I thought that The Godfather was a great book, as long as it stayed on the main story, i.e. the Corleone Family. When it went in to the little side stories about Jules Segal, Lucy Mancini, and Nino, it became just an average piece of literature. I think that the reason I most liked the novel is because it provided so much extra information about the characters and events portrayed in the movie. On the other hand, I thought the dialogue in the book was not on par with the dialogue in the movie.

On the question of Mario Puzo, I said he was an average writer. I think that The Godfather was his only great book, and his other writings make him, IMO, just an average author.