This is a little off topic, but since someone mentioned Puzo's sloppy writing, at what age did we decide that Vito died?
I don't know that we (if you mean the folks on these boards) ever reached a consensus, but Vito's age at death was discussed several times. If I'm summarizing correctly:
--The novel never states Vito's year of birth or death.
--In Vito's funeral scene, we get a glimpse of his tombstone (and Lebo reproduces a still of it in his book). His dates are April 1887 - June 1955, which made him 68 at death. That seems logical,
BUT:
--The flashback scene in GFII says that Vito's birthday falls on December 7, and Geoff's timeline (http://thegodfathertrilogy.com/timeline.txt) puts his year of birth for the December 7 date at 1891 not 1887.
--A further complication: In a deleted scene from GFII, Clemenza introduces the young Hyman Roth to the young Vito just after Sr. Roberto makes his hasty retreat. Vito looks to be about 30 and Roth seems to be about 18. But at Roth's birthday party in Havana, the icing on his "Cuba" cake congratulates him on his 67th birthday. Since the scene is set in late 1958, it'd mean that Roth was born in 1891, which would make him either the same age as Vito or just four years younger--not at all consistent with the Vito and Roth portrayed in that deleted scene.
