“The Godfather” turns 50

Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" is reputed^[1] to be the fastest-selling book in history. By early 1971, 7m^[2] copies had been printed.

In many respects^[3], it deserved its success. "The Godfather" is more than competently^[4] written. Puzo aspired to^[5] literary greatness and only conjured up^[6] Vito Corleone and his family's adventures and misadventures^[7] to escape debt. "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse", the Don's cynical^[8]quip^[9], has become a figure of speech^[10]. Some scenes^[11]—such as the planting^[12] of a racehorse's severed^[13] head on the bed of a Hollywood producer who did refuse the Don—have passed into^[14]folklore^[15].

The author got a lot of things right^[16]: the subtlety^[17] of communication between Sicilians in particular and Italians in general; the incorporation^[18], often reluctant, of mobsters^[19] from other ethnic backgrounds into the American Mafia^[20]; and, above all, Cosa Nostra's^[21]usurpation^[22] of responsibilities that belong to the state, including the dispensing^[23] of justice.

"The Godfather" also gets things wrong, though. It portrays gangsters^[24] the way gangsters like to be regarded, as fundamentally^[25]honourable^[26]types^[27] who offer genuine services and seek no more than to be respected for their contributions to society.

It can be argued that in the book and in the first movie, Puzo managed to strike an acceptable balance^[28]. But its sequel^[29] is a whitewash: the young Vito Corleone transformed seemingly overnight from a loving husband into a homicidal^[30], yet still essentially decent, Don.

That is not how youngsters become Mafiosi^[31] in real life. They are co-opted^[32] from among the most brutal of their peers and then subjected^[33] to a process of systematic, additional brutalisation^[34] until they are ready to kill to order. Puzo's version is seductive^[35], but insidious^[36].

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1. 据说的，据称的； ↩

2. 7 million； ↩

3. 方面； ↩

4. 胜任的； ↩

5. 有志于； ↩

6. 想象出； ↩

7. 不幸事故； ↩

8. 愤世嫉俗的；冷嘲的； ↩

9. n. 妙语；嘲弄；讽刺语； ↩

10. 比喻；梗； ↩

11. 电影中的场景； ↩

12. 种植；放置； ↩

13. 切断的； ↩

14. 变成其中一部分； ↩

15. 民俗学；民间传说；民间风俗； ↩

16. 很多事情的理解是对的； ↩

17. 精妙之处； ↩

18. 合并； ↩

19. 黑社会成员； ↩

20. （意）秘密政党；黑手党； ↩

21. 科萨·诺斯特拉（美国黑手党活动于美国的一个秘密犯罪组织）； ↩

22. 篡夺；夺取； ↩

23. 提供，供应； ↩

24. 匪徒；黑帮；诈骗犯（gangster的复数）； ↩

25. 本质上； ↩

26. 体面的； ↩

27. 这类人； ↩

28. 达到平衡； ↩

29. 续集； ↩

30. 杀人的；行凶的；有杀人嗜好的；杀气腾腾的； ↩

31. 黑手党成员 (Mafioso的变形)； ↩

32. 拉拢，笼络； ↩

33. 使遭受；使从属；受…影响； ↩

34. 兽性；残酷； ↩

35. 有魅力的；性感的；引人注意的； ↩

36. 暗中为害的；潜伏的； ↩