The Sicilian

 

The Sicilian – Mario Puzo

I’ve been aware of this book for many years – decades even.  What I never realized was that this book was “part” of the Godfather series of books by author Mario Puzo.  Other than the original novel, I never even knew Puzo had more books devoted to his most famous subject matter.  After reading a few other “Godfather” novels (none by Puzo, but all of them ok), I stumbled across this one, and since it was billed as a Godfather book, I decided to take a chance.   That was a good decision.  This was a great book.

My initial reaction, though, was that to call this thing part of The Godfather story was a bit of a stretch. It almost seemed an excuse just to get people to buy and read the thing.  The beginning of the novel takes place in Sicily in 1950.  Michael Corleone is still in hiding after killing a drug dealer and a crooked cop back home which catapulted him to his infamous title.  Before he is about to return home to New York, he gets a message from his father Vito – Michael is to bring Salvatore Guiliano – a famed Sicilian bandit – back home with him to America.

Who is Guiliano? Why would Michael’s father want to bring him to America? Why is he a bandit? What crimes has he committed?  Initially Michael meets a few key individuals in Sicily to find out more about Guiliano. He can’t meet the man himself as his reputation dictates that he remains hidden.  These key individuals only muddy up the reasoning.  Let’s see, among these key individuals, there’s a Sicilian mob boss, a priest, a friend of the famed bandit, and someone who represents the law.  None of them seem to be playing it straight with Michael, and we now know Michael is a very perceptive guy. So Michael doesn’t trust anyone. How can he find the truth about this phantom Sicilian?

So we then go back in time a few years.  Post World War II was a calamitous time in Sicily.  Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had just been publicly hung by his own disgruntled constituents, Italy switched sides to the Allies in the middle of the war, and Communism is starting to look more favorable to the tortured country.  Guiliano is a young, headstrong man.  Oh sure, he’s a bandit alright, but like so many Sicilians, his occupation seems somewhat just due to the corrupt leaders that have been in place for centuries.   Remember how you felt about young Vito in the early scenes of Godfather II?  He was doing bad things, but you saw his tragic childhood and therefore gave him a pass.  Such is the case with Guiliano.

We see Guiliano form his rebel alliance with a closeknit group of friends and young thieves. We see them basically stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. We see a sense of justness in the man and ultimately see more good than bad.  But what he is doing still isn’t right, and in a country of conniving high-ranking individuals, you really can’t trust anybody.  So there are many similarities in this story to many of the key scenes in The Godfather. Throughout all of this turmoil, author Mario Puzo does a wonderful job of immersing his reader firmly into the time and the place.  It’s rare that a novel causes one to transcend themselves directly into the story where one can almost feel and smell the surroundings.  In other words, the story is so good that it makes you want to visit Sicily and take it all in yourself.

As our story move forward closer to the present day of 1950, we then have a better understanding of the conflicted feelings of the main characters, and also a clearer picture of everyone’s different motivations.  Michael starts to see the light as well, and just like he would in later years, needs to do a lot of shuffling. He must keep his friends close, and his enemies closer.

As I somewhat alluded to, I had originally thought that this novel’s “connection” to the Godfather story was somewhat loose, and almost seemed a cheap way to sell more books and cash in, but near the end of the story, we see how a lot of pieces eventually fit, and we see how certain events connect with Michael’s overall story, and help form his character once he returns to America and takes over after his father dies.

Reading this book gave me a deeper appreciation for Mario Puzo.  Although the original Godfather novel was widely acclaimed, it seemed to become overshadowed by the film, which many argue is one of the best films of all time.  I kept thinking what a good movie The Sicilian could be.  Sadly, it was made into a movie in the 1980s, and the consensus was that the movie was pretty awful.  My guess is I’ll never watch it since it could likely stain my experience.

A great book, but if you’re not a fanatic of the original film, it might be worth your time to watch it (along with Godfather II) so you can truly appreciate the story.