Gone with the Wind in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jun 26, 2009 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, movie, own, southern-lit, literature, concierge, strong-women, women-writers, library, pulitzer

UPDATED REVIEW January 2012

Book on CD performed by Linda Stephens
5*****

The first time I read this Pulitzer winner was when I was in high school(circa 1967). The movie had just been re-released and my best friend and I saw it about 8 times. She still had the best plot description I've ever heard: "This is the story of Rhett Butler who loves Scarlett O'Hara, who loves Ashley Wilkes, who loves Melanie Hamilton, who loves everyone, including the town tart Belle Watling, who loves Rhett Butler, who l UPDATED REVIEW January 2012

Book on CD performed by Linda Stephens
5*****

The first time I read this Pulitzer winner was when I was in high school(circa 1967). The movie had just been re-released and my best friend and I saw it about 8 times. She still had the best plot description I've ever heard: "This is the story of Rhett Butler who loves Scarlett O'Hara, who loves Ashley Wilkes, who loves Melanie Hamilton, who loves everyone, including the town tart Belle Watling, who loves Rhett Butler, who loves Scarlett..."

I've since read the book a second and now a third time and recognize more depth than our first summary. Yes, it is still a love story. But it is also a quintessential Southern book, a quintessential great American novel, a quintessential exploration of war and its aftermath, and a quintessential character study of Scarlett O’Hara’s evolution from spoiled girl to unstoppable woman.

Critics have panned the book as superfluous and romantic. The book has outlived those critics, and will continue to outlive critics, mostly because Mitchell could really write. She crafted a story that may take a thousand pages but reads as if it were a short novel. She manages to give the many characters (I lost track, but I wouldn’t be surprised to know there are over 100) unique voices, so the reader is never confused (and this is really important when listening to the audio). And the characters who people her book present the full spectrum of human traits, from best to worst. These are the qualities that make the book such an enduring favorite, and really a classic work of literature.

Is the book without flaws? Of course not. I cringe at the romantic version of the Ku Klux Klan – something akin to a fraternity or a Rotary Club. I am appalled at how often she compares the “darkies” to children or, worse yet, apes. But I am still caught up in the story, and that is the reason most people read novels – for a good story. And it was the story that first captured my attention and my heart, and it is the story that still earns it 5 stars.

Linda Stephens does a fine job of narrating the audio version, though I thought her Scarlett sounded too mature at the beginning of the book – Scarlett is only 16 when we first meet her, and I thought her voice should have a higher pitch. But that's really a minor quibble. ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jul 03, 2008 Suzanne rated it liked it

Call me crazy, but I never got what the big deal about this book was. Maybe a generational thing......

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May 16, 2010 Kim DeCina rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites, racist-bullshit, amazing-characters

Utterly incredible as a love story and a character study of four people, and a look at values vs practicality and what that does to a society. Marred a lot by its values dissonance re: the Old South and the KKK, since according to Mitchell (or Mitchell citing the ideas of the time, I could never figure out which) it's unthinkable that white people should have to work and that black people are anything better than overgrown children "tricked" into thinking they have the right to be free and vote. ...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-recommend, 2010-book-list, classics

Wow - this book was incredible. The history, the characters, the pain, sorrow, betrayal, humility, love, loyalty . . . I found myself crying many times in this book. Margaret Mitchell portrayed such real characters & had me feeling so much love and frustration for them. It was at first encouraging, but then heartbreaking to see the path that Scarlett took in her life. She is a survivor, but at the cost of so much! I absolutely loved Melanie & Mammy, & wanted to love Rhett too, but like Scarlett, ...more

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