The Wind Done Gone: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Reading for perspective rather than entertainment.
Review: An earlier posting made reference to The Wind Done Gone as being "dishonorable towards all the CSA men fought & died for." This novel is making an attempt to portray the demise of the "Old South" through the eyes of a black woman, as opposed to a white woman in Gone with the Wind. How can this be seen as dishonorable, let alone more dishonorable than to disregard the system upon which the Old South was built upon, namely slavery? To condemn this book simply because it attempts to tell the same story through different eyes is foolish. And as one reader pointed out, a woman's attempt at finding her place in the world should not be considered boring or whiney. The quality and importance of The Wind Done Gone lies not in its structure or form, but in its ability to challenge an established idea and cause the reader to question an accepted idea, uncomfortable as it may be. The Wind Done Gone provides an opportunity not for entertaining reading but intellectual exploration of an important part of American history. The fact that it explores this by adapting characters and places which have been made familiar to many by a famous novel only increases the effects of the story.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting Spin-off of GWTW
Review: 'The Wind Done GoneEis not a parody of GWTW, as is stated on the cover of the book, but it is a story based on GWTW and told from the point of view of a minor character. Anyone who has already read GWTW can easily find the threads that Randal used in writing her novel. 'The Wind Done GoneEis told though the journal of Mammy's daughter Cynara. Early on in the novel the reader discovers Cynara's lineage and also why she does not show up more in the original story. Throughout Cynara's journal the reader discovers more and more incidents that both line up with GWTW, and also a new depth to some of the more minor characters. Reading about the portrayal of Ellen O'Hara ('LadyEin this book) not only created a completely new image of that character, but also gave an insight into what it meant to be black (I would elaborate, but I don't want to spoil it for future readers!).

I would like to end this by pointing out that neither 'The Wind Done GoneEnor 'Gone With The WindEare really an actual portrayal of life in the South before and after the Civil War. Both are works of FICTION, and should be read with that mind frame. If you want to read about the HISTORY of the South, I would recommend picking up Frederick Douglass's Narrative, which is one escaped slave's actual account of his time in slavery, or 'Down by the RiversideEby Charles Joyner, which talks about life in a South Carolinian slave community. Both of these books would give you a more realistic view to slave life than either TWDG or GWTW.

Rating:
Summary: As Real As It's Gonna' Get
Review: The Wind Done Gone is a brilliant portrayal of how things really were. Randall told the other side of the slavery story that Gone With The Wind failed to mention. Randall did not let southern slave owners off the hook. After reading The Wind Done Gone, no one should walk away feeling content with Gone With The Wind's portrayal of happy, simple slaves and benevolent, kind masters. To tell the story of slavery without violence, rape, whippings, etc., is to do it an injustice.
Blacks were not simple-minded or happy with their lot in life. If anyone were to pick up Frederick Douglass's Autobiography or Down By the Riverside, watch the movie Roots, etc., they would understand and know that life on the plantation was not a zippity-do-da day. Slaves had feelings, hope for freedom, ingenuity; slaves were real people. You cannot tell a story, involve a mammy, and not mention her children and how she was denied the right to mother them. You cannot tell the story of slavery and leave out the dehumanization and stripping of rights. Likewise, you cannot tell the story of the south without slavery. Gone With the Wind, clearly involved slavery, but left out all the more ugly and more brutal facts of this peculiar institution. Alice Randall's account of the South is very real. She just tells her audience what really happened with slavery; while Gone With the Wind tells what white southerners thought happened.
Guess what sport fans?? If you're looking for an accurate depiction of slavery, not a romanticized version, The Wind Done Gone is as close as you're going to get and sometimes the truth hurts.

