Part 1 - Chs 1-7

[Krista]

This is a long one this month. Thanks for joining in! As usual you can read at your own pace. I am dividing this one into 4 sections so I can have a goal for each week. Feel free to read at YOUR pace!

What are your thoughts about Part 1?
How do you think current events might affect your reading of this book?
What are your initial thoughts about Scarlet O'Hara?
How do you like the writing style/pacing/etc?
This book was originally written in 1936. How does the time it was written affect how it was written and how we read it?

[Heather]

For all its length, GWTW is highly readable. The general casual racism and confusing view of women is painful. I don't know how many times I've gone "yikes" so far. The casual cruelty of the slave owners is hard to swallow (Gerald going to tease Pork that he sold him, the Tarleton's threatening to whip Jemme even if it's played off like they don't mean it, etc)

I alternately hate and respect Scarlett. I always forget she's only 16 when this starts so some of her behavior is down to being young, but she's fairly loathesome when it comes to behavior and treatment of others. I respect her nonconformity, but she's mean, vain, self absorbed, and rather stupid intellectually. She's clever, don't get me wrong, but that's different from being smart. She can't grasp why Ashley would say they aren't compatible when it's obvious to everyone but her WHY they aren't. I feel like the movie does Ashley dirty since he really does get the fact you can be attracted to someone without being compatible. It's obvious from the beginning that she doesn't and will never understand Ashley. Meanwhile she and Rhett instantly have a moment of game recognizing game when it comes to their scheming and straightforward natures.

I do have some issues with every male character falling all over themselves for everything Scarlett does. I just find that a bit of a stretch.

[Elsa]

Every time Scarlet described Tara, I heard the movie theme music in my head. Is it just me? I knew Scarlet in real life, I would not like her. Her behavior is despicable; however, she is a more interesting character because of it. She's not even interested in her baby son! The words of the story flow very well. I stumble over the dialect. Mitchell writes the enslaved/slaver relationship as though everyone is one big happy family, free to tease each other with no real harm and glossing over reality. Mammy appears to be the true mistress of the house and O'Hara family. I think in 1936, many white Southerners looked back on the lives of their grandparents as a golden age, sort of the way we look back on "the greatest generation" now.

[Anna]

I'm so excited to read Gone With the Wind! I've really enjoyed the author's writing style.

My initial thought is that Scarlett is a pampered, spoiled, headstrong girl, but I also feel a bit sorry for her because she has to conform to the cultural norm.

The text states, "Large numbers of books always depressed her, as did people who liked to read large numbers of books. That is - all people except Ashley." She truly didn't comprehend how different she and Ashley were.

[Tiki-Tami]

Great start, this is so readable. Some classics take a lot more concentration. Gone with the wind is flowing nicely. After reading part one it makes you realize how young Scarlett was and how that effected her decision making. I was surprised about her having a son. Looking forward to more story line with Scarlett & Rhett. It was a little rough reading the parts involving slaves and servants and how they were spoken to and talked about. It made me think they should do a movie of Gone with the Wind but do it like Downton Abbey, shooting it from the servants perspective.

[Debbi]

I really enjoyed part one. I have seen parts of the movie so I can hear the Southern dialect when I am reading it. I had a hard time with the slave lingo but if I read it out loud to myself it made sense.

At first I keep reminding myself that Scarlett is very young and spoiled but then I really began to dislike her. I deplore how she married poor Charles just to spite everyone else. He was so naive and she took advantage of that, didn't she? Then the poor guy dies from illness not war wounds. He was not only cheated out of love, he was cheated out of becoming a war hero.

I am looking forward to reading more about Scarlett and the rascally Rhett.

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔]

Absolutely not Elsa I do too and him in my head along with the tune lol

[Becka]

Current events affect my reading in two ways: firstly, that it obviously runs counter to today’s values, and secondly, that as I read I need to keep in mind the norms of the historical time period of the Civil War. Obviously, the treatment of slaves and women during Civil War times would not be acceptable to us today, but it is historically accurate. Keeping this in mind allows me to enjoy the novel and appreciate the positive changes in our treatment of others over time. We all know there’s still work to be done on treating others as we want to be treated, but it’s good to acknowledge progress.

In terms of Scarlett, she behaves like the self-centered girl that she is: she loves attention (especially from males), is jealous when other girls get attention, and expects to get her own way without question. She’s not a very likable character in many ways, but thankfully she has LOTS of pages left to experience some much-needed personal growth.

[Leslie]

I have very much enjoyed reading this. I loved the brief interaction between Rhett and Scarlett and am looking forward to more of that.

