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June/July BOTM "Gone With the Wind" FINAL RATING and comments
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Sylvia
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Jul 09, 2019 01:11PM
When you finish reading Gone With the Wind, (even if you didn't get through it all), please comment below: Give the novel a rating of 1 - 5 stars, share what you like or didn't like about the book and or the discussion group. And please include where are you from, and the ways in which you participated in this GR group. The moderators would love to hear all your input to improve future BsOTM.
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Five stars.I absolutely loved this book. I had never read it before, but I do remember having to watch the movie when I was in middle school. I loved the complexity of the characters, seeing them grow over a decade or so, and viewing the world through Scarlett's eyes. I also loved how long the book was - I always feel more attached to characters the longer I get to spend with them.
I was a silent participant for this book, but I really enjoy reading everyone's commentary for each section. It really makes you think. I can't wait for the next book! (Also, because I just reread the instructions and I forgot, I'm from West Virginia.)
Five star book. I am from Birmingham, Alabama, and have lived in the deep south for most of my 63 years. GWTW has been an almost lifelong companion. I read it first in the seventh grade after my mother and I went to the Alabama theater to see the movie (the Alabama theater is an old, beautifully decorated movie palace and showed the film when it originally came out.) I think I must have been too young to fully appreciate the film but I started the book the next day and it blew me away. I read it the first time in three or four days. Since then I have read it countless times, although with the exception of the audiobook, I haven't read it for years now. I did recently listen to it on Audible and liked it as an audiobook too, once I got used to the narrator. Over the years I have admired and somewhat envied Scarlett and also disliked her. I still admire her for the bravery to go after what she wanted, proper behavior be damned. But I pity her for her lack of insight into the behavior of others and most importantly herself. I remain hopeful that she and Rhett reconcile one day, even though I know we pay a permanent price for some of life's harder lessons.
Judy wrote: "Five star book. I am from Birmingham, Alabama, and have lived in the deep south for most of my 63 years. GWTW has been an almost lifelong companion. I read it first in the seventh grade after my mo..."I definitely agree its a 5 star book. It was my mothers favorite book. She grew up in Mississippi and my sister and I read it when we were about 12 and 11. Mom always quoted from it.
Mom always admired Scarlett as she said she was a "survivor". She was immature but so young. She had enormous courage. I enjoyed the movie which I finally saw when I was about 19 or so but the book is way better as so many interesting details are missing from the movie.
I don't much care if Rhett and Scarlett ever get back together. As Mom said it was realistic book and people often fall out of love or have other problems with each other.
Sylvia thank you for the experience to re-read this book I was too young when I read it at first but now I really understand the complexity in the depth of character and I really appreciated reading it . it made my summer too ! thank you
I am still waiting for a discussion of Steinbeck’s “The Wayward Bus.”
i’m from Atlanta, GA, born and raised here, and have heard so much about this story all my life (and watched the movie as a teenager several times). though daunting, i was excited to finally read this book, and it was actually a “quick” and easy read for one so big. i realized that i only remembered bits and pieces from when i watched the movie years ago, so it was nice to get the full story. i was definitely made uncomfortable by some of the language used, even though it was common for the time period, and made me glad that i grew up in the south these days rather than those. i thought i would hate scarlett by the end but i admired her in the end as a strong-willed character for her time period. glad i read it! gave it 4 stars.
Daphne wrote: "I posted an updated review. Yes I did re-read this massive book! I had to order a copy because my copy is too delicate (purchased when book was first released). While I do enjoy this book as a sort..."Daphne, thank you for the honest response. I've heard this mentioned many times, the unrealistic portrayal of history, and believe that is why this classic does not show up on reading lists in high schools anymore. It's definitely making me want to look up critiques online to learn and better understand our own history.
David wrote: "Let’s read Walker Percy"Loved Love in the Ruins. What is your favorite book by him?
I am so glad you picked this book, it has been years since I read it and I am enjoying the reread! I was trying to think of another book where I don't like the main character, but love her like I do Scarlett.. does that make sense? I mean she starts out so whiny and selfish and just NOT someone I would want to be around,, but yet I still just love her..
I read GWTW in college years ago and it was one of my all-time favorite books. I decided to re-read it and it's still one of my favorites. I appreciate it more as an adult than I did in my late teens. I think one of the main themes is perspective. We are reading this through Scarlett's perspective, and therefore Margaret Mitchell's too. While it may not be the most historically accurate, it's still a great read. Another main theme is character and how everyone evolves as time continues on and the characters find out who they really are when tragedy happens.
I finished GWTW a few days ago. Sorry I’ve been a little challenged to keep up with the reviewing as I am getting ready to have surgery for my neck. It is easy to forgot the life’s challenges of our past ancestors. This book is a great reminder of the things others went through to get us to the current days! The hardships & sacrifice is eye opening. Scarlett & Rhett have both gone through a lot. I couldn’t imagine losing a child. Scarlett realizing her love for Rhett & her feelings for Ashely were not what she had thought most of her life. The death of Melanie & her asking Scarlett to look after Ashely & Beau I think really opened Scarlett’s eyes.
