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What are readers saying about Gone With the Wind?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-04-02 08:30:13.
(Language: English)
 
14/Mar/2008Finished GWTW yesternight. During the course of which fell in love with Melanie. So much so that when she died (and it was 4'o clock in the morning, or rather late night), I could not sleep for another 2 hours :(. Such a nice, gentle, creature she was ... A person even Rhet was compelled to respect, to adore. Also, went through another haunting death sequence when Ellene died. Ellene was mom of Scarlete, whose story this novel is. Ellene was 36 whereas Scarlet's dad was ~60 ... which makes Ellene a mere 15 when she married ~40 yr old Mr O'Hara. The way their marriage took place was also strange. Ellene was (apparently) in love with a cousin of hers, Philippe, but her family did not approve of the match, and while she was still trying to overcome this grief of her, Mr O'Hara proposed this unmatchable match, and to everybody's shock, Ellene agreed, got married, became an ideal wife, an in course of time, an ideal mother. Went on to give the 3 daughters to Mr O'Hara of which Scarlet was the eldest. Became a lady who given example of, an ideal lady. Anyway, Scarlet herself was into so many troubles among the war and her kid and Melanie's childbirth, and then after overcoming so many hurdles / risks (of being raped / killed / burned herself, and more than that her kid's sufferings) , when she reaches home (to mother - as she used to think), her mom had left em forever. :(. Well, this was all very sad, but the haunting part was yet to come. Later once initial shock gone and Scarlet is in control of herself, before bedtime one of the housemaids was describing to her her mom's last moments. And then she told that in her final moments, Ellene was calling out to somebody. "Was it my name, or Dad's?" asked Scarlet. "No ... she was calling Phillipe, Philliepe". This, my friends - was haunting .... :( - this is love in perhaps one of its purest form - without shirking from any responsibilities, without making anybody around feel anything abnormal, deep within her heart, she had loved the one she loved, for one full LIFETIME. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-21 09:56:57.
(Language: English)
*This comment contains spoilers* The romantic in me hated this book. I cried for Rhett and Scarlett at the end and their utter ruin. I vehemently want to rate down this book but just can't do it. The depth of the characters, the equisite descriptions, and my utter love and despair for these characters won't let me do it. It makes you think of the choices people make, things we so easily take for granted. I admired Scarlett almost all the way through for her strength, and willingness to stick to her true self. Rhett and Scarlett kept me on baited breath, staying up past 1 am and still I found myself forcing myself to put this story down, to forget about them for just a few hours. These characters are forever etched into your hearts and minds and it takes such a superior writer to capture such an amazing story even if the outcome wasn't what I was hoping for, this story is truly a classic of the highest proportions. I wish I hadn't of taken so long to finally pick this one up.
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Emily posted a review at 2007-10-02 04:59:07.
(Language: English)
I can't help it. I have been a sucker for this classic story for as long as I can remember. I own the movie and a couple of the collectible dolls. Despite all the many flas people love to point out, this is a flippin' wonderful novel that has managed to stand the test of time. Irritating and somewhat stereotypical characters? Melodramatic plots? Disgusting romance? Yes, it's all there, and I love every moment of it because Ms. Mitchell is THAT good of a writer and clearly has a passion for this story as she wrote it. The story follows the life of a girl, Scarlett O'Hara, a young southern belle who is forever tainted by the Civil War that blasts through her land. But she is a stubborn Irish, prepared to do whatever she needs to do to survive, and her character, as much as you love or hate her, is fascinating to observe. Then there is the romance. Gotta have the romance with this book. The man she continually waits for is Ashley, but we all know that her soulmate is the scoundrel Rhett Butler. This is a classic, passionate story full of unforgettable drama and characters. That might annoy many people, but I can't read this book without being swept up into a fanciful romance of the Old South.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-16 12:36:13.
(Language: English)
"But Miss Scarlett I don't know nothing about birthing babies!" I loved this book. I read it when I was a teenager and despite being 1000 pages long I read it again when I'd finished it because I enjoyed it so much. The characters are so great in it and the twists and turns the story takes are so clever that you are with it all the way. Scarlett is a great character despite her flaws, and Rhett makes you want be Scarlett even though she probably needs a good slap! Clark Gable is perfectly cast in the film. I love Rhett's relationship with all the women in the piece. He flirts with Mammy,seeks comfort with the 'tart with a heart' and truly respects Melanie afterall she is really the strongest female in it despite her physical frailty. Favourite scenes- Scarlett sneaking out of ladies' nap time to flirt with Ashley, making an outfit ot of the drapes to visit Rhett in prison and being forced to wear the red dress after the whole town thinks she's having an affair with Ashley and Melanie being noble enough to welcome her.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-10 01:24:22.
(Language: English)
Finished it yesternight, During the course of which fell in love with Melanie. So much so that when she died (and it was 4'o clock in the morning, or rather late night), I could not sleep for another 2 hours :(. Such a nice, gentle, creature she was ... A person even Rhet was compelled to respect, to adore. Also, went through another haunting death sequence when Ellene died. Ellene was mom of Scarlete, whose story this novel is. Ellene was 36 whereas Scarlet's dad was ~60 ... which makes Ellene a mere 15 when she married ~40 yr old Mr O'Hara. The way their marriage took place was also strange. Ellene was (apparently) in love with a cousin of hers, Philippe, but her family did not approve of the match, and while she was still trying to overcome this grief of her, Mr O'Hara proposed this unmatchable match, and to everybody's shock, Ellene agreed, got married, became an ideal wife, an in course of time, an ideal mother. Went on to give the 3 daughters to Mr O'Hara of which Scarlet was the eldest. Became a lady who given example of, an ideal lady. Anyway, Scarlet herself was into so many troubles among the war and her kid and Melanie's childbirth, and then after overcoming so many hurdles / risks (of being raped / killed / burned herself, and more than that her kid's sufferings) , when she reaches home (to mother - as she used to think), her mom had left em forever. :(. Well, this was all very sad, but the haunting part was yet to come. Later once initial shock gone and Scarlet is in control of herself, before bedtime one of the housemaids was describing to her her mom's last moments. And then she told that in her final moments, Ellene was calling out to somebody. "Was it my name, or Dad's?" asked Scarlet. "No ... she was calling Phillipe, Philliepe". This, my friends - was haunting .... :( - this is love in perhaps one of its purest form - without shirking from any responsibilities, without making anybody around feel anything abnormal, deep within her heart, she had loved the one she loved, for one full LIFETIME.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-02-23 12:13:33.
