Post #9

The interesting thing I have noticed from reading The Godfather by Mario Puzo is the characters. This pretty much makes up the entire book; it is all about characters, entire chapters devoted to them, and different sections focusing on a range of characters. The description of them and their characteristics is what makes up the book. From someone as important as the Godfather himself, or a minor character that hardly enhances the plot, there are full out descriptions of all of the characters in this novel.

This is a major difference between the movie and the novel, in the novel there are a lot more side stories and side plots going into details of supporting characters. Whereas in the movie that has a time limit, not as many characters can be introduced to have such an influence on the plot. With that being said another major difference is the main character itself. In the movie it is clear that the third son in the Corleone family is the main character and it follows his life mainly. In the book, there doesn’t seem to be a main character, like I said it jumps around from person to person throughout the book. It is told through a third person limited narrator so you get to know about the characters, who they are, were, and what they are thinking. Vito Corleone or “The Godfather” I would say is more of a main character then the other characters in the book but like I said there is not a distinct one. This book makes you really appreciate the characters and the family. Even the movie does a great job with characters and I would recommend seeing the movie first, to understand the plot and to visualize the characters and setting because it is so well done. Then going back and reading the novel to get more of an understanding of each character. Then re watching the movie with all the new details you learned from the book. (The route I am taking!)