Vom Winde verweht (Taschenbuch) by Margaret Mitchell - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

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Aug 11, 2007

Eve rated it:

(review of isbn 068483068X)

Read in September, 2007

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

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Dec 31, 2008

Annalisa rated it:

(review of isbn 1416548890)

bookshelves: book-club, classics, favorite-books, historical-fiction, movies, wishlist

Read in January, 2009

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 fiction ("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, spi...more 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 fiction ("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 being conquered by the intellectual, industrious North, what better way to do that than with characters who embody those characteristics? You come to feel a level of sadness that the South and Scarlett lost their war and hope that they will rebuild.

I enjoyed the picture of pre-war South outside of what you learn in history class approved by the nation that won the war. If the South had won, we would have an entirely different picture painted. A story of lush lands and prosperity abounding with chivalry and gentility by a (too) passionate people. If you visit the South today, you can see that all these generations later the wounds of the war and the regret at losing the way of life are still fresh. But if it had not been the civil war, it would have been by other means that the lazy sprawled out way of life would have been conquered by our efficient compact modern lives. There are Southerners who still fly the Confederate flag proudly and it is disheartening to know that many relate the symbol with white supremacy because just like the war that was not what it was about. It's more about the lifestyle than the issue of slavery.

Speaking of slavery, I certainly enjoyed the picture of plantations that did not abuse slaves to the extent that you read about in many memoirs. There was still a disrespect in that they viewed "darkies" as ignorant and childish, but they cared for those in their trust. And it was the North who came down riling up the lowest of the slaves to flip the oppression instead of resolve it who did not want any contact with a race they feared. Prejudice takes many faces. Slavery is such an important part of American history, but I don't agree with the format in which it is taught. We take young tolerant children and feed them stories of racism and abuse and then tell them the world is prejudice so don't be. White children start feeling awkward and aware and black children start feeling mistreated and aware. We manage to teach children about Indian and Holocaust history without the same enthusiasm to end racism by breeding racism. There has to be a better way. But I digress.

I also enjoyed Mitchell showing the volatile formula in which the KKK was aroused, that it wasn't as much a disdain for free darkies as much as a need to protect their women and children from the rash anger now imposed on them through this new regime. Not that there are any redeeming qualities in the KKK, or even the Southern rash justice by pistol shot to curb wounded pride, but it was interesting to learn the circumstances in which it arose. The entire picture of the Southern perspective from the hierarchy of slaves to the disdain of the reconstruction was enlightening. The post-war difficulties, that sometimes its harder to survive than die, were some of my favorite epiphanies of the story. My one complaint about the book was at times the description was lengthy. I'd get a grasp for the emotions of Scarlett that are supposed to describe the emotions of all Southerners or the description of the land at Tara as a representation of the rich red soil all Southerners love and then Mitchell would go on for paragraphs or pages rehashing that feeling to pull the most emotion out of you. It worked, but sometimes I think she could have done so in fewer words.

I view Scarlett as a representation of the South in which she loved. She did not care from whence the wealth came or believed that it would ever end. Because she was rich and important, she would conquer. As the Yankees attempted to rebuild the South, fresh in their embitterment at a war they did not want to fight, you can both see their reasoning and feel for the Southerners who were licked and then stomped on in their attempts to gain back of their life. You see that in Scarlett. On one hand you don't pity her and think she needs a lesson in poverty and on the other hand you want her to survive. Either she can lie down and cling to her old ways or she can debase herself and rebuild. Survival, not morality, is her strongest drive.

Oh Scarlett. We all know people like her. People who unscrupulously use their womanly charms to get ahead and carry a deep disdain for those bound by concepts of kindness, morals, or intelligence and most especially for those who see them for what they are instead of being manipulated. People who care for nobody but themselves and who find enjoyment in life not in what they have, but in conquering the unattainable that is only desirable because it is out of reach. I loved how Mitchell showed Scarlett's decline from a religious albeit not believing girl who allowed her rationalization and avoidance to carry her from one sin to the next of intensifying degree. An excellent portrait of the degradation of character.

Initially I thought she was the only character who wasn't growing, actually digressing. But by the end she does grow up. In no regard is this greater than in her eventual desire to be a mother. Turning from her ravenous post-war desire to survive to her acceptance of life and the people around her as the way they are, eventually Scarlett grows into the person she was meant to be. As did the South. Prideful and resentful, eventually they had to accept that they lost the war and take what was given them and try to make it work.