(Language: English)
This amazing saga of the Civil War, and an amazingwoman, Scarlett O'Hara, is marred terribly by its uncritical acceptance of slavery. In this book, slavery is portrayed as being merely a happy, relatively care-free way of life, almost on a level with the slave owners and closer to that of a servant than that of a true slave.The horrors of slavery are not exposed in this book. Read it, if you will, as a historical piece reflecting the time in which it was written. Then go read about a REAL LIFE amazing woman -- the section on Harriet Tubman in: “Before they could vote: American women's autobiographical writing, 1819-1919 / edited by Sidonie Sm Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, c2006.” AND “Passages to freedom : the Underground Railroad in history and memory / edited by David W. Blight. Washington [D.C.] : Smithsonian Books in association with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, c2004.”
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-02 02:28:05.
(Language: English)
Was this really my favorite read growing up? Was Scarlett and Rhett truly my dream in the good old days? She has the unscrupulous ruthlessness I lack, he the sheer masculinity women long for. Yet I shudder at the thought of ever encountering these two in person. I can’t help but thinking that it is not “the greatest love story”, but an account of obstinate lovers cutting each other to pieces with arrogance and caginess. Still, I rejoice in the surreal yet imperfect characters. How I astounded myself because of some new appreciation for the Wilkeses! Forget about the problematic gender perspective, stereotypical portrayal of African Americans, and one-sided view of the Civil War. God save those poor souls, enthralled for generations, whose only insight into America comes from this book or the 1939 movie. When I am indulging myself feeling what Mitchell’s people feel, I suppose I can say to political correctness, for a brief moment, “I don’t give a damn”.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-04 07:22:19.
(Language: English)
Gone with the wind was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had; Being an Egyptian, all that I studied about America's civil war was just about tiny battlers about banning slivery and I would have never imagined how it was but for the vivid description of such hard times in an outstanding novel. I don't think this book will ever loose its charm for it is one of its kind. Every thing about Margret Mitchell's masterpiece and only novel is outstanding, the vivid descriptions, the amazing literature and of course the amazing characters; the immortal Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Melanie Wilkes and many others so vivid that it seems hard to imagine that you are reading a fiction anymore. Even when the ending is heart breaking, there is always hope. Thank you Margret Mitchell for this amazing, enlightening and inspiring novel No wonder "Gone with the wind" is one of the most important 100 novels of the history of mankind.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-20 01:45:33.
(Language: English)
Gone With the Wind is one of the best novels of Twentieth Century literature. Mitchell's depiction of the Old South surprised me when I read this novel for the first time at age fourteen. Before reading GWTW, I was convinced that the South was all "bad" and the North was all "good," but reading the other side gave me a great perspective and balance for both sides of our nation during the Civil War. I also appreciated how Mitchell depicted Scarlett as a spoiled child in the beginning of the novel and later, her gradual transformation into a strong, independent woman. Of course, like most readers, I was disappointed by Rhett's famous departure immediately following heroic Melanie's death. This novel is a must-read for every American with an interest in history, particulary that of the Civil War, but Mitchell does provide lengthy descriptions, and the African-American dialect can be a little difficult to comprehend if you're not familiar with it. Overall, I deeply enjoyed it!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-22 05:58:25.
(Language: English)
At the opening of this sprawling historical drama, sixteen-year-old Scarlett O'Hara has everything a Spoiled Southern Belle could want. She takes pride in her fair skin and tiny waist and loves her family's stately Atlanta plantation. Scarlett is used to getting what she wants and she wants Ashley Wilkes. Even though he is in love with someone else, Scarlett plots ways to get him throughout the novel. Tall, dark, and handsome Rhett Butler is determined to tame Scarlett, but she has other plans. The Civil War begins and most of the male characters become Confederate soldiers. Scarlett wholeheartedly supports the Confederate cause and the continuation of slavery. As the war rages, Scarlett, a widow with a young child, returns to Tara and takes over the running of the plantation. Eventually, she marries again (not for love this time, either) and moves to the city. She is a savvy businesswomen and of course no one can stop gossiping about her unwomanly behavior. When the story ends, the war is over and Scarlett is older and wiser. While she has learned some lessons about love and friendship, she is still utterly convinced that slavery should continue for the slaves' own good. Mitchell's epic saga about the South during the Civil War is filled with marvelously complex characters. A stunning read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-15 09:22:18.
(Language: English)
This is the classic tale of wanting what you can't have ... until you can. Romance aside, this book is chock full of history, drama, suspense, emotional turmoil and philosophical whimsy. It's peppered with a dry, cynical wittiness that will keep you, not only turning pages, but smiling, laughing, and even occasionally gasping incredulously. Especially whenever the irresistible Rhett Butler enters a scene. The dialogue is simply smashing. The characters are realistic and resonate on a soul deep level. This is something that the movie version was, understandably, unable to pull off. Scarlett came across as a one dimensional, selfish, cold hearted monster on the big screen. In the book, however, we have behind the scenes access to her mind, heart, will and emotions. When this story is appreciated in literary form, one finds it difficult to either love or hate her entirely because, just as in reality, there are too many shades of gray. I have seen some people label this book as racist and intolerant. While I agree that there are some rather uncomfortable themes and an indisputable usage of inappropriate language, readers must bear in mind that this is a work of fiction depicting the culture and mind sets of characters living during the Civil War period. If the story had been written in any other way, it would have detracted from the authenticity of the tale. That being said, if you are sensitive to such things, you should probably steer clear. As far as I am concerned, this is a must read for any fan of historical fiction. Yet, I must warn you; Don't expect a happy or conclusive ending lest you be disappointed. After reading Forever Amber and many Anita Shreve books, I am always emotionally prepared for such a let down. Still, that didn't stop me from turning the last page of Gone With The Wind, anxiously looking for more. I was breathless with wonder, racked with unanswered questions, passionately angry at fate and, of course, torn between love and hate. When you really stop to think about it though, how could two people as dashingly quixotic as Scarlett and Rhett be expected to depart in any other fashion? Five stars!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-30 11:26:22.
