If you're the kind of person who won't listen to an audiobook because "Narrators are boring and monotone," then I implore you to pick up the multicast audiobook of The Godfather by Mario Puza.
You've all seen the movie, hopefully. If you haven't, stop reading this review right now and get on Netflix. Is it on Netflix? Well, whatever, just find it and fucking watch it, ok? You done? Wasn't that great? You're welcome.
The film adaptation of The Godfather is my gold star reference point for book to movie adaptations. In the audiobook, there is a voice actor for every main character's dialogue, as well as a distinct narrator. Whether they intentionally mimic the voices from the movie or not, I'm not sure, but they are very similar in tones and cadence. Even Vito Corleone's has a similar affect, though no one can outdo Marlon Brando if I'm being honest.
The book is split up into 9 parts of varying chapter amounts. The pacing of The Godfather is phenomenal. It is one of those books that simultaneously speeds along at a breakneck pace while keeping the reader waiting on edge for hours at a time. One of the ways this is achieved is through a couple of subplots that the movie altered a bit. Like I said, the film is the hold standard for book adaptations, but any production will have constraints. For instance, much more time is spent on Michael's exile in Italy in the book and we learn so much more about his accommodations and the dangers he faces.
Another difference is the backstory of Vito Corleone. Again, I have to think leaving it out of the film was due to time or budget constraints. This is further supported by the fact that it was included in totality in The Godfather Part II, where young Vito is played by Robert De Niro. While I think this is done to wondrous effect in the second film, particularly since its portrayal of Vito's rise plays in juxtaposition to Michael's potential downfall, it is at the cost of not having that backstory to appreciate Vito's fall in the first film.
Throughout the book, everything you could possibly want explained or clarified is. The entire hierarchy of a mafia family and how it operates is gone into painstaking detail. Even the differences between local families and mafia culture across different parts of the country is addressed. There's even a funny scene where one Don's security is an expert in hand to hand combat, which all the other Don's find quite humorous.
The ending of the book differs only slightly from the film, in that there's an epilogue. After the final scene in the film, we are left to see Kay realizing just what kind of man she has married and know she has to come to terms with the good and bad in him. But in the book she has a conversation some time later with Tom Hagan. I'm not going to detail it, because it's one of the best parts in my opinion. It's a beautiful conversation that leads to a beautiful conclusion.
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