Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

El Padrino by Mario Puzo

37 reviews

craftyfairy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

So many thoughts about this one ranging from critique of prose style, character work, plot arcs, and just general social commentary... suffice to say, the book is by far worse than the movie. And I haven't even seen the movie. 
The prose is pulpy at best. Very typical of books in this time I feel, but I don't think that's an excuse. Surely not an excuse for making the book as long as it was. Took me the same amount of time to read this as any graham Greene book from the same time, and I know Mr Greene wouldn't be caught dead describing olive oil as "olive-colored oil".
Characters were unlovable but also not very fascinating. I wanted the book to be about our main character Don Vito Corleone, and yet it took a couple hundred pages to even hear a bit of backstory. When
don corelone was incapacitated and unable to take charge
the other characters were making decisions and it was about
how they would take revenge/solve this conflict
and yet I just didn't care about the other characters or why they did what they did. Boring.
The author has a terrible habit of jumping forward to an upsetting or surprising event, then working backwards to show how it happened. Sometimes he wouldn't even show what happened, just intimating that something bad HAD happened. Very soap opera esque, and also tiresome. I found myself wishing he would just tell the story plainly without trying so hard. Ending was shit, although I could see that coming.
the end is hyped for multiple chapters - oh what will happen?? What will michael do?? Kill people, obviously. How stupid. Who will he kill? Ah perhaps the people who wronger him.

Of course, as to be expected, the author has written this book to include a substantial amount of bigotry of all kinds, across gender and sex, race, religion, and even to gingers. Is this a reflection of how mafiosos would genuinely feel and behave at this time period? Maybe, but in some spots the bigotry seems so vivid and gratuitous, it is as if the author revels in it. Particularly, Puzo spends a lot of time describing domestic violence against women, body/sex shaming of women, assault of women, and any degrading descriptions of sex worker women imaginable. In one memorable scene, Puzo describes a labiaplasty of a girl who is unwanted by most men because she has what is clinically described by the doctor character as "having a big box". Her surgery story is told exclusively from his perspective as he is her boyfriend and crafts the perfect experience for himself with her body. And what does this all have to do with Mafia????? These are acquaintances of side characters for God sake. 
I don't know how to conclude this review but I fear I have already written more than it deserves.


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jpolito's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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syrah78's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I had a shorter time frame to read this than I would have liked and I have already seen the movie which didn't help because I knew everything that was going to happen. I didn't always appreciate the amount of detail that went into each character, but it was nice in terms of their lack of appearance in the movie. I didn't love the book by any means, it was very anti-women and quite racist. However, for a piece of it's time after reading the afterward, I can see why it is so famous. It is a society within our society and while it is fiction it partly comes from truth and could potentially truly happen. I feel like it gives the reader a lot to think about especially in terms of ethics. The great Don was like a more criminal robin hood. I really enjoyed the ending of this book. I think that it truly shows how the Don may have control over almost anything except one of the most sacred things - his soul - which it is questionable if it is still redeemable.

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greenan26's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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shadannn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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somebodys_fool's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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jennaweston's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I have never seen The Godfather, so when I found out it was book, I was intrigued. I had no idea what to expect, but I ended up liking this book way more than I thought. 

What I Liked 
  • Loved the pace of this book. Right as you think we’re getting too comfortable, something crazy happens.
  • the characters were all really interesting and had faults of their own. Right as you thought someone was good, they turned and did something awful. 
    • you wanted to root for them but also were disappointed in them
  • Each character got their moment, their backstory, which made the story much more in-depth and interesting.

What I didn’t like
  • the women in this book are very sexualized and everything is tied around how the men in the family can satisfy them sexually. 
    • Johnny was a real piece of shit — getting mad at his wife for the divorce
    • Kay is an interesting character
  • It was an older book, but the racist outlook on people of color isn’t great


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meilanon's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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hijodelsol14's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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soliasz's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Strangely, I found this book slightly dissapointing. While I enjoyed the main plot, I found myself confused at the uneeded sideplots and  details. Why include a side-plot  centering around the size of a characters genitals? Why detail a surgery about it? Why emphasize it so much? 

Sometimes I feel that the author did not bother with the idea of killing your darlings, and chose to include so much unnecessary content that muddied the story. 

But, I do admire Puzo's prose, simple, yet descriptive and captivating. I also have to give it another inch because of the fantastic and revered movie that sprang from it. The movie is great, but the book? Slightly underwhelming and dissapointing. I believe this is one of the very few cases that the movie is better then the book. If you're a fan of the series, perhaps you would get something out of it, but otherwise, you'd be better off watching, or rewatching the movie.

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