The Godfather

What surprises me the most about The Godfather is how concise it is for such a relatively small book.

Looking at it's meagre page count, how on earth did Mario Puzo pack so much information into it?

It was a further 15 years before a sequel was published, having poured his heart and soul into every sentence in comparison to modern drawl-athons spanning zillions of garrulous series.

Character descriptions are memorably fantastic as you fully immerse into mafia ruthlessness, going to the mattresses, family commitments, and other concepts such as "blood is thicker than water".

There's no slack or middle ground, always an eye for an eye, with principles, family and revenge above all else.

The Godfather is definitely a book of its time and my personal memories will always be heavily biased in positive favor, but this is probably the best book about mafia ever written.

Fun fact: the Portuguese translation 'O Poderoso Chefão' = 'The Powerful Big Boss'.

In the words of Dylan Thomas, "Do not go gentle into that good night". You will kick and scream and fight to the last breath for loyalty, friendship and to keep what you've earned or stolen over the years.