(Language: English)
A extremely remarkable historical-romace epic that superbly combined the author's biography with history. Gone with the Wind is a 1936 American novel by Margaret Mitchell set in the Old South during the American Civil War and Reconstruction.[1] The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name in 1939. It is the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime. Over the years, the novel has also been analyzed for its symbolism and mythological treatment of archetypes. Politics Many historians regard the book as having a strong ideological commitment to the cause of the Confederacy and a romanticized view of the culture of the antebellum South. The book includes a vivid description of the fall of Atlanta in 1864 and the devastation of war. Some of that aspect was missing from the 1939 film). The novel showed considerable historical research. Mitchell's sources were almost exclusively Southern writers and historians. According to her biography, Mitchell herself was ten years old before she learned that the South had lost the war. Mitchell's sweeping narrative of war and loss helped the book win the Pulitzer Prize on May 3, 1937. An episode in the book dealt with the early Ku Klux Klan. In the immediate aftermath of the War, Scarlett is assaulted by poor southerners living in shanties, whereupon her former Black slave Sam saves her life. In response, Scarlett's male friends attempt to make a retaliatory nighttime raid on the encampment. Northern soldiers try to stop the attacks, and Rhett helps Ashley, who is shot, to get help through his prostitute friend Belle. Scarlett's husband Frank is killed. This raid is presented sympathetically as being necessary and justified, while the law-enforcement officers trying to catch the perpetrators are depicted as oppressive Northern occupiers. Although the Klan is not mentioned in that scene (though Rhett tells Archie to burn the "cloaks"), the book notes that Scarlett finds the Klan abominable. She believed the men should all just stay at home (she wanted both to be petted for her ordeal and to give the hated Yankees no more reason to tighten martial law, which is bad for her businesses). Rhett is also mentioned to be no great lover of the Klan. At one point, he said that if it were necessary, he would join in an effort to join "society". The novel never explicitly states whether this drastic step was necessary in his view. The local chapter later breaks up under the pressure from Rhett and Ashley. Scarlett expresses views that were common of the era. Some examples: "How stupid negroes were! They never thought of anything unless they were told." — Scarlett thinks to herself, after returning to Tara after the fall of Atlanta. "How dared they laugh, the black apes!...She'd like to have them all whipped until the blood ran down...What devils the Yankees were to set them free!" — Scarlett again thinking to herself, seeing free blacks after the war. However, she is kind to Pork, her father's trusted manservant. He tells Scarlett that if she were as nice to white people as she is to black, a lot more people would like her. She almost loses her temper when the Yankee women say they would never have a black nurse in their house and talk about Uncle Peter, Aunt Pittypat's servant, as if he were a mule. Scarlett has many spiteful and selfish opinions in the novel, and is callous toward her children, her sisters, and of course, Melanie, who has every virtue Scarlett lacks. Whether Mitchell shared Scarlett's views is unknown. The book is far more open in the matter of freedom of speech than the film, and it leaves no doubt that this was necessary in order to show what people really felt without putting "makeup" that would take out the accurate nature of the book. Inspirations: As several elements of Gone with the Wind have parallels with Margaret Mitchell's own life, her experiences may have provided some inspiration for the story in contex. Mitchell's understanding of life and hardship during the American Civil War, for example, came from elderly relatives and neighbors passing war stories to her generation. While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her Gone with the Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as to individuals she knew or she heard of.Mitchell's maternal grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens, was born in 1845; she was the daughter of an Irish immigrant, who owned a large plantation on Tara Road in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, and who married an American woman named Ellen, and had several children, all daughters. Researchers believed Rhett Butler to be based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw. She divorced him after she learned he was a bootlegger. Other historical evidence suggests the Butler character to be based on George Trenholm, a famous blockade-runner. See link The Real Rhett Butler Revealed. (Another model may have been Sir Godfrey Barnsley of Adairsville, Georgia. After a stay at the plantation called The Woodlands, and later Barnsley Gardens, Mitchell may have gotten the inspiration for the dashing scoundrel. Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, the mother of US president Theodore Roosevelt may have been an inspiration for Scarlett O'Hara. Roosevelt biographer David McCullough discovered that Mitchell, as a reporter for The Atlanta Journal, conducted an interview with one of Martha's closest friends and bridesmaid, Evelyn King Williams, then 87. In that interview, she described Martha's physical appearance, beauty, grace, and intelligence in detail. The similarities between Martha and the Scarlett character are striking. Symbolism Over the past years, the novel Gone with the Wind has also been analyzed for its symbolism and mythological treatment of archetypes.Scarlett has been characterized as a heroic figure struggling and attempting to twist life to suit her own wishes. The land is considered a source of strength, as in the plantation Tara, pronounced the same as the Latin word terra, meaning the land. I would highly recommend this novel to you, whether you are a romance story lover or not. Beside it is not just a romance novel, but more of a inspirational one! One that I remembered freshly even after I read it in 1995. "If the novel has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people able to 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 who go under...? I only know that the survivors used to call that quality 'gumption.' So I wrote about the people who had gumption and the people who didn't." Margaret Mitchell @ Macmillan 1936
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Mehreen posted a review at 2008-12-12 08:07:53.
