Reprise, perhaps.

There's so many topics and comments on the Board that I can't remember if something has been addressed before. Mi dispiace, but here's a couple that may have been:

When Tom goes to see Johnny and tells him about producing his own movies, he first tells him that he has no chance of winning the Academy Award. But a few paragraphs later he tells him that he almost certainly will win.

Why does Puzo never tell us Tessio's first name? He gives us Pete's. He gives us Sollozzo's, Barzini's, et al. Why not Tessio's?

Why would Clemenza ask Sonny if he wanted him to send some of his people over to his house after his father was shot when Sonny had his own regime?

Short answer: sloppy writing.


I don't have the book in front of me, but I remember that Tom told Johnny, "Your Godfather is much more powerful than you think." I guess he was trying to make the point that Vito could influence the Academy through his union connections.


Sloppy writing for sure. But perhaps he was subliminally telling us that Tess was a minor character compared with Clem, and a traitor-in-the-making?


Clemenza had to know that he was under suspicioun at that point because Vito's shooting happened on his watch, so to speak. He had to make that offer--if he hadn't, it would have amplified suspicion.

There's material early in the book that shows Tessio is not just a lesser character than Clemenza, but an outsider. There's no mention of Tessio at the wedding. When Sonny calls Tessio about the shooting, he tells Tessio that Mike is at college in New Hampshire -- Sonny would not have to tell Clemenza that. Tessio says something to Sonny like, "You know my boys, right?" again implying that they don't do business on a daily basis.

Actually, I believe there is a mention of Tessio at the wedding - there is a scene later in the book (right before he goes to travel with Michael and Tom to see Barzini) that he sees a young lady who happened to have danced with him (she was only 8 years old at the time) and she has fully matured as a beautiful woman.

However, I agree, Tessio is really more of the minor character than Clemenza.

?????????

Oh, that was a scene before: When Carlo travelled with Woltz and Sollozzo to see Moe Greene, he sees Appollonia as an ugly old lady, dancing with Barzini eight years before.

The novel explains that Vito kept Clemenza close to him, "on a short leash," while Tessio was given much more leeway. He kept the two apart, the better to prevent them from plotting against him. And it was to Vito's advantage for people to think that Tessio was an independent operator--the better to make them believe Vito wasn't as strong as he was.

At the time of Vito's shooting, Puzo describes Tessio as "the safety-valve caporegime [whatever that means] in Brooklyn."

It's been a while since I read the book (shame on me, I know - don't have me whacked), but I thought Sonny was basically considered Underboss - would that necessarily mean he would have his own crew, as the capos did?

Well, after the dons meeting, Vito tells Tom to take the men of Sonny's regime and distribute them among Tessio's and Clemenza's regimes.

So interesting. I like it personally and hope you'll bring us more amazing stuffs.

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I'm rereading the novel and I came across a few things that are curious.

Michale wakes up with Kay about 10PM and then sets out for the hospital. He discovers Vito alone, then with the nurse moves Vito to another room. He then takes up a position in front of the hospital when along comes Enzo to visit Vito. It had to be upwards of 11PM by then. Why would Enzo think that was a proper time to visit Vito? Then when the cops arrive, Vito takes off. Yet later Sonny (or Tom maybe) says that Enzo told them that he stuck with Mike when Sollozzo's hitment drove by. When would he have told them that?

Sloppy writing again, but to give Puzo his due: Maybe Enzo had ust gotten off work, dressed formally for the visit, and, being a foreigner, didn't know that US hospitals had visiting hours.
Did Enzo tell Sonny that he stuck around? Or did Sonny hear it, perhaps from Detective Phillips, who was with Mac at the scene and was on Sonny's payroll? Or did Michael tell Tom after he woke up from having his jaw wired?

Tom tells Mike that Enzo claims that he stuck around with Mike when Sollozzo's car went by. Who Enzo told that to, I can't fugure because it also says that when the cops came to the hospital, he fled. So I don't know how the cops or anyone else could have known or when Enzo would have had the opportunity to tell anyone.

