Gone With the Wind

Gone With the Wind (Gone with the Wind #1)

4.23 of 5 stars 4.23  ·  rating details  ·  473,409 ratings  ·  10,316 reviews
A remarkable book, a spectacular book, a book that will not be forgotten! — Margaret Mitchell's epic novel of love and war won the Pulitzer Prize and went on to give rise to two authorized sequels and one of the most popular and celebrated movies of all time. — Many novels have been written about the Civil War and its aftermath. None take us into the burning fields and cit...more
Paperback, 1024 pages
Published 1973 by Avon Books (first published 1936)
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Annalisa
It takes guts to make your main character spoiled, selfish, and stupid, someone without any redeeming qualities, and write an epic novel about her. But it works for two reasons. First of all you wait for justice to fall its merciless blow with one of the most recognized lines in cinema ("frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"), but you end with a broken and somewhat repentant character and you can't be pitiless. Secondly, if you were going to parallel the beautiful, affluent, lazy, spirited South...more
Emily
I received my copy of Gone With the Wind in 1991 and never got past the first 50 or 100 pages in any of annual attempts at this books until 2004, at which point I decided to defeat the book one and for all. I FINALLY FINISHED READING THE DAMN BOOK.

I want my time back.

There was a reason I never before read past the first 50 or 100 pages - Scarlet is a raging evil snarky miserable bitch and I hate her. None of the other characters were particularly likable - ranging from sniveling, whiny sissies t...more
Eve
I honestly do not know whether to give this book 5 stars for being one of the most completely engrossing, shocking, and emotionally absorbing pieces of literature ever written, or to give it 0 stars for being the most tragic, unendingly upsetting, disturbing book I've ever read. I read the last 50 pages or so literally with my mouth wide open, unable to believe that it was really going to be THAT tragically sad. When I finally finished, I walked downstairs in a daze, handed the book to my husban...more
Lilly
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Hannah
I don't like reviewing overly popular, classic books because let's face it, what more can be said regarding a book that 8,720 Goodreads reviewers haven't already covered, from 1 star through 5 star opinions?

So I'll just say that I read this novel for the first time when I was only about 14 years old. And re-read it, and re-read it, and re-read it again several times until around age 18. And then I never picked it up again until age 48 (that's 30 years of reading silence for those of you mathamat...more
Kim

The first time - and until now the only time - I read this book was in December 1975. I had just finished high school and my best friend persuaded me to read her favourite novel. Every afternoon for about three weeks I went to the local beach for a couple of hours to sunbake and read. From that first experience of reading Gone with the Wind , the novel became associated in my mind with the feeling of sunshine on my skin, the smell of the ocean, the sound of waves breaking on the sand and the sen...more
Nicko
Feb 25, 2008 Nicko rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Confederates
So much has been said in praise of this book it feels redundant to add more. In terms of the slave-holding society, the film actually toned-down the pro-South view of Reconstruction (Scarlett's second husband joined the KKK in the book) and Mammy remains probably one of the most fully-developed and likeable African-American characters from 1930 you'll read.

Rhett Butler is the consummate alpha male. This book is definitely the timeless classic reputation it has earned, and though at times it see...more
Mariel
Jan 25, 2011 Mariel rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: those who give a damn
Recommended to Mariel by: fiddle dee do da fiddle dee yay
[I'm starting to get a little freaked out by how many of my reviews mention The Princess Bride and Fred Savage... There could be a Mariel drinking game with that in it.]

Gone with the Wind has been in and out of my life for as long as I can remember. I recall protesting, "No way am I gonna like this!" Like Fred Savage in The Princess Bride film, only I was waaay cuter than him. I changed my mind about liking it a lot. I'm still changing my mind. 'Gone' seems dated to me, now. Increasingly dated,...more
Ellie
I've had a lot of trouble writing this review. I've been writing and re-writing this review over the last few months, and I just couldn't get it perfect. I've finally come to realise no review I can ever write will do this novel justice so I am just going to post it as it is.