Rating:
Summary: The Wind Done Gone
Review: Because The Wind Done Gone is a story about the mulatto half-sister of "Other" (Scarlet), Randall still avoids having to confront the true brutalities of slavery in the antebellum South, thus enabling her to write a fiction that is enjoyable for light reading. Because Cynara was still a child of "Planter," she naturally received special treatment that was far better than what the typical slave would have received. It looks more at the experiences that came along with being a mulatto, illegitimate child of a slave owner, rather than offering a new spin on the classic story, Gone With The Wind. It merely uses GWTW as a starting point and base. In respect to the historical accuracy, this novel speaks directly to the mulatto population, rather than to slaves. The experiences of Cynara are far from what many slaves and even most mulatto children experienced. If you want a historical account of a mulatto slave in the antebellum South, read Fredrick Douglass's narrative. I would also tend to agree with the review "Southern Balls" in that to call this merely a parody does it great injustice. This is a fiction that is meant to provoke thought and to shed light on a position that is often over-looked in history.

Rating:
Summary: THRILLED!!! And I am NOT ashamed of it!!!
Review: I am thoroughly and COMPLETELY THRILLED that Alice Randall decided to write this book because (...) I can see the underlying racism that Alice Randall is in essence, trying to get us to see. You see, this novel isn't really about black versus white versus maletto characters in her novel, it's about 'American' society's views on how our past occurred. (...) If slaves cared for their masters so darn much, the 'underground railroad' would have NEVER been constructed (with Harriet Tubman at the forefront of it)!!! In my mind, I think Alice Randall created this novel just to see how much of an up roar white America would cause over this . . . and needless to say, you failed the test miserably. I believe Randalls' account of 'The Wind Done Gone' is a more believable one by far than GWTW, why??? Because of the (...) underlying racist undertones throughout GWTW that made it a depressing and down right degrading read for many African-Americans. (...) Slavery wasn't 'peachy keen' for anyone, and white families weren't as innocent and 'clean' as they were depicted in GWTW . . . wake up America!!! Randalls' just given you a bright and early wake up call, it's time for you (white America) to answer it!!! United we stand indeed . . . this isn't 'reverse discrimination,' how can it be when it's closer to the truth than GWTW will ever be??? (...)

Rating:
Summary: ..rethinking familiar scenes..
Review: Intriguing. I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't put Gone With the Wind down either the first time I read it in 9th grade.
Now, though, I am going back to familiar scenes and rethinking each and every one of them. Alice Randall, thanks!

Rating:
Summary: Do not waste your time!!!
Review: Do not read this book, it is a waste of time! The slaves in GWTW are not potrayed as stupid people. GWTW is about a women living in the South before, during, and after the Civil War. I'm sorry, but there used to be slaves. It is a part of history, and no one can change that. Margaret Mitchell could not change that, so of course she is going to include slaves in a book about the civil war. It is rude of the author of The Wind Done Gone to use the characters from GWTW and turn them into something they're not.

Rating:
Summary: Reader
Review: The first time i read GWTW i was going into 4th grade. I have read it at least 15 times since. I have also read lots of books with connections to GWTW such as Scarlett, so i was so excited when this book came out. While i was reading the book i got so depressed. It was filled with such bitterness, and if u read the biography on the front of the book u will find out that she had two mental breakdowns each one after GWTW book came out and the movie. They turn Scralett into a soft weakling who gives up and Mammy into a cold bloodid killer. I'm not saying u shouldn't read this book, I'm just warning the Die Hard GWTW fans that this is a disgrace to the original.

Rating:
Summary: Disgraceful To Southern Heritage
Review: This book is a total disgrace. I am a teenager raised in the South, who had many ancestors who fought for the Southern Cause. This book is dishonerable towards all the CSA men fought & died for. Im am throughly upset anyone would purchase-much less buy this sorry, shameful excuse for a book. This is merely a book setting a perfect example of reverse descrimination and I am ashamed of anyone who would ever consider reading the trash. GWTW was a beautiful FICTION novel, and this book couldnt have been more disreputable than it is. I hope Ms Randall will come to her senses eventually.

Rating:
Summary: Decent but whiny
Review: While Ms. Randall shows much promise and nerve, this novel comes off as a whining (at times) bore. Cindy is so wrapped up in her jealousy for "other" she makes it her sole purpose in life to one-up "other". Ms. Randall could have really done something had she given the main character more of her own identity, rather than conforming to "other".