(Language: English)
When it comes to listing the all-time great epic sagas, Gone With The Wind would definitely be inclusive in this glitzy galaxy, high up the order. Margaret Mitchell scored an absolute victory with this magnum opus, which was published in the year 1936 and was made into a movie three years later in 1939. Delineated against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Gone With The Wind breathes life into the depiction of the Confederate South during that epoch. The plot revolves around the life of a youthful, vibrant teenager Scarlett O' Hara, who is the pampered eldest daughter of a Southern plantation owner. It is the untimely occurrence of the war, which turns Scarlett's life upside down, marking many important events in her life at such a tender age. Before she turns twenty, she is a widow and the mother of an infant son. While valiantly dealing with the challenges that Fate continues to throw at her, she comes in encounter with Rhett Butler, a cynical, dusky rogue, who is as aversive to the conservative norms of the society as Scarlett herself. This common approach catalyzes a rapport of ease and candor between them yet their egos never empower them to acknowledge the delight they encounter in each other's company. Another hindrance in their path is Scarlett's formidable, romantic obsession with Ashley Wilkes, her neighbor, who is married to Melanie, the sister of Scarlett's deceased husband. Through the tapestry of emotions and the quest for happiness, the characters continue their odyssey of survival, which culminates in an episode too unconventional and unexpected yet eminently fulfilling. A very prominent aspect of this novel is the portrayal of slavery in the South. There is an ambivalent air to the disposition of the narrative when it comes to enunciating the details concerning the lives of slaves and the interaction between the two races. The romanticism associated with the entire concept has earned umbrage from many literary and political circles, the crux of their censure declaring this depiction to be devoid of empathy towards the African American race. In spite of all the odds, the sensitivity amalgamated with the realism, which has been incorporated by the author, is one of the most arresting highlights of this epic. Needless to mention, the characterizations, each and every one of them, have been dealt with, in so meticulous a manner, which empowers the reader to develop an intimate cognizance about them. Not only that but the plot is so riveting and is carried at a classically perfect pace, never permitting ennui to take over or make the reader sense gratuitous haste on behalf of Mitchell at any point.
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Nikkie posted a review at 2012-07-01 06:37:26.
(Language: English)
A couple of years ago, I was in Atlanta with my mother and daughter. While there, we toured the Margaret. Mitchell house (which turned out to be just a tiny basement apartment). After learning more about MM, and about some of the differences between the book and the movie, I decided to read the book. I hadn't much cared for the movie, but to be fair Hollywood has destroyed many great novels by trying to put them on the big screen. It only seemed reasonable that this would be true for this novel as well - and it turned out to be so. They compressed it and lost too much. The Scarlett O'Hara from the movie was an irritatingly spoiled brat. The Scarlett in the book, however was not. She was a lost and confused woman,struggling against the constraints or here era during the time of war and reconstruction. Like many woman throughout time, we make misguided choices while being torn between what we want and what we should do. We are often blinded by our world while groping to our way in it. The book is big (which is why it took me so long to find the time to commit to reading it) but a wonderful read combining southern history and timeless human nature.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-18 05:12:32.
(Language: English)
It was the tragic end of a halo epoque. It was the end of a great time when charmed ladyes and gentlee knight lived together in a fabulous world. It was the end of highf aristocracy. First World War knock down the glorious nobble civilization, and its wind bring a new climate. First class society spirited away whith all great devotion, hight principles and gracy delicacy, to be supplanted by industrialism. There are no more ladys known by their hands, no more cavaliers self-immolated for hight principles...these are replaced by just an mediocre ideal _ MONEY_. Since there to nowadays , true morality and right devotions are going throw decadence...
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Jennifer posted a review at 2011-11-28 07:32:30.
(Language: English)
Frankly, Pat Conroy said it best: "This is The Iliad with a Southern accent, burning with the humiliation of Reconstruction.It is the song of the fallen, unregenerate Troy, the one sung in a lower key by the women who had to pick up the fractured pieces of... a society when their sons and husbands returned with their cause in their throats...{GWTW} was published in 1936 and it still stands as the last great posthumous victory of the Confederacy." I'll add only a brief nod to Mitchell's brilliance in making her heroine so thoroughly unlikeable - had Scarlett not been a brass-bound bitch, GWTW would be impossible to read for weeping over the unremitting tragedy of the story. A must-read for everyone...even Yankees.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-15 11:59:52.
(Language: English)
I understand the popularity of the novel, which, though engaging, is just a pocket romance, and not a good one. What made the book interesting was the Southern belle slant on Post-war Georgia. I wonderwhat her second novel might have been if not for the bus that hit Margaret Mitchell. I have seen the movie umpteen times, put off by the ‘happy slave scenes’ the slightly overacted performances and the subject of the civil war in general. We are faced with two problems in appreciating Gone with the Wind. First, the times and events depicted, and the attitudes and social milieu of the time when the movie was made. Much has changed in the interim to make this movie outdated. It must have been socially acceptable to portray black people as ‘happy go lucky’ in a slavery situation, as well as being intentionally loyal to their enslavers. It has never been acceptable to me, and I have found it hard to get past it, to even watch the movie.Margaret Mitchell paints a benevolent portrait of plantation owners, and paints the American South as the sole victim of the brutality of war. Well in war, things are tough all over. The war wasn’t fought over honour. Cineastes have got their head out of their mind. The war, like all wars, was fought for money. If a way of life and graceful living departed in the South, keep in mind that it was a way of life which only the rich Southern plantation owners could enjoy.But the film isn’t really about the civil war. The war was merely happening at the time. Gone with the Wind was about Rhett Butler and Scarlet O’Hara. It chronicles their relationship and follows a familiar pattern in failed marriages. It is about love, passion, anger and hardship, and ultimately, the failure to communicate.I still find Clark Gable one of the sexiest movie stars ever to grace the screen. Vivien Leigh was a completely believable Scarlet, and her personality characteristics must be part of the early education of women here in the South, because every woman here seems to be a little like her. Manipulative, charming, flirtatious. conniving, Southern Belles. Max Steiner puts together a respectable score and the themes play at the right moments. The photography is quite beautiful although the repetition of the black silhouettes against the sunsets gets a little old. There are some impressive scenes of Atlanta burning. The two best performances were from Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy, and Butterfly McQueen who played the lovable, shrill and slightly demented maid, Prissy. Many viewers would hate racism and war today. Today’s crime and cop movies in Hollywood may have reconditioned viewers. Does today’s street walker ever defer to polite society? Would today’s black culture stand for the self effacing black roles in this movie? I think not. In the south it still is a good old boy, and old money, class structure that rules. Rhett Butler is no more likely today to join that elite circle than he was then.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-29 05:53:45.
