I think only reading the book, you can understand the story better.There are so many things that aren't descripted in the movie.

What do you think?

Understanding the Gf story from the book. single choice
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Welcome, Brando88.

To a certain extent you are right.

One example that comes to mind is Sonny's comment to Tom about his qualifications as a consigliere ("Pop had Genco....look what I got").

Without reading the book, you would have no idea who Genco was.

What you have to remember though, is that the book was a gigantic bestseller when it was first published, and I'd guess that nearly everyone who saw the film originally had already read the book.

Today, of course, more than 35 years later, that is not the case.

Excellent point.

I'd say my interested in The Godfather intensified during the mid-90's...without ever having read the book. This is a credit to FFC's skills, that he was able to make such a
fine film that it could be enjoyed and for the most part understood without the more detailed background provided in the novel.

No, I didn't know ANYTHING about Genco when I first heard Sonny utter that line. But, it was apparent from the conversation between Tom & Sonny that Genco was obviously the former consiglieri of Don Vito Corleone. And the omittance of that detail did not deter from the overall story one single bit.

Apple

I think the book gave a great deal of detail that had to be missing to make a viable movie, sometimes the book gave too much detail. My husband is reading it now, and he couldn't believe how much there was about Johnny Fontane.

However, the one thing that I did like about the book is the background on Tom Hagen. I loved Tom's story and it goes a long way toward explaining his unswerving loyalty to the Corleone's.

Of Corse! Nobody has to see just the 3 movies, everybody should read the book, the books I mean, we could keep in mind reading the Sicilian, the story tells about Michael`s return from Sicily. So Neither The Godfather novel nor the movie explain how MIchael came back to America. Pete Clemenza is the one in charge to take Michael alive from Sicily.
Reading all the books which link with the movie you get a better understanding.

Agreed, we are.
If somebody tells me that they tought GF1 was a little bit boring I always tell them to read the book and then watch the movie over again.
If you`ve read the book first you understand the movie much better.
For me it`s very important to know what everybody is thinking all the time during the movie.
That`s exactly what you learn from the book.
I only wish there`s was books written to all three movies.

Welcome to the boards!

I definitely agree with you. In fact, when I first watched the movies, I didn't understand them at all. I was somewhat pissed off, because I wanted to understand it, but I couldn't.

I couldn't find my dad's copy of the novel until one night when I was typing a letter to the editor of our town's newspaper. I had to get something from our storage/junk room. I found a box, and inside sat The Godfather and The Sicilian. I started reading the first one, and I didn't stop until I was finished. In fact, I did a book report about it for school. I made a "Corleone Family Tree". Our presentations were supposed to take 5 minutes; mine took 10. It was an early dismissal day, so we only had 20 minutes that period. My teacher was a little irritated, but oh well. Loved the story, and Puzo deserves a little more credit than five minutes.

Luckily, I discovered The Godfather in a book store. I'm glad I read the novel first, really eased me into the film.

I never thought of that before you WOULD never know who Genco was if you hadn't read the book....Thats kind of strange that Puzo and FFC wouldn't want to add that part into the movie or even have Genco's character have a main part in GF I before his death



Joe Batters