Scarlett realizes that Melanie is not the weak, cowardly girl she always assumed but the most courageous character in the book and one who gets her means by influence and persuasion instead of Scarlett's uncivil ways. It is Melly, not Scarlett, who could get anything she desires and her heart is not her weakness but her greatest strength. Finally Scarlett values the importance of love and sees that it does not make one weak but deep to possess it. OK, I won't go that far. She's not intelligent enough to analyze love, but she grows up enough to fall for it anyway, to realize she needs people.

She sees Ashley not as the strong, honorable character she had always esteemed but the weakest and least honorable character in the book. Anyone who would tease another woman with confessions of love just so he could keep her heart and devotion at arm's length is not truly honoring his marriage vows. The greatest gift he could give his wife was the knowledge that he loved her. And we all know that like any pretty toy, once Scarlett had taken him, she would have discarded him. The debasing knowledge that he is not fit for a rougher way of life doesn't endear him. For all his intelligence, he could have picked himself up by the bootstraps and made something of himself if he wanted to survive. That's the sadness of the loss of the Southern way, still longing for the past instead of moving forward.

Then we come to Rhett, the only character with the ability to conquer Scarlett, who was quite the devil. Just like the ladies in old Atlanta I found myself at times entranced by his charms, but often I did not like or trust him. I was often torn about the way he constantly encouraged Scarlett to fall another wrung on her morality ladder and mocked her emotions, mocked all of Southern civility. What annoyed me most about him was that he showed love by coddling his wife and child until they were spoiled, dependent, but not grateful, and this was his idea of being a good father and husband. And yet I sympathized with him and was often amused by him. More than anything I enjoyed his intelligence as a way for Mitchell to introduce the Yankee viewpoint, using his sarcasm as satire. I loved the whole discussion of his not being a gentleman and her no lady.

More than anything I saw his slow conquering of Scarlett's heart as a parallel to the slow enveloping of the South by the North until they realized they were dependent on their conquerors but could still maintain their fierce spirit, a marriage of North and South. The fact that she could never fully understand him shows the divide between to two philosophies. But does the South lose in this blending? Can't they adopt the intellectual ways of the North and still maintain their civility? Just like Ashley, they would rather dream and remember than change. The grazing effects of the war are still prevalent today.

The characters in the book are so vivid that like or dislike you cannot get them out of your head. There are no more vibrant characters in the history of literature that Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. There is a reason this book is a classic. Everyone should read it at least once in their life to appreciate the civil war and understand the sadness and loss that enveloped the country. And then have the opportunity to discuss the points that most grabbed their attention with others who have read.(less)

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Feb 25, 2008

Nicko rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

Read in March, 1999

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 ...more 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 seemed like the longest book ever, it is all worth it in the end. It touches on many misunderstood aspects of the civil war and its afterwords. What many people do not realize is how horrible it really was for Southerners after the war, mostly because they cannot get past the racism of the times (which it wasn't as if the North was full of equality and peace, either). If you can accept the times for what they were, you will see how well this book was written. I appreciate it for the well built characters, smooth flow, and albeit romanticized- depiction of the Antebellum South.

As far as being politically incorrect or the modern charges that the book is "racist," remember that this book was written in the 1930s. Not to mention, the time period is the Civil War era! To be completely unracist would not have depicted the era correctly. As if it represents anything more than the way people thought when it was made. Of course, it's racist. America is and has been a racist society since the beginning. This book mirrors the opinions held by the people alive and working at the time, no more and certainly no less. Have opinions changed since then? Of course, as society evolves so does the writing. All this aside, the character of "Mammy" is one of the most likeable and respected characters in the book. Rhett Butler treats her very well, and tries to win her approval. She’s the one person throughout the novel who sees through everyone’s follies and foibles, but remains forgiving of them anyway. There's a reason this book won so many awards and still endures! It is a timeless classic that everyone should enjoy and read in context.
(less)

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Mar 23, 2008

Mister Jones added it (review of isbn 0446675539)

Owns a copy

recommended to Mister Jones by: Generations of my family
recommends it for: Sons of the South

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.

