en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_(novel)
2 corrections found
introducing Italian words like consigliere, caporegime, Cosa Nostra, and omertà to an English-speaking audience.
This overstates the novel’s role. Several of these Mafia terms were already in documented English-language use years before The Godfather was published in 1969.
Full reasoning
Mario Puzo's novel was published on March 10, 1969, but multiple cited terms were already in English-language circulation before then.
- Merriam-Webster says the Mafia sense of "consigliere" first appeared in English in 1963, and notes the word itself had been part of English even earlier.
- TIME used and explained "omerta" and "Cosa Nostra" in a 1963 article about Joseph Valachi's testimony, six years before the novel's publication.
So while The Godfather undoubtedly popularized Mafia vocabulary for many readers, it did not introduce these terms to English-speaking audiences in the literal sense claimed here.
2 sources
- CONSIGLIERE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The word consigliere comes from Italian and has been a part of English since the 17th century... the Mafia use first appeared in English in a document from a 1963 session of the U.S. Senate. First Known Use: 1963.
- Crime: Their Thing | TIME
August 16, 1963... For 30 years Valachi kept faith with “omerta”... Then... he began to sing... a blood stained crime syndicate, fondly dubbed Cosa Nostra (Our Thing).
The events of the film The Godfather Part II all take place within the timeframe of this novel, but are only mentioned in the background.
This is too broad. The Michael Corleone storyline overlaps the novel’s 1955–1962 period, but Part II also includes Vito Corleone’s early-life story in Sicily and New York decades earlier.
Full reasoning
The article itself says The Godfather Returns covers 1955 to 1962. A library catalog entry for the book supports that span, listing its sections from Spring 1955 through Summer 1962.
But The Godfather Part II does not consist only of events from that period. The Library of Congress summary describes the film as juxtaposing Michael Corleone's rise in the 1950s with flashbacks to Vito Corleone's childhood in Sicily and young adulthood in New York City. Those Vito scenes occur decades earlier than 1955–1962.
So it is inaccurate to say that all events of The Godfather Part II occur within the timeframe of The Godfather Returns. Only the film's Michael-era storyline does.
2 sources
- The godfather returns / Mark Winegardner - New York Public Library catalog
Contents: Book one, Spring 1955 -- Book two, Summer 1955 -- Book three, Fall 1955 -- Book four, Winter 1955 -- Book five, 1956-1957 -- Book six, 1958 -- Book seven, 1959-1960 -- Book eight, 1961 -- Book nine, Summer 1962.
- The godfather. Part II - Library of Congress
The continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, juxtaposing Michael Corleone's rise to power in the 1950s with flashbacks to his father Vito's early life and career in Sicily and New York City.