(Language: English)
Gone with the wind is Margret Mitchell's sole expression in literature and the writer seems to have endowed her entire life to this one compilation. The central idea of this epic story is a fictional description of the life and experiences of Scarlett O' Hara, which are largely the reverberations of her own deeds. The second most prominent character in this book is that of Captain Rhett Butler,a blockader in the times of the American civil war with compromised standards of ethics. The war dominates the lives of almost all characters in this book (southern Americans), tracing a period of almost a quarter of a century. Most importantly, the book is yet another bestseller which owes much to the single most effective themes of all times; unrequited love. It is often said that the magnetism of an art originates from a frustration. The book is largely a description of the frustration of two evil hearts helpless in the sincerity of love that they have for different people, who, in turn are, unmoved by their respective feelings. The same situation also adds the final ingredient of sorrow to this elixir 'gone with the wind'.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-14 04:06:04.
(Language: English)
Ah, Scarlet O'Hara, you little minx. How often I have wanted to be you. In the Green flouncy dress at the Barbeque surrounded by all the adoring boys you have by the nose. And then when things got rougher you kept on going. After all tomorrow is... well, YOU know. You shot that Yankee, you didn't let them steal Tara, and then you got so rich you made all your frenemies pea green with envy. And as god as your witness, you never ate radishes again! You are one of the most fascinating characters in literature. I have your vanity and selfishness, but I sadly lack your tenacity and fearlessness. Too bad it isn't the other way round. "Gone With the Wind" is my favorite movie (probably better than the book in terms of how it compares within it's own art form). Vivian Leigh is my favorite actress of all time (sorry Nicole). That tiny ski slope nose and that minxy smile. A nearly perfect face. Cool and calculated, but with so much complexity brewing just below the surface. She is the dark horse, with that black sultry hair. She is definitly one of the most beautiful women to have lived in the last century. And yet she is a brilliant film actress. That face can do anything. I also like that she was supposed to have had some mental problems (or at least faked them), and that she was supposed to have an insatiable sexual appetite (one reason things didn't work out with her and Lawrence O.). I reread GWTW when I had to drop out of school and move in with my parents. It's good book to read when your life is falling apart around you- just like Scarlett. This bitch doesn't let ANYTHING get her down! Let's all make dresses out of curtains and keep on fighting!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-19 08:59:28.
(Language: English)
My mom is the epitome of the things a southern belle represents. She is a true lover of this book and was the one that convinced me to read it. I finally (after years of her urging) picked it up, read it for a day or so and proceeded to put it back down. Then about 2 years later, I gave it another go. Initially it was difficult for me to get into but after the character introductions I was hooked. The story begins to show how all of these southern families not only celebrate together, but also rely on one another for support and come together during crisis and it evolves from a "band of unbeatable brothers" (metaphorically speaking) who love their country to a group of weary, untrained, hungry men just fighting to preserve what they'd built with their own hands for their families. Rhett and Scarlett are a major aspect of Gone With the Wind, but moreso than the 'love' story between them is a bigger picture of uncertainty. Uncertainty for what will happen to this famous place, the South. My mom was a Missisippi girl (I was born there too) and for anyone that takes their southern heritage seriously - like those who know what the Natchez Trace is (ahem, my grandpa & uncle were both engineers for the project back in the 19whatevers) and those who understand a South like Mitchell describes in her novel really did once exists, this book provides a look into the South at her finest - and at her worst. It ain't just about Rhett & Scarlett (although that part of the novel is just as heart-wrenching and well written).
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Angela posted a review at 2009-06-23 01:15:53.
(Language: English)
Gone with the Wind is a wonderful book, more appreciated by myself now as a mature adult than when I saw the movie and tried to read the book as a teenager. If someone believes this book to be melodramatic, I beg to differ because I can honestly relate to all the characters: they are perhaps the most human of any book characters out there. They deal with loss in their own ways, live in their Southern reality where Mitchell doesn't flinch from keeping them and romanticizing some elements around them, they have seemingly over-the-top happenings thrown at them but, then again, that is life, isn't it? The best historical fiction makes you, despite the setting in the past, put the book down and look in the mirror, just to see if that character might lie in you too.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-21 09:58:09.
(Language: English)
This was a delightful book. I had seen the movie a million times, and was impressed by how much of Sidney Howard's screenplay was taken faithfully from the book. The proportion was off -- for most of the book Scarlett is married to Frank Kennedy and her marriage to Rhett is only a small section at the end. Kennedy is almost invisible in the film and gets killed off very quickly. I was always an Ashley fan (and indeed the world divides between Rhett-girls and Ashley-girls) but Rhett comes off better and as a more interesting man in the novel, though Gable's performance portrays him to a "T". I still have a bigger pash for Leslie Howard's Ashley, but Rhett's a much better human being than Scarlett and a pretty damn fine hero. Scarlett may be a shit, but you know she's an amazingly three-dimensional real person. There are a good many people who, like her, are incapable of honest self-examination, and, who, like her, don't care much either. Great book -- worth reading every one of its 1024 pages. And I defy anyone to remain unmoved by Melanie's good soul.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-17 06:31:06.
(Language: English)
There isn’t much more to say about this book that hasn’t already been said. I found myself flying through the last 50 pages at such a rapid pace because I was so caught up in it. There is so much history learned from this book about the Civil War and the south. Mitchell is a great history teacher and story teller all in one. The characters are so distinct, I’ll never forget them. Scarlet has so many flaws and sometimes I wished someone would slap her, but she was so strong willed and she did show compassion for people at times, even if it wasn’t always for the right reasons. I could not help but have a crush on Rhett, although part of me wished he didn’t leave at the end. You have to believe he would come back to Scarlet again because he always did. It took me 2 weeks to read this 1000 page book. I also watched the movie. I feel proud to have become part of the “Gone With the Wind fan club” of folks that have fallen in love with Tara and all the history that goes with it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-27 02:30:35.