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Feb 05, 2008

Lilly rated it:

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Read in July, 1996

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I read this book when I was fifteen during a hot, sticky Texas summer. That was more than 10 years ago, and I have read the book at least 3 more times since then, but I can still remember the book's initial impact on me. I remember my journal entries about it and my inability to get the book off my mind long after I'd finished it. I was infatuated. In my U.S. History class a year later, my teacher assigned a paper on some historical topic or other. I hardly remember what the actual assignme...more I read this book when I was fifteen during a hot, sticky Texas summer. That was more than 10 years ago, and I have read the book at least 3 more times since then, but I can still remember the book's initial impact on me. I remember my journal entries about it and my inability to get the book off my mind long after I'd finished it. I was infatuated. In my U.S. History class a year later, my teacher assigned a paper on some historical topic or other. I hardly remember what the actual assignment was, because I asked him if I could write a paper on Gone With the Wind instead. I told him it should be considered a historical novel, and yes, I got what I wanted. Man, I was such a nerd then. I only wish I had kept that paper....

So, I was thinking just now of the scene in You've Got Mail where Meg Ryan is arguing with Tom Hanks about Pride and Prejudice, and she proclaims that Elizabeth Bennett is one of the most complex heroines ever written (I can't remember if she calls her THE most complex). I think Scarlett is much more complex than Lizzie. Her evolution throughout the novel is so amazing. She is so one-dimensional in the beginning, before the war and before everything that changes her way of life. Granted, Scarlett is always looking out for number one, and it's part of why I love her character. It is so rich with selfishness, her benevolent deeds always fueled by her own objectives, her baddoings justified by her will to survive. Even her relationship with Rhett is one of the most complex love stories ever written. Since I've read the novel several times, I even went back and noticed each and every time where Rhett was bursting with hesitation, just killing himself as he held back his true feelings for her. She doesn't marry Rhett for love, but her realization at the end that she "must have loved you all along" is so tragic and swollen with regret. I could never understand what she saw in Ashley, who was so weak and stupid and useless.

I think this novel was my first introduction to nostalgia, and it ruined me forever. Nostalgia now rules my life, and if I were a book, it would be my central theme.(less)

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Aug 01, 2008

Diana rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

bookshelves: classics

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.

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Mar 26, 2009

Dahlia rated it:

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bookshelves: 2009, classic

Read in December, 2009

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...more

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Aug 04, 2008

Emily rated it:

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bookshelves: novels

Read in June, 2004

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 want my time back.

There was a reason I never read pas 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 to evil, snarky assholes. ...more

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Nov 07, 2007

Melissa rated it:

(review of isbn 068483068X)

Read in December, 2007

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

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Sep 26, 2007

Beth rated it:

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bookshelves: re-read

Read in May, 2009

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 ge...more

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May 25, 2007

Heidi rated it:

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Read in March, 1991

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

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May 08, 2008

Ebookwormy rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

bookshelves: carp-500, fiction, history

Read in October, 2008

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, and cas...more 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, and casts doubt on the historical accuracy of the many passages. The opinion of Scarlett and her class (inherant in the narration of the text) is that blacks were better off in slavery where they were 'well taken care of', abuses of slavery were very few, house black slave who stayed with their masters were the cream of the African crop, and free blacks who left their owners were lazy, unintelligent and often criminal. These views are repugnant, not to mention inaccurate. As one would imagine, immersed in the Confederate perspective, the Union and it's actions, particularly as relates to Reconstruction in Georgia are also not presented favorably. Carpetbaggers and Scallawags, familiar, formless, terms from somewhere way back are now clear to me, at least the Old South perception of them! Reading this book has led me to put some non-fiction books about the social ideas and ideals of the Confederacy on my 'to-read' list.

The most intriging theme of this work to me was the cross-cultural conflict inherent in the fall of the South. The author successfully illustrates the incredible difficulty faced by those captured in tumultuous times. Old, familiar, ideas about life and living (class stratification, roles of men and women, economy, standards of living, etc.) are dying and completely new ones are rising. The same thing in constantly occuring throughout history, but there are certain times in which this change is so swift that a single generation has to absorb the shock. Such is the experience of these characters. As in real life, some adjust quickly (almost seeing it before it comes - though those who do are usually initially rejected because people don't want to see it), some adjust eventually, and some cannot make the change. While Southern racism has always perplexed me, I felt I could understand the aristocratic longing for the old familiar days, and I could comprehend how the preparation young people received in the old days was completely inadequate for the war and post-war realities. It also vividly captured why Southerners were so willing to die for their great Cause (the Cause being the way of life of which slavery was the foundation), as death, while still being able to hold the old ways dear was so much less taxing than trying to adapt to the changing realities. I can imagine that many people, trapped in aggressive revolutionary times, would feel the same way.

