Rating: 
Summary: Incredible
Review: Over the summer, a friend and I made a deal that she would read To Kill A Mockingbird, one of my all-time favorite books, if I would get through Gone With the Wind. I agreed, although it was hardly a fair deal, seeing as how GWTW is over 1000 pages, and TKAMB is a mere 300...but it was the best thing I ever did. Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is an incredible book--Scarlett O'Hara is the single most unforgettable heroine I have ever encountered--and though I often felt like strangling her for her selfishness, stupidity, and greed, I fell completely in love with her anyway. I came to know her so well by the end of the book that for awhile after I was finished, there was a bit of a hole in my life, and I missed reading about her as I would miss a friend on vacation. Fortunately, all I had to do was open the book back up, and I was again immersed in southern Civil War America. Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie, Ashley--each and every one became like a dear friend, I knew their thoughts, their feelings so well. There are not guarantees that everyone who picks up this amazing book will be able to finish it--but if you can, you are in for the time of your life.
Rating: 
Summary: Not overrated
Review: Margaret Mitchell impressed me by writing an 800 page novel about a character I sometimes wanted to strangle but about whom I couldn't read enough. Scarlett O'Hara might be self-absorbed, provincial, and manipulative, but she also displays courage, resourcefulness, and determination. Gone with the Wind is more than just a love story; it chronicles Scarlett's growth from a spoiled planter's daughter to the head of a household struggling to survive the ravages of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Mitchell provides a fascinating depiction of the psychology of the South, which plays a critical role in Scarlett's story. To thrive, she finds she must alienate the remnants of her former life and accept the presence of the Northern invaders. Throughout Scarlett wrestles with her feelings for Ashley Wilkes, a noble refugee from the genteel past, and Rhett Butler, a scalawag building his fortune from the ashes of the confederacy. Many more wonderfully drawn characters fill out this novel, which already feels somewhat compressed despite its length. It's no wonder the movie version is four hours long; the novel has too much too good to leave out!
Rating:
Summary: Gone With My Heart
Review: This a fabulous book. I think it is much better than the movie. A must for anyone, who loves to read. It is prefect for history fans. I have read and re-read this book many times. It is one of my favorites. It is set in the Civil War era. It is about Scalett O'Hara and Rhett Bulter. It was later made into a movie, starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable. Scallet is very independent women, who is famous for her green eyes, and her red hair, that explains her fiery temper. who first gets married to Charles Hamiltion. He's sister is Melanie, who becomes the wife of Ashley, the man, Scarlett wants but can never have. She has a a son, Wade, with Charles. Then she keeps her family together,--anyway she can. She even kills a Yankee. Then she marrys Frank Kenndy, to pay the taxes on Tara. She has a daughter, Ella, with him. He dies while having to Klu Klux Klan. She marrys Rhett. The have a fiery romance. They have a daughter, that Rhett names Bonnie Blue Butler, because her eyes were as blue as the Bonnie Blue Flag. This book closes with Scarlett pronouncing the famous words, "After all, tomorrow is another day!"
Rating:
Summary: Gone With the Wind
Review: I was 13 when I first read Gone with the Wind. It was a Chinese version. I couldn't remember who translated the book. All I could remember was that it was one of the most touching story I've ever read. I was encouraged by the Scarlett's passion and courage for life and touched by Rhett's patience and love. A few days ago, I picked up an English version of Gone of the Wind. It seems so much better than before. Maybe it's because that I'm now older and I can understand people's feelings in another dimension. Or maybe it's becuase I've moved to America and I had a better understanding of the western culture. I cried after reading it. I wish there was a different ending!
Rating:
Summary: A timeless classic that I want my daughter to read
Review: and hope she loves as much as I do. I have read this story several times- so many that I have it commited to memory!
I always had a copy of it with me until my last one feel apart from reading it to many times.! Scarlett is a strong woman, and in that time that strength was frowned upon by both men and women. I have - many times, drawn on the strength that she had through out the story. I hope that my daughter reads this when she is a teen and sees Scarlett for the modern woman that she is.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Book Ever
Review: Gone with the Wind is a wonderful book. I just finished reading it a few days ago and I was blown away.I loved and hated Scarlett .Even though the ending is heartwrenching, Scarlett took Rhett for granted and she'll get him back somehow, she always gets what wants. Up until I read this book I never realized how rough it was for the south during and after the Civil War.This is a must read, if the book doesn't interest you now, try it again later, that's what I did.!
Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Romance
Review: Gone With The Wind is a timeless romance that depicts agreat picture of what life was like during and after the Civil War. Once loved by all the men in the County, Scarlett's life takes a turn after the war. She ends uo in Atlanta where her reputation is ruined by gossip. The ending was kind of disappointing, but it leaves plenty of room to imagine what could happen. There is something for everyone to relate to in this book. I have no doubt that this book will always be remembered as the greatest romance novel of all time.
