Yes, I am a terrible excuse for a Southern gal because not only had I never read Gone With the Wind, I also have never seen the movie! The latter will be remedied soon, though, thanks again to library holds. I also might make a trek to the Margaret Mitchell House next time I head home to Atlanta.
I actually really loved this book up until the last two chapters. Then it was just depressing and kinda left me hanging. The beginning of the book just made me kinda giddy though, because I really identified with Scarlett as a teenager. I also thought she was hilarious. As the book progressed, though, I didn't like her as much. It actually kept reminding me of my writing prompt from the AP Lit test I took 10 years ago about a "morally ambiguous" character. (I wrote about Moll Flanders and passed the test, for the record.) I suppose you also could write on that same prompt about Rhett Butler. However, I learned a lot about the economics of war and the effects of war on the women and the losing side. I'll admit that I usually zoned out in history class when teachers droned on about battles, but this put a face to the Civil War for me.
One thing I definitely liked about this book is its depiction of Atlanta at its founding, although many of the characteristics mentioned still apply today. The red clay dirt is definitely the stuff I played in as a child (don't really miss it), and then there was this passage: "Why was the place so different from other Georgia towns? Why did it grow so fast? After all, they thought, it had nothing whatever to recommend it--only its railroads and a bunch of mighty pushy people." (p. 142) Change "railroads" to "Coca-Cola" and you pretty much have a good description of the Atlanta I know.
Have you ever read Gone With the Wind? Or seen the movie? And did you like it?
I'm dying to watch the movie, but I'm one of those hafta-read-the-book-first kind of people. Yeah. The book was dog-eared after chapter 4 and hasn't been picked up since. I just can't get into it! Maybe it's because I'm from the North??
ReplyDeleteRead Scarlet, too (the sequel). Another idea (I did this during one of my deployments): read Gone With the Wind, Little Women, and Uncle Tom's Cabin all in a row. Gives three very different views of the Civil War (one from the South, one from the North, and one from the Blacks) and was a surprise to me since I hadn't intended to see those perspectives, but really just wanted to read the books (or reread, in the case of Little Women). As a side note, reading Little Women as an adult was VERY different from when I read it in 4th grade....there is a LOT more sex in that book than I realized!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this movie. it is just one of those classics that you have to see. I have the book on my reading list. One day I will get to it :)
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie when I was in seventh grade and read the book in eighth grade - I really liked them, although I liked the movie better. In the book, Scarlet was a much meaner character, I thought. The scene where she slapped her son when the Atlanta was being attacked always stayed with me . . .
ReplyDeleteI really like Kate's idea of reading that, and then Little Women and then Uncle Tom's Cabin in a row. I might have to do that! Thank you Kate! :)