Gone with the Wind in Reading the Chunksters

Mar 19, 2014 Cindy Newton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, owned-books

This is the first time I've read this book in more than twenty years, and I was curious to see how it would hold up to my memories. And the verdict is . . . I still love it! It's still a gripping story, and Scarlett is still the girl you love to hate. The prose is beautiful; there are so many quotable lines that I didn't even try to post them all on my status updates. It is extremely racist, but then it is set in an extremely racist period and told from the perspective of the most racist people This is the first time I've read this book in more than twenty years, and I was curious to see how it would hold up to my memories. And the verdict is . . . I still love it! It's still a gripping story, and Scarlett is still the girl you love to hate. The prose is beautiful; there are so many quotable lines that I didn't even try to post them all on my status updates. It is extremely racist, but then it is set in an extremely racist period and told from the perspective of the most racist people from that time. In addition, the book is written and published in a different, yet also very racist time period. While it is painful for us to read today the terms in which black people are described in the book, we know that this is probably the way they were thought of at that time. While I can believe that there were probably some plantation owners who did not spend all their time beating their slaves bloody, to categorize any of the freed slaves as preferring the chains of bondage to freedom is very difficult for me to believe!

This book was the first book I had ever read that introduced me to a main character who was not good; not only is she not good, but most of the time she makes no effort to even try to do the right thing. She is unabashedly selfish, but she does take care of her own. She's not a likable character, but most of the time you understand why she does the things she does. Especially during and immediately after the end of the war, the choices she makes are made with her back to the wall. If she had not done the things she did, they would have lost everything--it was a matter of survival. Later, though, after she is more comfortably situated, you find it harder to excuse her choices. Of course, by that time, she has become so hardened by life that she no longer worries about what the right thing is or what people think. At this point, the reader's sympathy for her wanes. No matter how unlikeable she is, though, she remains fascinating. I didn't like what she did, but I was very interested in reading about it.

*** SPOILER ***

One thing that did bother me now that I have quite a few more years under my belt is the big epiphany at the end. Scarlett suddenly discovers that the woman she hates is actually someone she can't live without, that she suddenly can't stand the man she has adored for over ten years, and that she is wildly, passionately in love with the man she despised--all of this within the space of about five minutes. Is this even humanly possible? I mean, really--can you deeply love someone you think you hate? I don't mean the kind of hate where you have a fight with someone and temporarily hate them for a couple of hours or days. I mean consistently hate them for over ten years. You see them every day, even live with them for several years, and believe you hate them every day during that time, but you actually love them so much you don't know how you will live without them. Is it possible to be deeply in love with someone while thinking you hate them, for years?

I get that the point is that Scarlett is bull-headed and that she refuses to explore her feelings, but come on! I don't think that anyone can be that blind to their own feelings about everyone in their lives. She's not the only one. Ashley apparently believes that Scarlett is sweet and compassionate, despite having proof of the opposite in front of him every day. He works for her and sees evidence of her underhanded dealings and her unconcern for the welfare of the convicts and it makes no impression on him. Melanie, too, is blind where Scarlett is concerned. It interests me that she would latch on to Scarlett so persistently and choose to make someone so incompatible with herself her confidante. India is her sister-in-law, too, and India is smart, well-educated, refined, and a good person--all the things Scarlett is not, and all the things that Melanie would seem to desire in a friend. Why doesn't Melanie bond with India? Oh, well. Without their blindnesses, there wouldn't be a story, so I can live with it!

Despite my criticism above, I really do love this book. In addition to just being a great story, it has such sentimental value to me. Like I said, it introduced me to the unsympathetic main character, and it also was the first unhappy ending I had ever experienced. It really expanded my reading horizons, and that's always a good thing! I'm also southern, and while slavery is something that will forever be a horrendous, shameful period in our history, there is more to the south than slavery. I'm glad we lost the Civil War, but I still have pride in the south of today. ...more

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Oct 30, 2015 Alana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, books-to-film, historical-fiction, political, classics, pulitzer-prize-fiction, boxall-s-1001-books, christians-should-read

I read this years ago, while in middle school, I believe, and tore through the entire thing in a weekend. Took me almost two weeks this time, but not for lack of enjoyment! I listened to the audio, narrated well, allowing the characters to come even more to life with great accents and the flavor of the times.

The book was a much richer experience this time around, since as an adult I could understand better the complexities of the politics of the time, the power changing hands, the devastation of ...more

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Jul 15, 2014 Biblio Curious rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-western, 30-favorites-pre-2017

Well worth the read, all 1400 pages! The character development is fantastic. Watching the characters make their choices and how they affect each other is brilliant. The characters can be personifications of the different parts of Southern Society.

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Nov 14, 2013 cloudyskye rated it it was amazing

My impressions aren't all that fresh, I read this book ages ago - 5 times over. I learned so much about the Old South, and it actually improved my English no end as a nice side effect. The characters are so well written, it's always showing, never telling. At first I couldn't stand Scarlett O'Hara, but she really grew on me and I started identifying with her. True, she is not romantic or sentimental at all, she is selfish and quite ruthless - but she doesn't run away from difficult situations, s ...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Kaycie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001_read, favorites

I'm going to go against most opinions if this book, but Scarlet O'Hara is my all-time favorite literary character. I can relate to her more than most characters in any novel and love seeing how strong she is in the face of such adversity. Yes, she does some awful things, but one can learn to have her strength but just make some better decisions.

This book is wonderful. I love every part of it from the descriptions of pre and post war south, the love story, the tragedy, and the strong, wonderful c ...more

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Aug 11, 2013 Lisa rated it liked it

Shelves: bbc-100, guardian-1000, american-classics, mishmash-lisa

Meh!
I honestly did not get the hype. And I tried.
Spoilt Scarlet O'Hara loves Ashley Wilkes purely because she has decided she should. (I could honestly never figure out why) but Ashley marries Melanie.
Scarlett survives this rejection, several disastrous romantic entanglements and the American Civil War purely by being selfish. For 1000 pages!
Our only comedic reprieve is Rhett Butler who is more cad than romantic hero.
If it wasn't for Mammy and Melanie Wilkes, I would never have finished this bo ...more

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Apr 01, 2014 J_BlueFlower rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-read, 1001, 1001-best, ebook, catching-up-read

This book covers so much grown. Most book at 1000+ pages are long, but this one is so condensed. The world is seen though southern eyes and you get to understand how the world was back then in a way I doubt a history lesson could do. All characters are well written and not only the main characters develop. Again, a huge amount of character development for the amount of pages. I would say that Scarlett goes through at least three phases of personality.

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