This masterpiece took me quite awhile to read but now that I have finished I couldn’t have been happier than to drag out the journey and love story of Scarlett and Rhett as long as I did.

I absolutely loved the book. The movie was nearly very true to the story, aside from a couple major character differences, but overall the theme and feeling remained the same.

The epic tale of Gone With the Wind tells the story of Scarlett O’Hara -madly in love with a man she can’t have. She makes choices out of jealousy, frustration, hatred and love – most of them completely wrong and in the end hurts her more.

The book covers a long span of time during the American Civil War. Scarlett, a spoiled girl, suddenly finds herself living a life unexpected, unselfish and tending to others more than herself. She mistakes love for hatred on many occasions, choosing the wrong man more than once, and finds herself relying on only one thing to keep her safe – Tara.

It’s hard to describe this amazing book without giving away plot points, especially since there are a couple that are not in the movie. It’s an epic love story, with romance and war, every element for man and woman to enjoy. I don’t remember feeling sad or crying at the end of the film but by the end of the book my heart was breaking for the torment and trials of Scarlett – wishing for once she would have the happiness she so badly wanted.

I read this book again and again. There's no doubt Mitchell has a deeply engaging writing style. ( )

"I'm a literary snob, I'll admit it. I've read all the classics, and I even know some Literary Theory. Gone With the Wind? Pul-lease, racist, sexist, revanchist trash, made popular by all the young woman dreaming of being Scarlett and having both their Rhett and Ashley. Cheerleader fare. Escapist. WRONG!
Gone with the Wind is an American War & Peace. This is serious literature, which won the Pulitzer prize, no less. Most people don't see past the epic plot (which isn't as cut and dried as you may think) or the love story, but this is no less than a successfull attempt to reclaim a discarded culture. It is not about crinoline and lace, it it about the Apocalypse and how losers of the counter-revolution must learn to live in a place where all their politics, personal or civil, are demolished."...
I THOUGHT THIS BOOK CAPTURED (FOR ME) LIFE OF THE SOUTH BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR-GREAT READ -PLB

Amanda, Fall 2009

Why hadn't I read this ages ago? A wonderful read. ( )