Two things hit me personally. 1) "Your sins are as scarlet will be washed white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18) Scarlett took the sin level to new heights, and yet God would also forgive her through Jesus. For some reason this really struck me. 2) Scarlett was torn between her admiration for her mother, whom she is nothing like, and her personality which is more like her father. This struck me as theme in my life. When I became a mother, I thought I would be a lot like my mother, but I don't possess her strengths. Scarlett's struggle illuminated mine and helped me take another step to embracing who God made me to be.

As for Scarlett and Rhett themselves, along with Melanie and Ashley, there was a considerable amount of character development. However, I cannot help but note that while most chose to see Scarlett and Rhett as heroes worthy of imiation, both their characters unravel to the destruction of themselves and those around them (especially Scarlett's poor children). The consequences of their selfish actions are horrifying. While Melanie and Ashley behave more admirably, they are less successful in the world, and Ashley fails to achieve the happiness and peace that Melanie seems to possess in herself and bestow on those around her. In the end, Melanie, great lady she was, appears to me the heroine, even if she was flawed (her commitment to the glory of the Confederacy for example), and the story naturally closes with her death as her counterbalance to Scarlett is removed. The character of Scarlett, while softened by the late revelations of the book is still incredibly distasteful. Ending with Scarlett's dawn of understanding implied to me the wisdom she gained (as with so many previous...) was rather momentary and Scarlett would return to her destructive quest for materialistic survival. Generally, I don't like to be left hanging with relationships unresolved, but after reading over 1000 pages, I found I agreed with Rhett in that "I don't give a damn" what Scarlett does now! (less)

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Aug 03, 2007

Theresa Abney rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

bookshelves: oldreads

Read in January, 1999

"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...more

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Mar 06, 2008

Alia rated it:

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recommends it for: Folks working on anti-racist work

This was my favorite book throughout junior high school. I remember reading it several times, then putting it away until my senior year of college. I wrote my senior history thesis on white stereotypes/nostalgia surrounding the "Mammy" character and my professor asked me to re-read GWTW again.

Although this book has chunks that are flat-out racist, portraying Black characters as simpletons who need the "gentle hand of civilizing slavery", it still makes for a facin...more This was my favorite book throughout junior high school. I remember reading it several times, then putting it away until my senior year of college. I wrote my senior history thesis on white stereotypes/nostalgia surrounding the "Mammy" character and my professor asked me to re-read GWTW again.

Although this book has chunks that are flat-out racist, portraying Black characters as simpletons who need the "gentle hand of civilizing slavery", it still makes for a facinating story and an excellent piece of literature. I can easily think of several examples of how and why Mitchell incorporates racism into this book. GWTW was written in the 1920s, not exactly the most shining period of race relations in the US, eh? GWTW is an idyllic look at the Old South by a white southern woman. What I did in my thesis was look at fiction such as GWTW, poetry and etc, written by white southerners after slavery had ended, then compared these works to true-life accounts of slavery- violence against Black women in particular. It doesn't trouble me that GWTW is racist. What troubles me is that there exist people today who deny that it's racist.

So why do I love this novel so much?

Scarlett O'Fucking Hara. Scarlett O'Hara is so ruthless, so tenacious and single-minded, it's pure entertainment to see how far she will go to get what she wants (men, money, a garish mansion when all of her "good society" friends are starving). What strikes me the most about Scarlett is how dead wrong she is about everyone else's emotions, thought processes and feelings. As a voyouristic reader, I get swept up into Scarlett's world and into the gossip scene of Atlanta. I find myself cheering her on for being such a rule breaker and havoc creater because she is a character of fiction. Were she to exist in real life, no one would really stand beside her- not even a Melanie. The only person she would have beside her would be Mammy and this would be because Mammy wouldn't have any other occupational choice available to her.(less)

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Jun 20, 2007

Alien Citizen rated it:

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This book = A racist piece of trash. Stay tuned for a more in depth analysis but if this is your favorite book then don't kid yourself that I would want to be friends with you. I think it says a lot about the United States and its bigoted culture that this is so celebrated a novel.

Addendum: See the comments to this review for the more in depth (albeit short) discussion for and against this novel.