Perhaps Enzo told Nazorine who passed it along to Hagen...?

In reading the novel again, I noticed some things.

Despite having been in the Army or at Dartmouth since just after Pearl Harbor, Mike knows that the "house seemed to be full of men he didn't know" which may be true enough, but what are we (and he) to expect? He's been gone almost 4 years. However, Puzo also had Michael acknowledge that those men guarding Vito's house "were not of Clemenza's people." How'd he figure that?

Michael elects to stay in his father's office with Sonny, Tessio, Tom, and Clemenza when Sonny tells him "You hang around me Mike, your gonna hear things you don't wanta hear." However, in chapter 9, Puzo has Mike complaining that he's being enmeshed in family business "against his will" and he resented Sonny using him to answer the phone.

Perhaps because Clemenza was closer to the Don and his family-both in terms of being more directly under the Don's supervision and being akin to an uncle to Michael, Fredo and Sonny (Clemenza was Sonny's godfather) , Clemenza would have been around the house much more while Michael was growing up. And presumably over the years Clemenza would have had his favorite associates/bodyguards/proteges who accompanied him on visits and who Michael would have recognized. Of course it could also just be Michael not realizing how the Family had grown during his time away..


The second part is just Michael not being sure what he wanted.

The novel states after the McCluskey murder, police ignored the political muscle that protected gambling and vice and started cracking down. However, it goes on to state that this lack of protection did not hurt the Corleones as much as it did their enemies since the Corleones were mostly into gambling. That doesn't seem to make sense since i nthe previous paragrapgh Puzo told us that it was political protection that enabled gambling. Just more sloppy writing?

I think it was likely a mistake on Puzo's part. I think what he was trying to convey was that financially the Corleones could weather the storm a little better than the other families.

If I remember correctly, Sonny or Tom said that local blacks were taking over the numbers business during the war and weren't paying off the winners. Sonny said, "Give their names to Clemenza--he'll handle it," or some such. Things began to loosen up after a while because, as Puzo wrote, cops and politicians still had mortgages to pay off and kids to put through college.

I always found this scene, both in the novel and the film, extremely odd! What would have possessed Enzo to visit the Don so late into the night!

Not to mention, Enzo goes to the precise room that Michael Hides Vito in!

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This is curious. The Corleones provided Lucy with an annuity because Sonny had made financial provisons for her. However, the Corleones had to make certain financial arrangments to provide for Sandra and her children because Sonny had not left an estate. Now think about that. Sonny provides financially for his mistress, but not for his wife and kids. Talk about lowlife.

Ummmmm.....Doesnt anyone remember?...... Salvatore Tessio was his name !?!??? "sorry, 'Salley'" Tom Hagen, when taking Sal to the carwhere he will go and meet his "death"....... Or am I just dreaming???

Salvatore Tessio......

You're talking about the film. Here we discuss the book. There it goes:

I still seem to remember Puzo mentioning Tessio's first name in the novel

Amazon.com has a cool feature that lets you search the full text of a lot of books. It doesn't look like Tessio is ever identified as Salvatore or Sal.

True M. I always thought that was curious considering, for instance, that Puzo identifies Jack Woltz.

I never knew that before. Thanks for a helpful tip, pete.

I've posted it before: Now and then pdf versions appear (and soon disappear) on the web. The trick to get them is to google a not so famous sentence from the book, such as: "Woltz had gotten the message about the possible labor strike" +pdf

Micahel has been in the Marines since late 1941 through early 1945 and then takes off for college. Yet:

When Mike arrives at Vito's house the night of Vito's shooting, the novel states that the house was full of men he didn't know.

He noticed several other men in the corners of the room, but he didn't recognize them. "They were not of Clemenza's people."

After McCluskey hit him, how is it that Mike recognized (of all people) Clemenza's lawyer who accompanied the private detectives hired to guard Vito at the hospital?

Why would Vito have to arrange Mike's discharge when Mike was suffering from a "disabling" wound?