(Language: English)
A modern day epic,it's classic for a reason...a finely crafted story that marries a good set of fictional characters to a well researched and anecdotal account of a turbulent period of American history. Scarlet O'hara::: love her or hate her, there's no denying the fact that she's one of fiction's most endearing iconic figures. Her selfishness, although hateful at times, is admirable because it in part comes from her loyalty to her kin. Her stubbornness can also be interpreted as an unshakable perseverance for principles she stands for. A prototype of a multifaceted, confident, beautiful, sassy, fiercely independent feminist she is what every young woman aspires to be. Unlike Melanie, your run of the mill pristine never-erring-goodie-miss-two-shoes heroine she is more humane, more believable...alike most enigmatic people she finds her greatest strengths her biggest weaknesses!!! Then of course there's the dashing roguish Rhett Butler:::The building brick of many an adolescent dream...this guy could have quite spoiled many an young lady for any other man, both fictional or otherwise if it hadn't been for that darned moustache !!! ;)
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-18 01:54:13.
(Language: English)
Mitchell is reported to have begun writing bedridden with a broken ankle. The house where Mitchell lived while writing her manuscript is known today as The Margaret Mitchell House and located in Midtown Atlanta. A museum dedicated to Gone with the Wind lies a few miles north of Atlanta, in Marietta, Georgia. It is called "Scarlett On the Square", as it is located on the historic Marietta Square. It houses costumes from the film, screenplays, and many artifacts from Gone With the Wind including Mitchell's collection of foreign editions of her book. The house and the museum are major tourist destinations. The 1994 TV movie A Burning Passion: The Margaret Mitchell Story, starring Shannen Doherty, told the story of Mitchell's professional and personal life through the time of the publication of "Gone With the Wind." Clayton County, the area just south of Atlanta and the setting for the fictional O'Hara plantation, Tara, maintains "The Road to Tara" Museum in the old railroad depot in downtown Jonesboro. For decades it was thought that Mitchell had only ever written one complete novel. (In fact, periodically claims are made that she never wrote it at all due to the lack of any other published work by her). But in the 1990s, a manuscript by Mitchell of a novel entitled Lost Laysen was discovered among a collection of letters Mitchell had given in the early 1920s to a suitor named Henry Love Angel. The manuscript had been written in two notebooks in 1916. In the 1990s, Angel's son discovered the manuscript and sent it to the Road to Tara Museum, which authenticated the work. A special edition of Lost Laysen — a romance set in the South Pacific — was edited by Debra Freer, augmented with an account of Mitchell and Angel's romance including a number of her letters to him, and published by the Scribner imprint of Simon & Schuster in 1996. Gone with the Wind, first published in May 1936, is a romantic novel written by Margaret Mitchell that won the coveted Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia during the American Civil War and Reconstruction[1] and depicts the experiences of Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner. The novel is the source of the extremely popular 1939 film of the same name. he title is taken from the first line of the third stanza of the poem Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae[2] by Ernest Dowson: "I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind". The novel's protagonist, Scarlett O'Hara, also uses the title phrase in a line in the book: when her home area is overtaken by the Yankees, she wonders to herself if her home, a plantation called Tara, is still standing, or if it was "also gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia". More generally, the title has been interpreted as referring to the entire way of life of the antebellum South as having "Gone with the Wind". The prologue of the movie refers to the old way of life in the South as "gone with the wind…." The title for the novel was a problem for Mitchell. She initially titled the book "Pansy", the original name for the character of Scarlett O'Hara. Although never seriously considered, the title "Pansy" was dropped once MacMillan persuaded Mitchell to rename the main character. Other proposed titles included "Tote the Weary Load" and "Tomorrow is Another Day", the latter taken from the last line in the book; however, the publisher noted that there were several books close to the same title at the time, so Mitchell was asked to find another title. She chose "Gone with the Wind." e book starts just before the Civil War. Scarlett O'Hara, belle of the county and daughter of a Irish immigrant, once poor and now wealthy, grew up spoiled and selfish on their plantation, Tara. Her every wish is granted until she finds out Ashley Wilkes, neighbor boy with whom she has long been infatuated, is getting married to his cousin Melanie Hamilton. The next day at the Wilkes' Barbecue (which is also the day Ashley and Melanie's engagement is to be officially announced), Scarlett gets a private word with Ashley. She declares she loves Ashley, and Ashley says he loves her too. However, he knows Scarlett and he wouldn't be happy because of their personality differences and tells Scarlett he is still marrying Melanie. Scarlett loses her temper and Ashley leaves the room. Then Scarlett meets Rhett Butler, a man who has a reputation as a rogue. He had been eavesdropping and feels attracted to Scarlett for her unladylike 'spirit' she displayed with Ashley. Infuriated and humiliated, Scarlett leaves the room. Immediately after, she finds out that war has been declared and the men are going to enlist. In the fury of the moment, Scarlett accepts a proposal of marriage from Melanie's brother, Charles Hamilton (to take revenge on his sisters who were gossiping about her loose manners). They marry two weeks later. Two months later, Scarlett finds herself a pregnant widow. However, her only concerns are she has to wear black and can't go to parties and flirt, and that she's 16 and doesn't want a baby. Scarlett gives birth to a boy and names him Wade after his father's general. Scarlett goes to Atlanta with Wade and stays with Melanie and Melanie's Aunt Pittypat (Melanie is not only wholly unaware of Scarlett's infatuation with her husband, but she views and treats Scarlett as if she were a saint) . In Atlanta, Scarlett meets Rhett again, who feels the war is a 'lost cause' (as does Scarlett), but he isn't fighting. However, he is blockading, but only for the profit in