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Jul 13, 2009

Helynne rated it:

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Read in March, 1967

Gone with the Wind has had such phenomenal world popularity over the decades and has been reviewed so many times, that I am sure the world is not waiting for my comments. However, as this is one of my all-time favorite books, I really feel the need to put in some of the reasons for my five-start rating. Gone with the Wind has never been included in the realm of great literature, probably because of its sheer readability and compelling narration that kept most of us as teen-agers turning page...more Gone with the Wind has had such phenomenal world popularity over the decades and has been reviewed so many times, that I am sure the world is not waiting for my comments. However, as this is one of my all-time favorite books, I really feel the need to put in some of the reasons for my five-start rating. Gone with the Wind has never been included in the realm of great literature, probably because of its sheer readability and compelling narration that kept most of us as teen-agers turning pages furiously through the wee-small hours of the night. But, then again, Les Miserables, which takes place in approximately the same time period, is not considered great literature, either (certainly not anything in the realm of its contemporaries Madame Bovary or Le Rouge et le Noir), for basically the same reasons. But Victor Hugo is deservedly recognized as a great man of letters for his other works, especially his poetry. One can only wonder why Margaret Mitchell, who lived several years after the publication of her great tour de force, did not bless the rest of us with more literary works, some of which may well have leapt into a higher level of literary luminescence. Great literature standards aside, Gone with the Wind is a marvelous book because of its wonderful characters, so realistic and well developed, and the sheer breadth of its scope. We all studied in school about slavery, the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation, the resoration period, the carpet-baggers, etc., but this story really makes that period of history come alive through the involvement of its vivid characters in these monumental events as well as their everyday activities in the 19th-century American South--cuisine, fashion, manners, taboos, etc.. From the very first line of the book, "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom noticed it when caught in her charms as the Tarlton boys were" to the very last line, "I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day!" the story crackles with intensity, deep meaning, and superior reader appeal, and makes us care about these people and how they will fare through all the tragedy and difficulty that war, depression, and readjustment to an entirely different post-war world thurst upon them. Ashley Wilkes may not be the strongest or most admirable character in the novel, but one really feels for the type of person he is--raised in a world that had a certain kind of dreaminess and symetry--like Greek art--where he could "quietly watch life go by, never really being a part of it." Ashley realizes after his brave service in the Confederate Army that such rich, plantation life is over forever (hence, the title, which is never really explained in the book, only hinted at). Now, Ashley and many like him have been catapulted into world in which they will never really fit. Splitting rails in the windswept orchard of Tara--work for which he will never be suited--Ashley tells Scarlett that their former world of plantations and slavery is facing a kind of Gotterdammerung--a twilight of the gods--an aftermath of war wherein only the strong will survive and the weak will be winnowed out. Ashley is perceptive enough to recognize how close he is to personal destruction because his world is now gone. How Scarlett and others keep from being winnowed out is not always a admirable story, but certainly an inspirational tale of determination and survival. One always remembers Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley, Melanie, Mammy, and the hysterical Prissy, but other characters push the action along as well--Gerald O'Hara, faithful Pork, silly Aunt Pittypat, haughty Dolly Merriweather, Frank Kennedy, and Belle Watling, the good-hearted madam and as good a Confederate patriot as there ever was. I also like Archie, who was left out of the four-hour film, but is still an interesting example of survival and unyielding loyalty to a cause. Great book, great read, great entertainment. The film is wonderful, but not enough. Grab the long, printed saga, and enjoy!(less)

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Jun 05, 2008

Judy rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

bookshelves: romance

Read in June, 2008

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 thei...more

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Apr 16, 2008

Jeana rated it:

(review of isbn 068483068X)

bookshelves: beloved-classics, book-club-books

Read in January, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 27, 2008

Brian rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Brian by: Laura Dix
recommends it for: Emily, Melisa

Well, finished this a few weeks ago after occasional gaps in progress and indeed enjoyed it immensely. I was probably a little premature after reading two chapters to dismiss it as white-supremacist propaganda.

Still, the book's depiction of slavery is justifiably controversial, and apparently a wide range of views have been speculatively assigned to the author. I'm willing to buy Em's offering that it's written from the authentic viewpoint of the slave-holding aristocracy without Mi...more

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Jun 16, 2007

Matthew Klobucher rated it:

(review of isbn 0446675539)

This is probably one of the most famous stories ever to be written by an American author, though perhaps few now have read the book (and marginally more have seen the movie). It is a brutal romance, filled with sweeping generalizations and overwhelming stereotypes, but nevertheless the characters have an evident humanity about them. Scarlett and Rhett are both disgustingly large personalities, and Ashley is disgustingly weak; the only really pleasant character is Melanie (who suffers constantly ...more

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