I guess I’m one of the only people that really like Scarlett, the character. In real life, we wouldn’t be particularly bosom buddies. However, I find her spunk kind of refreshing. Shes living in a man’s world and is using what is available, like family connections and her femininity, to her to get her way (even if she doesn’t really want those things). I think Scarlett is a decent representation of lots of people. Maybe not in the exact same way, per se, but in this incessant longing to be liked, to be accepted, to feel powerful or important (in whatever manifestation) without acknowledging the selfishness (vanity) and manipulation employed to get there. I’m very much looking forward to her growth and hopefully maturity. (As for not caring about her son, that’s really sad but I’m sure not super uncommon if you had a slave to care for the kid or even in more recent times servants/governesses.)

I also really love Scarlett’s dad. The patriarch of most books, provided they aren’t a complete dill weed, is usually one of my favorite characters. I’m a sucker for the father-daughter relationship.

Was I the only one who gasped after the two lines of text that was like ‘Scarlett and Charles got married and two months later she was a widow.’ (Obvi a complete paraphrase) but I was like WOW THAT WAS FAST!! 🤣

[Debbi]

Leslie wrote: "I have very much enjoyed reading this. I loved the brief interaction between Rhett and Scarlett and am looking forward to more of that.

I guess I’m one of the only people that really like Scarlet..."

Leslie, I don't think Scarlett liked her son because she that baby wasn't conceived in love, He was probably just a reminder of that.

[Kerrie]

One of the things that got me was the excitement of the young men that they were going to war. It seemed they thought of it as a bar room brawl and not a very serious/deadly matter. Their arrogance...

[Sarah]

I am enjoying the book so far. It is very readable but I am finding that I have to look some things up (some things I am NOT looking up and just going off context, don't need that in my search history!). I am reading more slowly than normal, just because I have no familiarity with the book or movie.

The book really does seem to glorify the "old days". Everyone happy with their lot in life. But that is the point of view, totally different story if through someone else's eyes. I don't know enough American history to know how historically accurate it is.

I am not a fan of Scarlett so far. She's mean. That goes back to the history, is she a rebel for her time? Or just selfish and nasty?

On a side note, the copy I am reading is from my mom's book club. Which she was in during the 1970s.
I looked up the audiobook, it's 50 hours.

[Jeanette]

I’m really behind in my reading. I,too didn’t realize how young Scarlett was. I think she was vain and spoiled and too headstrong for her own good. Her having a baby was a big surprise. Last year I was lucky enough to watch it at the movie theater. As I read I picture the corresponding movie in my mind. The writing is pretty accurate for the time so I keep that in mind as I’m reading.

[Krista]

I forgot to stop in a comment after reading this first part. Like many of you I am finding myself annoyed at Scarlett. She's a dynamic character for sure, but oh so selfish. I'm not her fan at this point. She has deliberately done things just to spite other women in her life and that's just despicable to me. Poor Charles. I also see the movie playing in my head while reading even though it's been decades since I've seen it!

I know that this book is a product of it's time, but I still find myself cringing all the time. It's very interesting reading it through a 2020 lens than when I was so much younger. Good to know I've grown.

[CC]

I am really enjoying it. I love the character Scarlett. I love that we are following a person where the author does not try to create the perfect human being that we all can like. But a normal human being with selfish, spoiled thoughts. Yes, she is pushing this further than a lot of people like to think of themselves, but I love that we have this character that is pushing norms of her society and norms of main characters in books. I don't really feel like it has been written so long ago because it is so super readable and usually books that are almost 100 years old are written in a way that does not hold my attention.
I also love to read about all the things where with the education we have today we can just shake our head at what seemed to be appropriate back then. I think it is a very good piece of work to try and understand the mindframe and setting that people navigated in back then and even if we find it disgusting, it helps understand the change that is still needed by being confronted with these extreme views and values.
It's times when Scarlett thinks about Ashley that I am always taken aback but when remembering how young she is, it feels so right and appropriate. Compared to all these newer novels with instalove of young people pouring out of them ... which is really annoying ... I feel like this actually represents how delusional 16 year old girls in love can be. Remembering back, I think a lot of my friends and myself were absolutely closer to Scarletts way of thinking about love and delusional explanations and logic when it comes to Ashley than we would like to admit.

[Debbi]

Cornelia wrote: "I am really enjoying it. I love the character Scarlett. I love that we are following a person where the author does not try to create the perfect human being that we all can like. But a normal huma..."

Cornelia, I am so glad you expressed how young Scarlett was. I have been thinking the same thing. I think a lot of people judge her too harshly. She was only 16 and at that age a lot of young girls are very self-centered (but Scarlett went a little overboard with herself). In my day, we would have called Scarlett "boy crazy."