Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Title: Gone With the Wind
Author: Margaret Mitchell
Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction / Classics
Setting: Georgia, USA
Month Read: January 2022
Book Type: Paperback
Publication: 1936
Pages: 959
*Great American Reads Book
TRIGGER WARNING-
Death / Grieving / Alcohol Abuse / Slavery / Abuse / Language / Racism / Child Death / Miscarriage / Animal Death / Animal Abuse / War / Etc.
"You're so brutal to those who love you, Scarlett. You take their love and hold it over their heads like a whip."
No Spoiler Summary:
Gone With the Wind is a novel following our heroine, Scarlett O'Hara in Georgia prior, during, and after the Civil War. Scarlett is used to being a wealthy daughter of a plantation owner, and has to adjust to life after Sherman's troops devastate her home state and leave her penniless and searching for her identity.
^Real-time view of me the entire novel.
Review:
I'm never going to be able to write a review deserving of this book, but I'll try to start with the fact that it took me 29 days of buddy-reading this with my friend (@reading_and_wrighting on Instagram!) and I'm going to be thinking about this book for a very long time. Obviously, at 959 pages, this book took most of January for us to read, and while the beginning is horrendously slow, and tedious, you unknowingly gain such an intimate portrayal of this large cast of characters that really does aid you throughout.
I wish I could say that Scarlett is a girl I can't understand- she's vain, and selfish, and a bully- she's transfixed on beauty, and boys, and her social calendar- but I truly understand Scarlett too well. I did really enjoy watching Scarlett grow (from 16 at the start of the novel, to 28 at the end) and see the traits that stuck with her the entire time, the ones she grew out of (and into), and the parts of her that became almost magnified. I think it's very important that a classic like this is told entirely from a female perspective- a very ferocious, smart, strong-willed, and almost brutal female perspective - especially during a time period where women were supposed to be docile, and pretty, and stupid. The burdens Scarlett is forced to carry, and the life she creates for herself and her family is actually quite incredible, and when it all leads to her eventual undoing at the end, it makes it almost even more fascinating.
I don't really want to fixate on the very obvious racism in this book, because I just feel like a book written in 1936 about the South during the Civil War is just bound to be racist- but I will say that I was pretty annoyed that the white characters get written in perfect English (with almost no drawls, and no accents) but the slaves (with similar accents and drawls, I'd assume) get written in a way that is so stupidly hard to read that I'd have to honestly skim over Mammy's long paragraphs because they would make my head hurt trying to comprehend what was actually trying to be said. In any sense, I think that reading this book is extremely important, and if you're shocked about racism in this time period, I think it's even better to read it. I'd rather be uncomfortable reading a book like Gone With the Wind, and learning about a time period, than just reading things that make me comfortable. I think being really uncomfortable (like I think I would have been if I were actually in the Civil War/the South) means that somewhere down the line people did the right thing in teaching me how horrific racism is, and how I will continue to pass that along to my future kids.
Two things about this novel really surprised me:
This book is really funny. There are a lot of times when I was reading this that I audibly laughed out loud. Mammy is really funny, and I loved how no-nonsense she is at just about everything. She's probably one of the best characters in the book, and I just absolutely adored her. The Scarlett/Rhett banter is also amazing, and definitely one of my absolute favorite parts of this book. As a new Rhett Butler stan I will die for this man and he can also hit me with a horse and buggy and I would thank him.
This book is not really a romance, and I feel like I've been lied to my entire life about this. Before reading this book, I only really had minimal understanding of some of the very pop culture elements. ('Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn'/ Scarlett making a dress out of curtains/ Slaves / Racist white people/ Civil War & poverty. I've never seen the movie, never read a review of the book, or really, a synopsis, and probably never would have thought to pick this up had it not been on the PBS Great American Reads list that I've been trying to tackle for several years. I don't know what got ingrained in my head that screamed THIS IS A REALLY ROMANTIC BOOK, but somewhere along the way that weaved itself into my brain, and let me be the first to say how disappointed I am that it is probably the least romantic book. I spent 959 pages waiting for this big happily-ever-after that I had put into my own head, and uh... yeah, I ended up crying when I was done reading it because it certainly does not give you that at all.
I can probably keep talking about this book forever, but I think I'm going to leave it here. If anyone wants to discuss- feel free to comment, or message me on my Instagram! (@JessGReads) and make sure to check out Jessie's (@reading_and_wrighting) to see her #GoneWiththeWindposting memes that (mostly she, but with some minor contributions from me) made while we were doing our 29 day buddy read.
^Live Feed of Rhett absolutely wrecking my heart.
Recommendation:
I'd like to highlight some books about black characters during this time period:
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Two books authorized by the Margaret Mitchell estate I'd like to read:
Ruth's Journey: The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind by Donald McCaig
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
Some books from my (mostly Eliza) Hamilton-obsession period:
The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton by Stephanie Dray
Alex & Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (YA Series)
"Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient"
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