Set in the state of Georgia, before, during and after the American Civil War, Gone With the Wind tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a vain, spoiled, over-privileged daughter of a plantation owner, from her days as a carefre...more
Lisa Kay
My mother wouldn't let me read "Gone With the Wind" until I was 16. A few years ago I was at a cocktail party and they asked the trivia question "What was the first line of GWtW?" I knew the answer. My husband asked, "How did you know that?" (He'd lived with me how many decades?) I told him about my mom's restriction and how, when I finally opened the book, I was stunned by the first sentence. I had seen the movie and Scarlett was beautiful, if a bitch. I also remember it because everyone always...more
Judy
Having a hard time slogging through the blatant racism in this book. Times sure have changed. And thank God for that.

Okay, nearly forty years since I first read it, the epic love story against the brutality of the Civil War still manages to sweep me up.

But the racism still wrankles, especially the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan--southern gentlemen had no other choice. They weren't bullies terrorizing people because of the color of their skin, they were protecting their women from the rapacio...more
Theresa Abney
"Tomorrow is another day."

"Death and taxes and childbirth! There's never any convenient time for any of them!"

"The mothers of all her girlfriends impressed on their daughters the necessity of being helpless, clinging doe-eyed creatures. But she felt that if a man succumbed to premeditated feminine tricks, she could never respect him as she now did. Any man who was fool enough to fall for a whimper, a faint, and an 'Oh, how wonderful you are!' wasn't worth having."

"...she didn't want her children...more
Anna
I’ve somehow got to my forties having neither read or watched Gone With The Wind. No idea how that can have happened, but I’m SO glad I finally joined the party; better late than never!

The characters are beautifully crafted, warts n' all, and I so enjoyed the struggles and squabbles of Scarlett, Mammy, Melly and Aunt Pittypat. The horrors of the Civil War and its aftermath are told shockingly and movingly, and as a Brit, I’d now like to read more about it. The only two things I didn't have much...more
Jemidar

Some things should not be revisited because the second time around just doesn't live up to the memories of the first, and you end up coming away feeling somewhat disappointed and disillusioned. For me, this reread of an old favourite was one of those things.

I first read this book back in the late seventies when I was in my late teens, and the heady mix of history, drama, romance and tragedy warmed my girlish heart. I just couldn't get enough of it and followed my reading of the novel with watchi...more
Mister Jones
Jan 23, 2010 Mister Jones added it  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Sons of the South
Recommended to Mister Jones by: Generations of my family
Yes, Georgia, there is a Santa Claus. As a Xmas gift, I decided to read GWTW again since I now have a 1943 copy. Actually enjoying it and marveling at Mitchell's depth of characterization, so even if one makes a scathing review, there's still hope of reconsideration at least for me.
Lina
Before I give my opinion about this classic novel let me make a few things clear. This book certainly has a lot of literary value. It is well written, the characters, are for the most part, interesting and Mitchell certainly breathed life into her characters. They feel like people and the plot, while it goes on for ages, it constructed well and by the end you feel like you have been satisfied in terms of a character arc.

Okay, now that that's done: I hate this book. I hate the characters (except...more
Janosch
Not finished / Ragequit

Ragequit on page 411. I could not take anymore. Here is my review: ( yes I dare to review it )

It has indeed a very nice writing style. Scenery and characters are excellent presented and very good described. At the beginning I highly enjoyed the lively characters. And that is it with my positive notes.
Reasons for not finishing it :
-The same things happen over and over and over and over again. *talk about war* *scarlett is upset* *talk about war* *scarlett does this* *ta...more
Ebookwormy
It's obvious to me why this book is a classic. It was a fabulous read, though (for reasons listed below) I'm not sure I'd want to read it again soon.

The story is told through the eyes of Scarlett O'Hara, a selfish, aristocratic, young Southern woman, with a scant number of scenes (mostly at the end) where she is not present. Realizing Scarlett and her class have the most to lose from the fall of the South, their perspective on the times is negative. The racism is appalling. The opinion of Scarl...more
Jeannette
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Diana
One book I can honestly say that I enjoyed less than the movie. In Margaret Mitchell's book Scarlett has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I spent the better part of the book wanting to slap her silly.
Athira
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Cindy
Wherein I attempt to write a review using all the new words I learned whilst reading the book. My made-up-on-the-spot rule is one per sentence, to make it a challenge. (Glossary at end of review.)

