i finished the book last night, surprised to finish it in seven days! i love it! i love trying new authors' literature and puzo's, although a little simple compared to my usual readings, is surpisingly (in a pleasant way!) great. i love the way he explains what events have happened in the duration of michael being away and coming back--without making these explanations too long or too short. the ending is a nice way of wrapping up the story.

i was glad to find that FFC decided to put some extra scenes in the movie which WERENT the book such as vito's killing of don chicci at the corleone villa.

the book has vastly broadened my mind on the backgrounds of the characters such as neri, brasi etc. i think th novel could have done without the chapters with jules segal--i always thought he was up to something and only interested in making money fo himself--but it turned out that he was guilty of nothing, which i was a little disappinted by as i didnt like him much and would have preferred him to get whacked!! lol! also, mario, was it really neccessary to go into detail on lucy's operation? lol!

so, my rating: 8.5 out of 10.
by no means a masterpiece in terms of literature, but the plot is flawless and the character depth is much appreciated. (hagen was probably my favourite charcter in the book)

thanks to everyone who recommended it! much appreciated. all i want now (after reading red rabbitt) is to read another puzo novel. no need for any input on this, i'll just take a look at my thread i posted a while back.

mick

PS. MC 14, where are you up to? are you finished it yet? did u like it? let me know what your thoughts on it are.