Loved the reading challenge over the last couple of months & enjoyed all of the comments.
Thank you for organizing this adventure
I read this book multiple times in my teens and early 20s and have watched the movie multiple times over the years since then. I am glad I read the book again. It is wonderful to watch all of the characters grow and change over the decade this novel covers. It really helped me to understand how the war and reconstruction shaped and forever changed those in the deep South. Mitchell’s vivid descriptions easily transported me into the setting and added to my appreciation of the book.
At times though, I found myself cringing while reading this book. Although I realize that we need to read it as a period piece, it often was not easy to go beyond my 2019 sensibilities. The descriptions of freed slaves, the apologist attitude for the Klan, the marital rape scene, the fact that a 37ish year old Rhett was pursuing an 18 year old Scarlett. All of these made me cringe and did affect my reading of the novel.
I am from NJ. I followed along with the comments, but didn’t contribute much online. My daughter had reread this book earlier this year, so we ended up having some very interesting conversations along the way.
Sylvia wrote: "When you finish reading Gone With the Wind, (even if you didn't get through it all), please comment below: Give the novel a rating of 1 - 5 stars, share what you like or didn't like about the book ..."I absolutely loved this book. I really admired Scarlett's bravery and
I also loved Melly in this book- she had a lot more gumption and guts than Olivia de Havilland's portrayal of her. I loved the scene where Scarlett was crying because she saw girls in pretty dresses riding in a carriage and she had to wear black- Melly and Aunt PP both though she was crying for her husband- she was just being a seventeen year old girl. Some of the attitudes are difficult, but I viewed it as anachronistic-a reflection of attitudes of some people of the time. I have no doubt that Scarlett will win Rhett back in the future. I will read this again but I am sad that I can never read it again for the first time-if that makes sense; there were so many exciting and shocking parts that I know about now. A great, great book.
Mod
I read it years ago and it made quite the impression. Im from NC. The history I think is pretty accurate, so it helps me understand the effect it had on society. Like all great books, there are some things I took to heart, such as "trash come out of de high places, same as de low", "there's as much money to be made from the tearing down of a civilization as there is in building one up," and of course "I won't think about that today, I will think about it tomorrow." But now, I see the rise of the for-profit prisons and I wonder how we came full circle. In this light, I dont see Scarlett as a hero any more. Johnny was right, she might fuss at first, but it was more convenient to ignore. A remarkable book on humans and how they cope and react to what life throws at them.
I guess I'm the odd one out here - probably the only one who got mad at it, and the only one rating it 3 stars. I would have rated it 5 bc for a book about the Civil War (usually don't go for those) it was SO FASCINATING, and I kept wanting to read more. But bc of the ending I have to go with three - this is actually the first book that made me cry, and I only cried out of anger and frustration that this stuff would happen.Though for ppl like me who hated the ending, I just gotta say, I really do think they end up together. Every time Scarlett says she'll think about it in the morning, those things turn out in the end and she succeeds. Also, Tara is like her stronghold, and she can go and sort out her thoughts there. Another thing, he says he'll come back every couple months so that no one will think anything of it and they can keep scandal at bay, so my belief is that she'll slowly but surely win him back.
All that said, I still can't get over Bonnie and that's another reason why it lost a star. If it hadn't been for her, I would have said four stars bc I did really like it - until that point and then I quickly started to hate it. I understand that it was well-written, but that makes it worse bc it makes it believable. I do recognize good writing though and am astonished at how hooked I was from the very first. The writing and the storytelling is either like nothing I've ever heard before or it's just about a time that is so different from mine that it was fascinating. But I loved the writing and it just wouldn't let me stop reading, I got way ahead of the group and had to make myself do other stuff to distract me from thinking about the book - it was unlike any book I've ever read and by now you're probably bored so I'm done! If you want to be discouraged and annoyed, go read the book! It's probably worth it, maybe, I think, I hope?
(edit: first time reading it, btw, I forgot to mention that)
Mod
I live in Noblesville, IN. I fell in love with all the characters. But, I must admit Captain Butler was my favorite. He was able to transcend between the two societies and still kept his suave and charm. His most amazing triumph was gaining the trust of the Old Guard again which is not an easy task. Beautiful written novel that has every range of emotion of the human experience.
Without this GR group I would not have attempted reading such a giant novel on my own. To know others were reading with me and sharing comments gave me the confidence to take on such a big challenge. Enjoy Reading, 📚
Without this GR group I would not have attempted reading such a giant novel on my own.aw, me neither, that's part of what I love about this group, we push each other to try new things! I agree, Butler was my favorite after I got over my initial distaste for him 😂😂
