Book Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell



Synopsis:

A monumental classic considered by many to be not only the greatest love story ever written, but also the greatest Civil War saga.

My Review:

First, I must kick myself- how could I have never read this book before?!

Gone with the Wind is a sensational novel, an ever-lasting sensational novel. This 1000+ page novel played with my emotions far more than the vast majority of books I've ever read. I loved and hated; I felt joy, sorrow, torment, anguish, giddiness, contempt, delight, and anger through this saga of the South during the Civil War. I feel this way because the book is not about the events or a simple love story, it is an in-depth survey of humans during good and bad times. It's hard to find any author that can portray humans with such keen analysis to make them utterly real and believable.

Scarlett O'Hara is an absolutely selfish and vain person, but she is also determined and willing to survive.  She is the American woman, in every form of meaning. She is passionate and self-willed; at times I wanted to slap her silly and other times I wanted to applaud her actions which I felt incapable of myself. And who could forget these famous lines: "Hunger gnaed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: 'As God is my witness, as God is my witness, the Yankees aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's over, I'm never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill- as God is my witness, I'm never going to be hungry again'" (Mitchell 428). Scarlett's passion for survival saved her and her family. She may be extremely selfish and bullheaded, but she was going to survive. And we all must applaud her determination to live.

Rhett Butler and Ashley Wilkes - the two men Scarlett ever loved.  And her love only ends in tragedy. Yet, Scarlett will survive. These two men are extremely interesting in their own ways.  Rhett is just as stubborn and determined as Scarlett while Ashley, as Rhett puts it, is "He's only a gentleman caught in a world he doesn't belong in, trying to make a poor best of it by the rules of the world that's gone" (Mitchell 1028).  The portrait of these two men is display Mitchell's characterization superbly, second only to Scartlett's character.

I could go on, but really just encourage you to read it for yourself.  The novel moves quickly for being so long, I was never once bored or started skimming to read quicker. I highly recommend Gone with the Wind.

My Rating: 5 out 5 stars