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Gone with the Wind
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2017 Yearly Read: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Allison, Mod Nerd
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Jan 04, 2017 11:33AM
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My local library only lends out books for one month, and the library I work for doesn't have it, so, instead of renewing it twelve times (which I don't even know if the library would let me do!) I've downloaded a PDF of it. I'm a little wary, because I hate reading things off screens, but since we're reading it throughout the entire year, I think it'll be ok! I'm excited for our group to read it :)
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Erin wrote: "My library's lending period is 3 weeks. If there are no holds, you can renew 3 times online and then you have to renew in person. I've never needed a book longer than that, so I don't know how long..."I should probably ask my library what their rules are. Actually, I should probably know already, because I've been going there since I could read! Since the library I work for is a college library, the lending period is 16 weeks, but since I'm an employee, I technically can have it for as long as I want. Other employees can have books for over a year, but library employees can have it until someone requests it, if they even do. The staff actually will request books for the library that they want to read, and then basically just take it and own it. But that's a secret :p we're lucky in the fact that it's an engineering/science/technology school, so students usually don't check out leisure reading books.
In SOME countries, the copyright for Gone with the Wind (first published ~80 years ago) has expired, so it is legal to distribute it freely there (public domain book).Technically, it won't be a free / public domain book in the USA until ~ 2031.
I will simply point out that Australia's book copyright periods are shorter than America's, so GWTW has been in the public domain "Down Under" for a few years (unless their copyright laws have changed; I am no expert).
So, I'll mention an interesting link from The University of Adelaide, a respectable educational institution in Australia:
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/mitc...
(see download links at bottom of the web page)
or their home page:
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/
Or ask around... parents or grandparents or relatives probably have 1 or more printed copies lying around ;)
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Technically, it..."
OMG, that's awesome! I will be flying up to NJ in March leaving my son and hubby at home so I'll have ample reading time then but was not planning to bring a massive book with me. Now I can read it on my phone! Thanks!
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I have. I've only finished the first chapter, though. Tomorrow should be slow at work, so hopefully I can get some more reading done then.
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Awesome!
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No worries, you'll get to it soon, I'm sure! ;-)
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Glad you are liking GWTW, Erin. I'm not sure if I'll attempt it, but I probably should. Somehow I've gotten through life in the South without ever reading it, but that's not the sort of thing that us Southeners should admit. ;p
I've resting beside me but I'm having my dilemmas.
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Glad you're enjoying it!
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Yep, we might be able to revoke your Southern License until you've read it! Lol jk ;-)
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What's up?
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I'm eager to see how Rhett comes back into the picture. I believe I've only seen the movie once and it was a long time ago so I don't really remember any of it :-P
Does anyone have a first edition (1936) of GWTW laying around?Check out the AbeBooks.com prices for the first edition:
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...
Although it's apparently possible to get an unsigned copy for under 100 bucks:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Books/267/i.h...
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I'm eager to see how Rhett comes back into the picture...."
So glad to hear you're enjoying it.
I might have the first Dutch edition of gone with the wind. I found the three books on a market once and just bought them because of the atmosphere that was around it. I'm not shure though, because in the book it doesn't say the year it was published.
They look like this: (if putting the HTML down finally works out ;-) )
Gejaagd door de wind II: Als een vlam in de storm
The pages have turned brownish and the books smell so wonderful!
Although buying them just to be able to look at and maybe sniff a little, I later on read it and loved the story. I'm rereading it now.
Reading GWTW in Dutch! You go, Pien ;)~~~
For those of you who finish GWTW and want more:
I know, I could read Dutch the moment I learned how to read. It came naturally ;-D
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I agree! I do find Scarlett funny, because she's so dramatic, and I feel for her, because she's only 17 and can't really experience a young adulthood, but she can be extremely annoying.I really like Rhett as a character too. I think he's a foil to the romanticized South, and I enjoy that. The South really thought that they could beat the North, because they had money and strong bloodlines, but of course, that's not how you win wars, and Rhett points that out to them. He, like Erin said, also challenges Scarlett, which is good for her, but also for dismantling the notion that pretty, young Southern belles should get whatever they want.
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I'm quite enjoying all the "war talk" as I never cared for history in school and therefore retained very little knowledge about any of it.
Erin wrote: "I've made it 1/3 way through and, honestly, every time I pick it up, I get completely sucked in. My plan was to read one chapter every day or so, but I can't do it. I devour a handful of chapters a..."I agree! I find it so hard to put down (or, in this case since I'm reading a PDF, to X out of it :P). Unfortunately, since I read it at work mostly, I'm only ever able to read a chapter at a time.
I also like the war talk. I've lived in New York all my life, and so, of course, I really only learned about our "side" of the war. It wasn't so much, "oh, the South is bad! The North demolished them!" but more so, "slavery is an absolute disgusting practice and the north was opposed to it, and we were much more technologically advanced and that's why we won." We (or, at my high school, at least) also learn in school that in the south, they aren't taught about the "Civil War" per say, but instead, about the "northern aggression". (Can anyone from the south tell me if that's true or not? I learned that when I was 16 and I never knew if it was actually true!)
Of course, we can all agree that slavery is disgusting and wrong, but I think, regardless of where you live, it's an interesting thing to learn about, because it's taught with so many twists and biases in it. It wasn't actually until I did my own research, and took a course in college about it, that I really learned all the intricacies about it. But coming from a strictly northern background, it's very interesting for me to read about this time period from a southerner who grew up with the stories from the generations of people who actually lived through it.
