Like every man of my age I have watched both movies probably close to 100 times. I still consider them my favorite movies. But, so much of the material has become cliche now that you may find it hokie. I first saw The Godfather with my father when I was a young teenager. It was a limited release so we had to drive to the city to see it. It had a real impact on me, since I was an Italian American kid. I also read the book at that time. I loved it, but later on I read Puzo's two earlier novels, The Dark Arena and Fortunate Pilgrim. They were much more what you might think of as serious fiction. I thought they were excellent. I learned that Puzo only wrote The Godfather because he knew a mafia book would pay the bills, and he was a young father. His first two novels didn't bring in much money. If you decide to watch them, I would like to hear what you think.