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The Godfather
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Godfather: Book 1

The Godfather (1969) (edit title/settings)

by Mario Puzo (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

More than thirty years ago, a classic was born. A searing novel of the Mafia underworld, The Godfather introduced readers to the first family of American crime fiction — the Corleones — and became the definitive novel of the virile, violent subculture that remains steeped in intrigue, in... read more

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.”
  • “Life is so beautiful”
    Don Vito Corleone
  • “It was while this was going on that Michael was hit with what the Sicilians call "the thunderbolt."”
  • “We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by the men on high.”
    Don Vito Corleone
  • “I will reason with him...”
    Don Vito Corleone
  • “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”
  • “Never tell anybody outside the family what you're thinking again.”
    Don Corleone to Sonny
  • “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
    Clemenza to Rocco
  • “Keep your friends close and enemies closer”
  • “Revenge is a dish that tastes best when served cold.”
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Never get angry,” the Don had instructed. “Never make a threat. Reason with people.”
    Highlighted by 164 Kindle customers
  • “Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than government. It is almost the equal of family. Never forget that. If you had built up a wall of friendships you wouldn’t have to ask me to help.
    Highlighted by 146 Kindle customers
  • He had long ago learned that society imposes insults that must be borne, comforted by the knowledge that in this world there comes a time when the most humble of men, if he keeps his eyes open, can take his revenge on the most powerful. It was this knowledge that prevented the Don from losing the humility all his friends admired in him.
    Highlighted by 137 Kindle customers
  • Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.”
    Highlighted by 133 Kindle customers
  • “He’s a businessman,” the Don said blandly. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
    Highlighted by 108 Kindle customers
  • “A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”
    Highlighted by 103 Kindle customers
  • the Don’s precept that a friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults.
    Highlighted by 102 Kindle customers
  • But great men are not born great, they grow great, and so it was with Vito Corleone.
    Highlighted by 97 Kindle customers
  • The Don considered a use of threats the most foolish kind of exposure; the unleashing of anger without forethought as the most dangerous indulgence. No one had ever heard the Don utter a naked threat, no one had ever seen him in an uncontrollable rage. It was unthinkable. And so he tried to teach Sonny his own disciplines. He claimed that there was no greater natural advantage in life than having an enemy overestimate your faults, unless it was to have a friend underestimate your virtues.
    Highlighted by 94 Kindle customers
  • You let women dictate your actions and they are not competent in this world, though certainly they will be saints in heaven while we men burn in hell.
    Highlighted by 79 Kindle customers
Show all 20 quotes from this book

Organizations edit see section history

  • Mafia: A secret Italian criminal society that emerged in mid 19th century and later spread to the US.

First Sentence edit see section history

AMERIGO BONASERA sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Godfather

Glossary edit see section history

  • Consigliere: Counselor, adviser to the Corleone family.
  • Caporegime: High-ranking member of a crime family.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 4 in Godfather. (standard series)

Followed by The Sicilian.

This is book 123 of 194 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 145 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (December 2011). (authoritative list)
This is book 102 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2010). (authoritative list)
This is book 135 of 195 in Shelfari Most Popular (June 2011). (authoritative list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This book is in The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. (community list)
This is book 2 of 10 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels In 1969. (authoritative list)
This is book 213 of 213 in Best English-Language Fiction of the 20th Century. (authoritative list)
This is book 15 of 100 in Top 100 Mysteries of All Time (Mystery Writers of America, 1995). (authoritative list)
This is book 518 of 1286 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)
This is book 91 of 200 in BBC 'Big Read' Top 200 Novels, 2003. (authoritative list)
This is book 91 of 82 in BBC "Big Read" Top 100 Novels. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Mario Puzo (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. S. Neil Fujita (Designer) - cover design
  2. Grover Gardner (Narrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
Country: United States
Publication Date: March 10, 1969
ISBN: 9780099465164
Page Count: 446

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3566.U9 1969
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

This book just isn't for kids. If it were to have a rating like movies it would be R. It contains realistic portrayls of Mafia realted business, mafia hits (Murders) and other violent acts.

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Sicilian
  • The Godfather Returns
  • The Godfather's Revenge
  • Omerta
  • The Last Don

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