Kelsey wrote: ...We (or, at my high school, at least) also learn in school that in the south, they aren't taught about the "Civil War" per say, but instead, about the "northern aggression". (Can anyone from the south tell me if that's true or not?..."Growing up in the South, as far as I remember, the printed term in textbooks was "The Civil War." The other name was sometimes mentioned as an aside, as was another version: "The War Between the States."
I have heard folks here in North Florida / South Jawja* occasionally say "the War of Northern Aggression," in conversation but usually in a bit of a joking manner, as in:
Yankee: "Are there any Civl War monuments to visit around here?"
Me: "Yes, if by 'Civil War,' you are referring to The Wah of Naw-thun Uh-greshun.."
Truthfully, we call it The Civil War among ourselves. Maybe 3 or more generations ago, the "Northern Aggression" version was more common? Also, I can't speak for states that I know less about -- such as Alabama (which basically is Jawja*, 20 years ago, as we sometimes joke).
*Georgia, ha ha
~~~~~~
Also: there's a common joke around these parts that goes like this:
"I was 12 years old before I realized that 'damn Yankee' was actually TWO words."
StarMan wrote: "Kelsey wrote: ...We (or, at my high school, at least) also learn in school that in the south, they aren't taught about the "Civil War" per say, but instead, about the "northern aggression". (Can an..."Oh, that's so interesting! The teacher I had at the time hated teaching the Civil War, so we spent three days on it, and she was the one who told us about the "northern aggression" thing.
I have heard that joke before! I think I might have picked it up from The Golden Girls, oddly enough. Actually, an episode was on last night where Blanche (who was born in Georgia, in case you don't know the show) was going on and on about her senior prom, and how her and this guy Benjamin, both of whom had feelings for the other, almost couldn't go together, because the whole town was against it. The other two, Dorothy and Rose, mistook Benjamin to be black, to which Blanche replied: "Why, Benjamin wasn't black. He was from New Jersey... I went to my senior prom with a Yankee!"
Oh, and I really enjoyed your southern phonetic accent! :)
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I recently ordered the DVD to watch after I finish the book... and I am definitely eager to finish the book! Somehow, the one thing I actually remembered was (view spoiler) and that was in the chapter I just finished :-P
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Is anyone else still reading this one or planning to? Where are my peeps who voted for it?
:-P
Hi Erin,I finished the first book two weeks ago (in my case, it's devided in three books, not shure if that's always the case?)
I'm now reading the time travelers wife and after that will take on book two!
Pien wrote: "I finished the first book two weeks ago ... I'm now reading the time travelers wife...."
Way to go, Pien and Erin. Good progress on GWTW, our 2017 Yearly book. I admit I haven't started it yet, and I'm not sure if I will. But I may speed-read it at some point (yes, Snails are permitted to read fast, sometimes!)
I have not started GWTW yet. Reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "The Count of Monte Cristo" along with a few other books here and there. Those are keeping me busy. Our high school has the annual Kindle Tournament (like March Madness but with books instead of basketballs) which has us reading books and rating them to figure out which one moves on. Then the challenges which are helping me reduce my TBR list but there are always new ones to add. :-)
I haven't read it in literally a month. I miss it! I just haven't had the time, unfortunately.
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I feel like the pace has changed... Early on, there seemed to be a lot more detail and the story didn't feel rushed, but now it does. I felt like I got to savor it before and now it's just being shoveled down my throat. Or maybe I'm just struggling now because I don't want it to end :-P
I'm interested to see what others think.
Are y'all enjoying reading this longer book? Do you approach reading longer books differently than a shorter mass-market paperback?
Is GWTW a book you can put down for days or weeks, then easily pick back up again?
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I loved the first half, but the second half felt rushed, like there were more places where long periods of time are skipped over. (view spoiler)
It somehow felt disjointed and I had trouble keeping track of how much time was passing, though I did enjoy it overall.
Initially, my plan of approach was to read a chapter or two every day or two, but I got hooked and decided I needed to just devour it :-P
I pretty much devoured The Name of the Wind once I finally found time to get into it. It's not quite as long, but it's still pretty hefty. I do worry that if it takes me too long to work my way through a book I'll start to forget pieces of it before it's even finished and that's no good.
I put the book aside to finish the time travelers wife and have a bit of a hard time starting again. I guess I don't feel very involved because I don't like Scarlett although she's being quite heroic right now. So will I start caring for the story again? I did for the first one-third so I hope I will! For me, it's probably best not to take some time off when it comes to reading a book...
► Who is your favorite non-Scarlett character so far?
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I actually think my favorite character in the story is Rhett. I really liked that he was true to himself, even if he was a rascal. But I also admired (view spoiler)
And also, how could anyone not love the sweet, loyal Melanie? I wish I had a friend like her!
Erin wrote: "StarMan wrote: "► Who is your favorite non-Scarlett character so far?"I actually think my favorite character in the story is Rhett. I really liked that he was true to himself, even if he was a rascal..."
RASCAL! There's a word we don't see used enough.
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Now we just need a few rapscallions, ruffians, and miscreants. Maybe a cad or two, also.
I started GWTW in early March and have had to limit my time on reading it to finish out Spring semester. Now that I have taken finals I am able to devote more time to it, though I am finding that I don't read it as fast as I read other books. I'm on chapter 19 and overall I'm loving it!
I haven't read it since Valentine's Day :( I really need to get back to it, but my summers are usually super busy, and this is the last weekend I work at the library until the fall, which is when I usually read, so I have absolutely no clue when I'll be able to get back to it. I think I'm only on chapter 10 too...
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Name of the Wind (other topics)Gone With the Wind: the Definitive Illustrated History of the Book, the Movie, and the Legend (other topics)
Scarlett (other topics)
Rhett Butler's People (other topics)
Gone With the Wind Cookbook: Famous Southern Cooking Recipes (other topics)
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