns in future novels. Don't believe the grade school reviews out there--this is a fine novel that may have been poorly marketed by the press.

Continue the Saga

This is must reading for any fan of this series. You are not complete until you finish this part of the legend. I thought it fit seamlessly into the previous tales and brought you right back into the fascination of this clad and its members. It brought back the intrigue of the other books and renewed the reasons that these stories were so widely read and loved. I didn't want to care about this book, but it sweeps you into the lives you remember all to well. This family really has stayed with me over the years and it was great to have another view into the saga we grew up with.

Disaster

When I heard of the news that they would be making a sequel to the 'Godfather', I desperately wanted to read this book. After becoming a fan of Mario Puzo's masterpiece two years ago, I was sucked into the Family, the world, the Saga. Anything having to do with the Mafia interested me, even though I'm not Italian. I was eager to read 'The Godfather Returns', (which I got as a Christmas present) and after reading it on the toilet, boy I didn't know if it was me or the book that stunk. The novel was bad, the plot was bad, the characters he made up were even bad. It was slow, I read it over and over again and still didn't know what the hell Winegardener was trying to say. I even felt Tom Hagen drifting away from the story such as Johnny Fontane. And what is up with making Johnny Fontane becoming gay. Michael was different, everyone was different including the kids. It was a mess. The only message I got from this novel was 'I spit on your grave Puzo.' I'm sorry Mario Puzo that your saga had to end this way. Still, I gave Winegardener another star for his imagination.

Another Poor Attempt To Recapture Magic. Save Your Money

I eagerly started reading, 'The Godfather Returns' and was very disappointed. I read the first 100 pages and couldn't go on. He bounced around from one character scenario and storyline to another focusing on uninteresting characters and making once interesting characters uninteresting. Writing Fredo as a homosexual was not very original and seemed contrived. It felt like a pathetic ploy more than it was shocking. The author should have focused on Fredo¿s angst and anger of never being considered by his father to run the family after Sonny¿s death and what made him the dim witted brother. If he accomplished this after page 100, I will never know. In his descriptions it felt as if the author was forcing imagery on us that wasn¿t necessary. Why should I have cared that there was a picture of a clown on an old popcorn container in the parking lot of the drive-in? This is just one example. The author also over-used many clichés from the first two films. Michael repeats a couple times, ¿Kay, within five years the Corleone family will be legit¿ even though it had been said and many times before. I was waiting to read, 'I made him an offer he couldn't refuse'. Additionally, the dialog between Michael and Kay was hard to believe because it seemed so unnatural to his character. The author didn¿t seem to know the core reader of this novel. We know these people and have heard it before; now give us something new and exciting. The reason the original Godfather was such a great book and film was because it was as if the characters where using the author as their medium to tell their story without expectations or a deadline. The Godfather is my all time favorite film and I found this book, like the movie 'The Godfather III' another poor attempt to try to recapture the magic created with the original book and film. I just hope that they don't make a film of this book.

I wish it were me instead of Fredo......

Fredo was the lucky one! I'd wish Neri put a bullet in the back of my head, so long as it happened before I ever opened this book. Book, did I say book? That's an insult to books! This disappointing dribble went nowhere. The sad part is that there could have been so much to tell. Like a previous reviewer said, I just wish I could have my time back! Mark must be a graduate of P.U.

really, not that bad

i enjoyed reading 'the godfather returns'. the novel cannot, of course, live up to the original, but it offers an entertaining read and gives greater depth to characters and events in the original novel and films. a couple continuity errors bugged me, but the writing and dialogue is solid with a few exceptions. the plot structure is more contrived than the films, but winegardner does an excellent job at creating new enemies and new perils for the corleone family.

Even Fredo isn't this bad!

I am a Mario Puzo fanatic having read all of his great novels. When I saw this book on the shelves I couldn't resist buying it. After reading it I wished I had left it on the shelves. This is no where near anything that Puzo would have written. Overall it was a huge disappointment. What made it worse for me was getting another two copies as gifts from people who know that enjoy Mario Puzo's books. Puzo is probably putting a 'hit' out on this book from his grave becasue it's so bad. I feel like I got 'whacked' by reading it

What's with the 'one star' reviews?

Did some of these people read the same book I did? Does Mark have some jealous competion out there? Is another Family unhappy about his revelations? Sounds like a genuine mob-action conspiracy to me! This was a great book, I couldn't put it down. It has a large list of well-drawn characters, most are of the wise-guy hit-man stripe, but there are a number of women too: family members, molls, etc. The dialogue is just what you'd expect, it has a genuine tough-guy reality to it, not to mention the gory 'business-related' activities. The 'twist' at the end leaves the possibility of a sequel---Mark, please consider this! I'm expecting a movie as well.

Never write for someone else

I could not go beyond 50 pages.Mr Puzo was a writer of just one novel: The Godfather. The rest of his books were pretty poor, but this one, not being his, is the worst of them all.It was naive to think that it could have been good.