‘Godfather Returns’ fascinating
Traditionally, it just hasn’t worked. This time, it has.
When sequels to popular novels are attempted by “successors” after the original authors have died, the results have ranged from boringly mediocre (every post-Ian Fleming novel about James Bond) to horrific (can anyone recall “Scarlett” without wincing?).
To his extreme credit, Mark Winegardner doesn’t try to outmuscle Mario Puzo’s original brawny novel about a Mafia family that prefers wily negotiation but is still ready to let the tommy-gun bullets fly. In 1969, even before the two classic movies based on it (we’ll ignore the third), “The Godfather” captured readers’ imaginations in almost inconceivable numbers.
Winegardner earned the touchy task of extending the Corleone saga as the winner of an international author competition conducted by Puzo’s family and Random House.
He beat out the other applicants by proposing a book that filled the gap between the chronological end of Puzo’s novel (1954) and the opening scenes in the film “The Godfather Part II” (roughly 1958), with some added plotlines from 1959 to ‘62. We know from the novel and the screenplay that during this interim, Michael Corleone attempts, and fails, to shift the family “business” from crime to legitimate, legal trade.
In “The Godfather Returns,” Winegardner crafts a fascinating story about how Michael’s Machiavellian maneuverings fall just short, thanks in part to a brilliant antagonist springing from the author’s imagination. Nick Geraci, one of the most interesting, multidimensional characters in recent fictional memory, begins as a simple soldier in the Corleone family and gradually works his way up to “caporegime” status. His ambitions cause him to form private alliances with other Mafiosi who are angling to replace Michael Corleone as the ultimate crime kingpin.
Michael’s no fool; he senses the danger Geraci represents but doesn’t want to risk outright confrontation – a neat allegory for the Cold War relationship between the United States and Soviet Union, and one example of the subtle touches Winegardner brings to what seems on the surface to be a straightforward tale.
Winegardner also fleshes out characters Puzo used only as story steppingstones in the original “Godfather.” Bumbling Fredo Corleone evolves into someone far darker and dangerous, though still intellectually limited; Johnny Fontane, Puzo’s thinly disguised Sinatra clone, has much more to do in this book.
But the revelation is Corleone lawyer-adviser Tom Hagen, who at times simply dominates “The Godfather Returns.” The development of his character as a strong, scheming ally of Michael’s rather than a timid yes-man gives Winegardner the critical tool he needs to demonstrate the breadth of Michael’s plans.
Even more than Puzo, Winegardner sprinkles his made-up tale with actual events – which, most often, is where Fontane comes in. The long-rumored, partially substantiated tales of Sinatra/Kennedy/Mafia relationships are present here; newly elected president James Kavenaugh Shea and his immediate family lend a certain historic credibility to the saga.
Given the subject matter and cast originated by Puzo, it’s a given that “The Godfather Returns” had to have its share of gory moments. Puzo also included some of the clumsiest sex scenes in modern literary history, and here, perhaps, Winegardner does emulate his predecessor just a touch too much.
But considering what Winegardner has accomplished, that’s a quibble rather than damning criticism. Most Puzo fans would have gladly settled for more of exactly the same; Winegardner instead is giving them something that, in critical ways exceeds the original.
“The Godfather Returns” didn’t have to be this good – but it is.