The Godfather
Mario PuzoYilin Press2007
Rating 4.5- Series
- The Godfather Trilogy
- ISBN
- 9787544701334
Tags
Literature Foreign Literature American SocietyComplex RelationshipsFamily BusinessLoyalty and BetrayalCharacter and FateFirst PublicationAcademy AwardImmigrant AmericaAmerican FictionSummary
The Godfather is a novel by the American author Mario Puzo, first published in 1969. Set against the backdrop of New York's five Mafia families, the story centers on Vito Corleone and his family. Vito emigrated from Sicily to the United States, and through tough measures, personal favors, and cautious judgment, he built a position of respect in New York's underworld. He adheres to a distinctive code of honor: anyone who treats him as a friend and comes to him sincerely for help will receive his best efforts; but betrayal and deceit will never be forgiven. The novel begins with a family wedding and unfolds along several threads at once: the family business's complex relationships with politicians, the police, and unions; the disagreements and conflicts caused by other families' push into the drug trade; and the differing temperaments and fates of eldest son Sonny, adopted son Tom Hagen, and youngest son Michael. After Vito is gravely wounded in an assassination attempt, Michael, who has always wanted to stay away from the family, is forced to return to New York, take on the responsibility of protecting the family, and step by step rise to succeed his father. The novel is not only about violence and power struggles; it also depicts the survival circumstances of immigrant families in American society, loyalty and betrayal, the inheritance between father and son, and the heavy weight of the word responsibility. In 1972, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film won multiple Academy Awards and made the original book an enduring classic.Editor's review
如果只把《教父》当成一部黑帮小说，会错过它最有价值的部分。普佐写的固然是枪声、交易与清算，但真正让人反复重读的，是维托·考利昂那套近乎冷酷又极重人情的处世方式：先听，再判断，说话留余地，答应的事一定办到，家人永远排在第一位。这些道理放在今天依然成立，也解释了为什么它被无数读者称为“男人的圣经”。周汉林的译本语言干净利落，人物对话有分量，读起来不拖沓。电影固然经典，但小说里那些被省略的细节，亲人之间的试探、谈判桌上的攻守、迈克尔心态的转变，只有读原著才能完整体会。这本书篇幅不短，却很少让人觉得冗长，因为它几乎每一章都在推进人物和局势。适合放在书架上反复翻，第一次读故事，第二次读人心，第三次读命运。Who it's for
A good fit for
- 喜欢黑帮题材、家族史诗与群像叙事的读者
- 看过《教父》电影，想了解原著细节与人物内心的人
- 对权力、人情、谈判与处世智慧感兴趣的成年读者
- 想读一部情节扎实、人物立体的美国通俗文学经典的读者
Not a good fit for
- 希望阅读轻松温情、节奏明快故事的读者
- 对暴力、犯罪情节较为敏感，或年龄偏小的读者
- 只想看纯文学实验性写作、不喜情节驱动型小说的人
Reading tips
- 先读第一部，也就是这场婚礼开场，理清考利昂家族的主要人物关系，再往后读。
- 可以把维托与迈克尔父子两代的选择对照着读，留意“继承”这条线索如何推进。
- 遇到谈判或冲突场面，不妨停下来想想双方的筹码与底线，会比只看结果更有收获。
- 读完后可以看1972年电影版对照，体会小说与影像在取舍上的不同。
About the publisher
Yilin Press China · Founded in 1988Yilin Press focuses mainly on translated foreign literature. Its current catalogue of 318 titles covers common categories such as mystery and detective fiction, foreign literature, world classics, biography, and social novels. Representative books include The Complete Sherlock Holmes 2: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, To the Lighthouse, The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lives of the Artists: Michelangelo, often presented in bilingual or English-language editions that serve both original-text reading and language learning. Its author resources include foreign writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, and Romain Rolland, as well as translators including Li Jiazhen, Gao Fen, and Ma Ye. The catalogue also includes Chinese works such as Li Jieren's Ripples Across Stagnant Water. The press shows a concentrated publishing strength in foreign classics and bilingual readers; given limited public information, this overview is based only on catalogue data.
FAQ
没看过电影，能直接读《教父》小说吗？
完全可以。小说是独立完整的作品，电影是改编。先读原著反而更容易理解人物动机和家族关系，之后再补电影，会有另一层感受。《教父》有几个中文译本？
常见的有周汉林译本（译林出版社）等，不同版本在译名和细节处理上略有差异。本页信息对应译林出版社周汉林译本，购买时可留意封面与ISBN。这本书适合中学生读吗？
书中涉及暴力、犯罪与成人内容，叙事基调也偏沉重，更适合成年读者。中学生若阅读，建议在家长或老师引导下进行。《教父》系列要先读哪一本？
建议从第一部《教父》读起，它是整个系列的基础，交代了考利昂家族的由来与核心人物，之后再读续作会顺畅得多。This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Mario Puzo Author · American · 1920–1999Mario Puzo (1920–1999) was an American writer and screenwriter, born in New York to a family of Italian immigrants. He is best known for his Mafia novel The Godfather, which Francis Ford Coppola adapted into a film trilogy; Puzo won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. His writing is rooted in the family ethics and power relations of Italian immigrant communities, with tight plots and vivid characters that combine popular storytelling with unsentimental social observation. The library holds seven of his works: besides The Godfather and the trilogy collection, there are works continuing the underworld world, such as The Sicilian and The Last Don, as well as novels touching on historical and suspense themes, including The Family, The Godson and Six Graves to Munich. His books are commonly classified under foreign literature, classics, and mystery and suspense.