it. Scarlett start associating with Rhett and finds herself strangely drawn to him. Their friendship progresses until Rhett asks Scarlett to be his mistress. Scarlett loses her temper and tells Rhett to leave. Before long, Melanie is pregnant (Ashley had visited over Christmas, when he also asks Scarlett to take care of Melanie. Scarlett agrees, although she hates Melanie because of her infatuation with Ashley). Right when she is due, the expected invasion on Atlanta happens. Melanie has her baby (a boy, Beau) after a long and hard birth which leaves Melanie ill. Scarlett summons Rhett, and she begs him to take them to Tara, even though it passes by recent battle grounds. Rhett steals a horse and takes Scarlett, Wade, Melanie, Beau, and Prissy (a young incompetent servant) toward Tara. Part way, however, he takes Scarlett by surprise and he leaves to go the rest of the way by herself. He goes on to enlist, even though the South has practically lost and he strongly dislikes 'the cause'. Scarlett makes it to Tara, only to find it a wreck. The Yankees had used it as their headquarters. The burned all the cotton, took all the food, livestock, money and anything valuable. All the slaves ran except four. Her mother is dead and her father, shocked, lost his mind. Scarlett found herself head of Tara, now beyond worthless. She has three sisters, four slaves, Melanie, Beau, and Wade to care for. They have nothing to live on, save pointless things like a small amount of nuts and potatoes and such. Yet Scarlett won't let Tara go. Before long, Tara is slowly recovering. Scarlett has managed to come by some food and a horse. After the war, Scarlett returns to Tara and manages to keep the place going. When Scarlett cannot get money from Rhett to pay the taxes on Tara, she marries her sister's fiancé, Frank Kennedy, takes control of his business, and increases its profitability with business practices that make many Atlantians resent her. Frank is killed when he and other Ku Klux Klan members raid a shanty town where Scarlet was assaulted while driving alone. Remorseful after Frank's death, Scarlett marries Rhett, who is aware of her passion for Ashley but hopes that one day she will come to love him instead. Scarlett eventually comes to realize that she does love Rhett, but only once the couple has been through so much that Rhett has fallen out of love with her. [edit]Characters [edit]Butler family Rhett Butler – Scarlett's love interest and third husband, often publicly shunned for scandalous behavior, sometimes accepted for his charm. He is financially a very shrewd man and initially appears to love Scarlett dearly. Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler – Scarlett and Rhett's pretty, beloved daughter. [edit]Wilkes family Ashley Wilkes – The gallant Ashley married his unglamourous cousin, Melanie, because she represented all that he loved and wanted in life, that is, the quiet and happy life of a Southern gentleman of the "Twelve Oaks" plantation. Ashley Wilkes marries Melanie Hamilton as an arranged marriage between the Wilkes-Hamilton families; in which the marriage of cousins (which Ashley and Melanie are) is the practice; when necessary to preserve the blood line and social position of the family. As such, Wilkes is not, in the strictest sense, brought to marriage by love, money, or sexual infatuation; but by a sense of duty to preserve the socio-economic status quo of a world which he personally enjoys and agrees with; and believes this marriage will support and sustain. Wilkes becomes a soldier for the Confederate cause though he personally would have freed the slaves his father owned had the war not erupted, or at least that is what he claimed. Although many of his friends and relations were killed in the Civil War, Ashley survived to see its brutal aftermath. He remains the object of Scarlett's daydream of infatuated devotion, even throughout her three marriages. She is simply obsessed with unobtainable Ashley. Believing that she was in love with him, Scarlett imagined Ashley to be the "perfect man", leaving her unable to love another. Melanie Hamilton Wilkes – Ashley's wife and cousin, her character is that of the genuinely humble, serene and gracious Southern woman. As the story unfolds, Melanie becomes progressively physically weaker, first by childbirth, then the effects of war, and ultimately illness. She had her own unique inner spirit of perseverance, as did Scarlett. Melanie loved Ashley, Beau, and Scarlett unwaveringly, and dutifully supported the Confederate cause, revealing the naivete of her character. Beau Wilkes – Melanie's and Ashley's lovable son. India Wilkes – Ashley's sister. Almost engaged to Stuart Tarleton, she bitterly hates Scarlett for stealing his attention before he is killed at Gettysburg. Lives with Aunt Pittypat after Melanie kicks her out for accusing Scarlett and Ashley of infidelity. Honey Wilkes – another sister of India and Ashley. Originally hoped to marry Charles Hamilton until Scarlett marries him; following the war, she marries a man from Mississippi, and moves to his home state with him. John Wilkes – Owner of Twelve Oaks Plantation and patriarch of the Wilkes family. Killed during the Civil War. [edit]O'Hara family Scarlett O'Hara – The wilful protagonist of the novel, whose travails the novel follows throughout war and reconstruction. She marries Charles Hamilton, Frank Kennedy and Rhett Butler, all the time wishing she was married to Ashley Wilkes instead. She has three children, one from each husband: Wade Hampton Hamilton (son to Charles Hamilton), Ella Lorena Kennedy (daughter to Frank Kennedy) and Eugenia Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler (daughter to Rhett Butler). Gerald O'Hara – Scarlett's impetuous Irish father. Suellen O'Hara – Scarlett's selfish sister. Carreen O'Hara – Scarlett's timid, religious sister who, in the end of the story, joins a convent. Ellen Robillard O'Hara – Scarlett's gracious mother, of French ancestry. [edit]Other characters Mammy – Scarlett's nurse from birth; a slave. Cited by Rhett as "the real head of the household." She has a no-nonsense attitude and is outspoken and opinionated. She chastises Scarlett often. She is extremely loyal to the O'Haras, especially Scarlett, whom she cares for like a daughter. Pork – The O'Hara family's butler, favored by Gerald. Dilcey – Pork's wife, a strong, outspoken slave woman of mixed Indian and Black decent. Prissy – A young slave girl who features in Scarlett's life. She is portrayed as flighty and silly. Dilcey's daughter. Pork's stepdaughter. Charles Hamilton – Melanie's brother, Scarlett's first husband, shy and loving. Wade Hampton Hamilton – son of Scarlett and Charles, fearful and adoring of Scarlett and Rhett. Frank Kennedy – Suellen's former beau, Scarlett's