Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2553 in Books
• Published on: 1991-09-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1024 pages

Synopsis
First published in 1936, this book is a historical novel set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War. It tells the love story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.

Customer Reviews

I didn't want it to end
This book was just the ticket for a good old fashioned summer read. Sitting outside in my garden I was swept away to Atlanta. I loved the film and had always meant to read the book and have now had my chance. I cannot get over how well cast the film was, all the actors really stayed loyal to the text. The great bonus of the book is the historical, political and social perspectives which gives the story much more meaning and good reference points. The events make far more sense. I loved this book.

Greatest novel I ever read
As a boy growing up, I always wondered why my mother had tears in her eyes at the end of Gone With The Wind when it was on TV each year. Recently I developed a keen interest in the War between the States (civil war if you prefer)and got around to reading this book. It is by any standard, exceptionally well written and doesn't shine away from the horrors of Reconstruction and portrays the original Ku Klux Klan in a heroic light although Rhett Butler (always the voice of reason) argues the successes of the Klan only lead to Yankee anger and more agony and repression for the beaten South. Interestingly in the movie, it is a white man who tries to rape Scarlett and a black man who saves her. The exact opposite of the book! I guess even in the early 40's political correctness was alive and well. Anyway, no matter I too had tears in my eyes at the end of reading this fabulous book.

Ripping Yarn - with one massive flaw
This is a book with a thoroughly unlikable heroine; it is shot through with jaw dropping racism, so how can it qualify for four stars?

The simple answer is that it is fundamentally an absolutely ripping yarn. Margaret Mitchell's achievement is in creating a set of flawed characters, but then making the reader care about what happens to them. Couple engaging characters with a beautifully paced plot and it is easy to understand why Gone With The Wind is still in print and massively popular.

It is the story of selfish, determined daughter of a plantation, Scarlett O'Hara, her enduring love for neighbour Ashley Wilkes, his marriage to Melanie, who becomes Scarlett's devoted friend, and of course the love of Rhett Butler for Scarlett. The context of the story is the American south before, during and after the civil war. We see the relationships between the characters develop as they go from affluence, through degradation in defeat, and then rebuild.

Scarlett is of course the centre of the book and Mitchell skilfully plays with the reader's emotions towards her heroine. Basically she is selfish, spiteful, snobbish, racist, a hideously bad parent, an exploitative employer, but courageous and engaging. Initially we dislike her as a spoilt brat, her marriages are exasperating, we grow to admire her courage as she fights to survive during and after the war, she becomes a figure of ridicule as she joins the nouveau riche and finally her inability to understand Rhett's love is frustrating, infuriating and eventually tragic.

I have never seen the film, only heard the famous lines, and so was surprised to find that Rhett Butler, rather than being a heartless cad is in fact brutally honest with himself and is a strong and proud man brought low by his love for the unknowing Scarlett.

Despite the fantastic nature of the story, the epic background, the major flaw which cannot be ignored is the appalling racism. I was ready to be accepting and view the racism in the book as a portrayal rather than an espousal of the attitudes of the time. I'm afraid I can't maintain that line, Mitchell is too clearly and openly sympathetic to slavery. Her attitude is basically that slaves are subhuman, that the "good" ones prefer enslavement and that the institution was vindicated by the fact that the North perpetrated some unacceptable acts in abolishing it. Some of the sections after the civil war are just dreadful in their proslavery sentiment. It is almost unbelievable that this book was written and published in a democracy during the 20th Century. This is further illustrated by the toe curlingly embarrassing speech patterns Mitchell gives to the slave characters.

That the book can still have any validity despite this is a testament to the power of the story. The whole thing cracks along superbly with some brilliantly evocative scenes which will stick in the mind for a long time: the first time Scarlett dances with Rhett, the birth of Melanie's baby, the flight from Atlanta, Scarlet and Ashley in the Saw Mill and of course the final scene between Rhett and Scarlett.

In a strange way GWTW reminded me of the Lord of the Rings. It is not a great work of literature. It has some serious flaws, but it is an absolutely fabulous story, and it gave rise to a whole sub genre, while remaining superior to any of its successors.

So final thoughts.
-I highly recommend GWTW as a thundering good read, but be aware you'll need a strong stomach
-Don't be daunted by the size, the plot is well paced and it never drags
-It's not just a girly book, I'm an (ex) rugby playing bloke and I loved the story