Rating:
Summary: The Breath-Taking Civil War Romance
Review: I LOVE THIS BOOK!! Rhett Butler is one of the best characters when it comes to writing and so is Melanie, and Scarlett. Mitchell outdid herself in this classic novel. I love the movie too, but the book is much better with so much more detail. Yes, Scarlett is a little whiny and selfish and takes Rhett for granted, but I love her anyway! Ashley is a huge git, but you have to like a lot of the other characters inculding Aunt Pitty-pat and Melanie. This book is 5 Stars and nothing can change that. I hope Mitchell is smiling down from heaven when she sees us reading her book-because it is a true gem.
Rating:
Summary: The metamorphosis of a vain Southern belle...
Review: ...into the ad hoc matriarch of a shattered plantation family. Scarlett O'Hara makes you wince at her infuriating shallowness earlier in the story. You can spot it in a conversation between herself and Ashley Wilkes, the man she wants to steal away from Melanie Hamilton. Ashley comments that Rhett Butler (who Scarlett has just seen for the first time) looks like one of the Borgias. Scarlett asks which family they are--she doesn't know them. Ashley patiently explains that they're Italians. "Oh," says Scarlett dismissively. "Foreigners." The type of prideful ignorance that my own working class demographic ("crackers" back in those days) expresses like this; "I'm dumb as hell and proud of it." One thing the movie doesn't capture by a long shot with Vivien Leigh as Scarlett and Olivia DeHavilland as Melanie is that these girls are teenagers, antebellum "valley girls". So actually, what do you expect? Basically, Melanie beats Scarlett out for Ashley's affections becase she is nowhere near as immature. But Scarlett's father frequently comments on her "willfulness", possibly without realizing himself that it's a clue to a titanic courage in his firstborn. In the ensuing story, the Civil War grinds up people and land. Melanie, Scarlett's onetime despised rival, becomes dependent upon her. Ashley is destroyed in spirit as well--a rich dandy doesn't have the moxie to endure war when it lands in his backyard. The main reason Scarlett ends up getting involved with Rhett is that he's the only man with her level of guts. Scarlett reminds me of Pat Conroy's "Great Santini" character--at first you can't stand her, you thank God no one like her is close to you, but when the chips are down, she's a survivor. And people associated with her survive as well. One thing this book points out is that the ugliness of war is a force of human nature, and people who think themselves insulated from it, or "above war's barbarism" wind up finding out the hard way that they're dead wrong. Now if only our present-day sheltered middle class and "thinking people" could face that inescapable truth...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Novel, but It Has Its Flaws
Review: Gone With the Wind is novel of epic proportions, and it does read like a soap opera. Then again, so does every book this long (try War and Peace sometime). This book examines a spoiled, ante-bellum socialite who has never had to lift a finger and the way she deals with utter poverty, death, and tragedy all around her. The book does have its flaws, which I will touch on in a moment, but it should be read simply for Scarlett's struggle. Yes, she is rude, mean, and a generally selfish and scheming woman, but she also a paragon of strength who simply refuses to bow to anyone. Throughout the book, people say that Sherman himself should beware of Scarlett, and they're right.
Getting away from Scarlett--difficult in this novel--there are several other main characters. Rhett-the only man she cannot lure with her charms, Ashley-the only man she cannot get with her charms, and Melanie-Ashley's saintly wife--the antithesis of Scarlett, whom Scarlett hates but feels compelled to help.
Much of this book is somewhat depressing, reading about hunger, toiling in the fields, working on the sick, but it does make you appreciate what you have.
Now, for the flaws. First, the big one: Racism. Yes, this book is racist, but, for heaven's sake, it was written in 1936 by a woman from Atlanta who had been raised with her antebellum grandmothers. It's set in the Civil War, and it does accurately portray the feelings of whites at the time. Some of the black sentiments ("Gee, Miss Scarlett, I wouldn't know what to do without you telling me") are a little incredulous, but there were some plantation owners who were nice to their slaves. Of course, the ones who get publicity were the evil ones. While evil slave owners did exist, this book is not about them, and it should be taken at face value. No, it isn't politically correct, but it wasn't meant to be. If you only want politically correct books, then you really can't even read the Bible.
Other flaws: the subjecation of women to men (think of the time era again), the length (some descriptive parts can be skipped), and the many plots (watch the movie as you go to keep it all together).
Other than these few things mentioned, this book is a marvelous example of Southern literature, but don't take it as a historical novel of the Civil War because it wasn't meant to be that. It's the story of one woman's refusal to surrender to whatever comes her way. It just happens to take place during the Civil War. It could have happened during the American Revolution; it just didn't. Also, it leaves you with a serious debate with yourself: Scarlett--justified or evil? Yes, she gets her riches and life back while everyone else mopes, but they eventually get their lives back as well--they just didn't demean themselves. Rare is the book that makes you question your own thoughts on the main character.
|
