
I finished Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell last week and it has taken me a full 9 days to sort out my feelings.
But before I can review it, I must confess – I didn’t really know what Gone with the Wind was about before I finally picked it up and read it…
I hadn’t ever seen the movie either so all I really knew were the names Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler and that it takes place in the south. It’s an iconic story and very highly regarded book but no one ever really talks about it.
So after 24 years of being on the same planet as this widely acclaimed book, I finally picked it up.
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Not my typical summer read…
If you’ve read my 6 Books Perfect for Vacation post you know that this is not my typical summer read….
First of all, it’s a THICK book. Coming in at a whopping 959 pages, this is a true doorstopper.
I made the mistake of traveling with it and got the wrist workout of my life holding it up for an entire 3-hour plane ride. (But on the plus side, if anyone had attempted to assail me I could have easily knocked them out with it, so it did have its plus sides as a travel companion.)
Gone with the Wind is also not the most upbeat, happy-go-lucky, summer-fun type of story. Although it’s entertaining, it can be a bit heavy at times; the majority of the book takes place during the Civil War after all. So yeah, not your usual uplifting romantic summer read.
Another thing to note is that it’s not the most politically correct novel. Published in 1936, you sort of have to appreciate the book for what it is and put aside some social commentary; we’re talking about Georgia during the Civil War so it’s no beacon of social justice but it is what it is.
On the plus side, it has some feminist undertones with uncommonly strong leading female characters so it does get points for that.
All that being said, it’s a good book.
I gave it 4 stars in my book-book so I would recommend it to a friend. It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner so you know has to be worth your time.
My strongest point of recommendation for Gone with the Wind is that Mitchell’s writing and execution of the story makes it all feel so real.
Even with an array of characters that weave in and out of the plot, the story and people come alive. Rather than being confusing or surface level, every aspect of the story is fully fleshed out and each character fully developed. You can just feel the story – feel the emotions of each twist and turn, feel in your soul the upheaval of the war and the determination to live on.
But let me warn you: It does not have a happy ending.
The book overview on the Barnes & Noble website calls it “a monumental classic considered by many to not only be the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga.”
I have great respect for B&N but I’m here to tell you, they’re wrong.
I don’t read many Civil War novels, so I can’t attest to that attribute, but I did not covet any romantic relationship that stars in Gone with the Wind, least of all Scarlet’s and Rhett’s.
I only tell you this because that was the biggest let down for me when reading the story. I had heard so much about these two and their great, universe altering love but in 959 pages, I never saw it.
I know other people feel differently so you’ll have to let me know what you think/thought after reading it…
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What is it about?
If anyone else out there is like me before reading it and doesn’t actually know what Gone with the Wind is about here’s my short and sweet synopsis:
Spoiled and stubborn southern belle does whatever she can to survive the Civil War and prosper afterwards.
Obviously in 959 pages, there’s quite a bit more nuance to the story – cotton plantations, families, Civil War battles, husbands, babies, carpetbaggers, free slaves, etc. – but if you’ve got to sum it up in one sentence, that’s it.
On the “About the Author” page in my copy of the book, it mentions this quote from Margaret Mitchell – when asked what Gone with the Wind was really about, she said:
“If Gone With the Wind has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don’t. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality ‘gumption.’ So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn’t.”
So I guess if you ask her, it’s about much more than a somewhat unlikeable southern woman’s trials and tribulations during and after the Civil War…it’s a heart wrenching tale of survival.
A story about gumption.
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