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I hope you won’t look upon my review as mere folderol, but the most interesting things to be said about Gone With the Wind have been said over and over: it’s breathtaking, sweeping, American, but also racist and exacerbating. Everyone needs to read the story of one of literature’s best tr...more
Ordinary Dahlia
BUKU 1

Yang terlintas pertama kali di kepala g pas baca buku ke-1 ini adalah yang paling tidak akan bahagia hidup di tahun 1800-an adalah perempuan-perempuan dari persekutuan narsis dan klub pengunyah.

-Perketuan Narsis : Perempuan harus selalu tampil seolah-olah lemah, rapuh, sopan dan bodoh (Coba bicara cerdas sedikit, jangan heran kalau tiba-tiba orang sekeliling mengganggap aneh, sok tahu dan bahkan mungkin dikucilkan dari pergaulan). Perempuan juga harus tahan dan pura-pura tertarik dengan oc...more
Zen Cho
Copied over from my blog:

I'd known this was racist in a vague sort of way, not remembering much about the book or movie except bosoms and swooning, but wow, I didn't know it was that mindblowingly racist. The people who wanted to cut the n-word from Huckleberry Finn should all get together and have let's-set-Gone-With-The-Wind-on-fire parties. Man, if they applied their efforts to Gone With The Wind they could probably cut the book short by about a hundred pages.

I should say I like Scarlett as a...more
Loederkoningin
I tossed and turned but couldn't sleep, having just finished Gone with the Wind somewhere after midnight. I tried Scarlett's famous line "I'll think of it tomorrow", but eventually got out of bed, pushed open a window to let the cool, crisp air in and stared out over the city in the distance. I had no idea that this book - which I reluctantly took with me in public because people would either brightly state that I was "reading a big book" or innocently ask if it was anything like Danielle Steel...more
Melissa
Dec 06, 2007 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone
At one time in my teens I called this my favorite book. I hadn't read it in a long time, and rereading it was more satisfying than I thought it would be. Scarlett is such an amazing character; how she can be so infuriating and so sympathetic at the same time, as a reader I hate her and love her both. Margaret Mitchell's lengthy passages about the war and the South become tiresome, but it is very striking to me that although she takes up the South's cause, she doesn't drone on about property righ...more
Beth
In 6th grade Gone with the Wind was playing 2 nights on TBS. My mom was recording it and on the 1st night I thought 'what a waste' and refused to watch it. The 2nd night I got caught up in the story and walked the library the next day and checked the book out.

I couldn't even wait to get home to start reading! I sat down at the table and read the first sentence, over and over. "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful." Ok, it's not even the entire first sentence, but I couldn't get past that statement....more
Heidi
Jun 08, 2007 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: EVERYONE!!!
this is the greatest book ever written. or to be written. i read it for the first time when i was 11 years old. there are over 1000 pages and it took me 7 days. it changed my life! i am a complete romantic and a total history buff. both of my loves were tapped in this novel to end all novels. the characters are rich and lively, the descriptions are colorful and flourishing without taking away from the actual storyline. the complexities of the characters are amusing, frustrating and heartbreaking...more
Lobstergirl
Jan 07, 2010 Lobstergirl rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: Strobe Talbott
This is just a rollicking good yarn, no two ways about it. It will make you chortle like a drunken buffoon, and sob like a forlorn sissy. And sob you will, even though you read it long ago (before you developed emotions, apparently) and have seen the movie multiple times. It is that grievous. (See how I'm using the second person to distance myself a little from forlorn sissies?) You were just looking for a little escapism, and here you find yourself reading something on a par with King Lear, or...more
Brad
Jan 10, 2012 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Brad by: Chris Simkulet
Shelves: classic, lost-reviews
This review was written in the late nineties (for my eyes only), and it was buried in amongst my things until recently when I uncovered the journal in which it was written. I have transcribed it verbatim from all those years ago (although square brackets may indicate some additional information for the sake of readability or some sort of commentary from now). This is one of my lost reviews.

Only one other time can I remember being so moved by the death of a character as I was by the death of Mell...more
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell, popularly known as Margaret Mitchell, was an American author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her novel, Gone with the Wind, published in 1936. The novel is one of the most popular books of all time, selling more than 28 million copies. A...more
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“Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.” 1,293 people liked it
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