Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” is reputed to be the fastest-selling book in history. By early 1971, 7m copies had been printed.
马里奥·普佐的《教父》被传为史上卖得最快的书。到 1971 年初，《教父》的印刷册数就达到了 700 万。
In many respects, it deserved its success. “The Godfather” is more than competently written. Puzo aspired to literary greatness and only conjured up Vito Corleone and his family’s adventures and misadventures to escape debt. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse”, the Don’s cynical quip, has become a figure of speech. Some scenes—such as the planting of a racehorse’s severed head on the bed of a Hollywood producer who did refuse the Don—have passed into folklore.
从许多方面来说，《教父》的成功都是名副其实的。这本书的文笔过于出色了。普佐有志于追求文学上的伟大成就，当时他想像出维托·柯里昂和他的家族所经历的各种冒险与灾难，只是为了摆脱债务。“我会给他一个他无法拒绝的条件”，黑手党头目这句轻蔑的嘲弄，已然成为了一个“梗”。一些场景也成为了坊间奇谈，比如一位好莱坞电影制作人当真拒绝了教父的要求，他的床上就被人偷偷放了一颗被砍下来的赛马头颅。
The author got a lot of things right: the subtlety of communication between Sicilians in particular and Italians in general; the incorporation, often reluctant, of mobsters from other ethnic backgrounds into the American Mafia; and, above all, Cosa Nostra’s usurpation of responsibilities that belong to the state, including the dispensing of justice.
作者对于很多事情的理解都是正确的。他描绘出了意大利人，尤其是西西里人之间，交流中的精妙之处；表现了将其他种族背景的黑社会成员并入美国黑手党，这一通常是充满阻力的过程；以及，最重要的一点，展现了西西里黑手党对于国家职权的篡夺，其中就包括了“主持公道”。
“The Godfather” also gets things wrong, though. It portrays gangsters the way gangsters like to be regarded, as fundamentally honourable types who offer genuine services and seek no more than to be respected for their contributions to society.
但是，《教父》也弄错了一些事情。它用黑帮成员喜欢的方式去刻画他们的形象，把他们描绘为本质上高尚体面的那类人，他们提供“真正的服务”，并且对这种社会“贡献”不求回报，只想要获得相应的尊重。
It can be argued that in the book and in the first movie, Puzo managed to strike an acceptable balance. But its sequel is a whitewash: the young Vito Corleone transformed seemingly overnight from a loving husband into a homicidal, yet still essentially decent, Don.
可以这么说，在原著和第一部电影中，普佐达到了一种令人满意的平衡。然而续作却是对黑手党的洗白：年轻的维托·柯里昂似乎在一夜之间，从一位饱含深情的丈夫转变成了一名嗜杀成性、本质上却依然正派的黑手党头目。
That is not how youngsters become Mafiosi in real life. They are co-opted from among the most brutal of their peers and then subjected to a process of systematic, additional brutalisation until they are ready to kill to order. Puzo’s version is seductive, but insidious.
在现实生活中，年轻人可不是这么变成黑手党成员的。黑手党成员是从他们最凶残的同龄人中拉拢过来的，然后他们会经受一系列系统性的、变本加厉的残忍训练，直到他们准备好奉命杀人。普佐对这一过程的描述充满了吸引力，但也有许多隐患。
————— 文章来源 / 经济学人
reputed/rɪˈpjuːtɪd/
adj. 据说的，据称的
e.g.
例句：The restaurant is reputed to be the best in the city.
competently/ˈkɑːmpɪtəntli/
adv. 胜任地
e.g.
英文释义：sufficiently qualified; adequate for the purpose
aspire to
向往，有志于…
e.g.
例句：I aspire to great knowledge.
conjure up
想象出
e.g.
相关词汇：conjure（v. 变戏法）
英文释义：to make a picture or idea appear in someone's mind
misadventure/ˌmɪsədˈventʃər/
n. 不幸事故；不幸遭遇
e.g.
英文释义：an unfortunate incident
搭配短语：death by misadventure
figure of speech
比喻；梗
e.g.
英文释义：a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meaning in order to create a particular mental picture or effect
pass into
变成其中的一部分
e.g.
英文释义：become a part of sth.
例句：Many foreign words have passed into Chinese.
folklore/ˈfoʊklɔːr/
n. 民间传说
e.g.
相关词汇：folk（adj. 流传民间的）; lore（n. 传说）
Mafia/ˈmɑːfiə/
n. 黑手党
usurpation/ˌjuːzɜːrˈpeɪʃn/
n. 篡夺；夺取
e.g.
词性拓展：usurp（v. 侵占，篡夺）
usurp 例句：He usurped the throne.
dispense/dɪˈspens/
v. 提供，供应
strike a balance
达到平衡，找到折中的解决方法
homicidal/ˌhɑːmɪˈsaɪdl/
adj. 嗜杀成性的
e.g.
词性拓展：homicide（v. 谋杀，凶杀）
co-opt/ˌkoʊ ˈɑːpt/
v. 拉拢，笼络
e.g.
英文释义：to include somebody in something, often when they do not want to be part of it
subject/səbˈdʒekt/
v. 使某人遭受某事
e.g.
搭配短语：subject sb. to sth.
搭配短语：be subjected to sth.
insidious/ɪnˈsɪdiəs/
adj. 暗中为害的；潜伏的
e.g.
英文释义：proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects
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