second husband, an older man who only wants peace and quiet. He originally asks for Suellen's hand in marriage, but Scarlett steals him to save Tara. He is portrayed as a pushover who will do anything to appease Scarlett. Ella Lorena Kennedy – ugly, dull daughter of Scarlett and Frank. Belle Watling – a brothel madam and prostitute; Rhett is her friend. She is portrayed as a kind-hearted country woman and a loyal confederate. At one point she states she has nursing experience. Archie – an ex-convict and former Confederate soldier who is taken in by Melanie. Has a strong disliking for all women, especially Scarlett. The only woman he respects is Melanie. Jonas Wilkerson – overseer of Tara. After the O'Haras fire him for fathering an illegitimate child he eventually becomes employed by the Freedmen's Bureau, where he abuses his position to get back at the O'Haras and become rich. Emmie Slattery – later wife of Jonas Wilkerson, whom Scarlett blames for her mother's death. Will Benteen – Confederate soldier who seeks refuge at Tara and stays on to help with the plantation, in love with Carreen but marries Suellen to stay on Tara, and repair her reputation. He is portrayed as very perceptive and lost half of his leg in the war. Aunt Pittypat Hamilton – Charles and Melanie's vaporish aunt who lives in Atlanta. Uncle Peter – Aunt Pittypat's houseman and driver, he is extremely loyal to Pittypat. [edit]Setting Tara Plantation – The O'Hara home and plantation Twelve Oaks – The Wilkes' plantation. Peachtree Street – location of Aunt Pittypat's home in Atlanta The novel opens in April 1861 and ends in the early autumn of 1873. [edit]Politics The book includes a vivid description of the fall of Atlanta in 1864 and the devastation of war (some of that aspect was missing from the 1939 film). The novel showed considerable historical research. According to her biography, Mitchell herself was ten years old before she learned that the South had lost the war. Mitchell's sweeping narrative of war and loss helped the book win the Pulitzer Prize on May 3, 1937. An episode in the book dealt with the early Ku Klux Klan. In the immediate aftermath of the War, Scarlett is assaulted by poor Southerners living in shanties, whereupon her former black slave Big Sam saves her life. In response, Scarlett's male friends attempt to make a retaliatory nighttime raid on the encampment. Northern soldiers try to stop the attacks, and Rhett helps Ashley, who is shot, to get help through his prostitute friend Belle. Scarlett's husband Frank is killed. This raid is presented sympathetically as being necessary and justified, while the law-enforcement officers trying to catch the perpetrators are depicted as oppressive Northern occupiers. Although the Klan is not mentioned in that scene (though Rhett tells Archie to burn the "robes"), the book notes that Scarlett finds the Klan abominable. She believed the men should all just stay at home (she wanted both to be petted for her ordeal and to give the hated Yankees no more reason to tighten martial law, which is bad for her businesses). Rhett is also mentioned to be no great lover of the Klan. At one point, he said that if it were necessary, he would join in an effort to join "society". The novel never explicitly states whether this drastic step was necessary in his view. The local chapter later breaks up under the pressure from Rhett and Ashley. Scarlett expresses views that were common of the era. Some examples: "How stupid negroes were! They never thought of anything unless they were told." — Scarlett thinks to herself, after returning to Tara after the fall of Atlanta. "How dared they laugh, the black apes!...She'd like to have them all whipped until the blood ran down...What devils the Yankees were to set them free!" — Scarlett again thinking to herself, seeing free blacks after the war. However, she is kind to Pork, her father's trusted manservant. He tells Scarlett that if she were as nice to white people as she is to black, a lot more people would like her. She almost loses her temper when the Yankee women say they would never have a black nurse in their house and talk about Uncle Peter, Aunt Pittypat's beloved and loyal servant, as if he were a mule. Scarlett informs them that Uncle Peter is a member of the family, which bewilders the Yankee women and leads them to misinterpret the situation. It was mentioned that only one slave was ever whipped at Tara, and that was a stablehand who didn't brush Gerald's horse. The only time Scarlett hit a slave was when Prissy was hysterical. Scarlett at one point criticized Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, saying no one treated their slaves that badly. [edit]Inspirations As several elements of Gone with the Wind have parallels with Margaret Mitchell's own life, her experiences may have provided some inspiration for the story in context. Mitchell's understanding of life and hardship during the American Civil War, for example, came from elderly relatives and neighbors passing war stories to her generation.[3] While Margaret Mitchell used to say that her Gone with the Wind characters were not based on real people, modern researchers have found similarities to some of the people in Mitchell's own life as well as to individuals she knew or she heard of.[4] Mitchell's maternal grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens, was born in 1845; she was the daughter of an Irish immigrant, who owned a large plantation on Tara Road in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, and who married an American woman named Ellen, and had several children, all daughters. Many researchers believe that the physical brutality and low regard for women exhibited by Rhett Butler was based on Mitchell's first husband, Red Upshaw. She divorced him after she learned he was a bootlegger amid rumors of abuse and infidelity. Some believe he was patterned on the life of George Trenholm.[5][6][7] After a stay at the plantation called The Woodlands, and later Barnsley Gardens, Mitchell may have gotten the inspiration for the dashing scoundrel from Sir Godfrey Barnsley of Adairsville, Georgia. Belle Watling was based on Lexington, Kentucky, madam Belle Brezing. Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, the mother of US president Theodore Roosevelt may have been an inspiration for Scarlett O'Hara. Roosevelt biographer David McCullough discovered that Mitchell, as a reporter for The Atlanta Journal, conducted an interview with one of Martha's closest friends and bridesmaid, Evelyn King Baker, then 87. In that interview, she described Martha's physical appearance, beauty, grace, and intelligence in detail. The similarities between Martha and the Scarlett character are striking.
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