“Now, Puss, tell me true, do you understand his folderol about books and poetry and music and oil paintings and such foolishness?” “Oh, Pa,” cried Scarlett impatiently, “if I married him, I’d change all that!”When I was a teenager, my goal in life was to be Scarlett O’Hara (less the slavery aspects and lack of a moral compass). What’s wrong with being a strong, business-minded, ambitious woman who knows what she wants, someone who can reinvent herself, someone who knows failure but can rebuild f...

Margaret Mitchell's *Gone with the Wind* is a creative writing masterpiece on every level. Across its 1400 pages (or 49 hours in audiobook form), there isn't a single wasted line or insignificant moment. From a purely technical standpoint, it's awe-inspiring how flawlessly Mitchell utilizes characterization, setting, research, conflict, point of view, narrative voice, symbolism, foreshadowing, allusion, and every other literary device in the handbook. Even more amazing, she juggles all this whil...

Just finished another epic! And let me tell you, Gone with the Wind was seriously good stuff. I've tackled some massive books in my time. Some feel like a total slog, but others are so gripping they practically read themselves, even if they're longer than your arm. Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind definitely falls into the "gripping" category. Not once did I find myself bored or wondering when it would finally end. I was completely hooked from start to finish – so much so that my wife foun...

Margaret Mitchell was a racist, and in 1936, 70 years after the Civil War, she penned a thousand-page love letter to racism. If you're keen to hear why slavery was supposedly terrific, how black people are supposedly inferior to whites, and how they supposedly *enjoyed* being slaves, then *Gone with the Wind* is your epic. If that sounds unpleasant, you definitely won't like *Gone with the Wind*. A non-racist book can feature racist characters, but *all* the characters in *Gone with the Wind* a...

One of my reading goals for 2016 was to tackle at least ten classic books. It felt fitting that I finished Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind on the Fourth of July, an epic masterpiece that many consider the quintessential Great American Novel. If you're looking for classic book reviews, this is a must-read. I feel like the book's two halves mirror the American South before and after the Civil War. The first half primarily takes place at Tara Plantation. We meet our main character, Scarlett...

I've said it before: *Gone with the Wind* the novel is like watching the ten-hour director's cut of *Gone with the Wind* the movie! Hell yeah! All the memorable scenes are there, and the spotlighted romance is considerably widened in scope, as is the sturdy social studies lesson on the almighty American Civil War. I mean, everyone has the basic idea correct: the South took a tremendous thrashing. But having the loser's POV take the forefront, even to the extent of exalting the KKK-- this, more t...

It takes guts to make your main character spoiled, selfish, and stupid – someone without any redeeming qualities – and then write an epic novel about her. But it works for two reasons. First, you wait for justice to fall with merciless force, delivered by one of the most recognized lines in cinema ("frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"). You end with a broken and somewhat repentant character, and you can't help but feel for her. Secondly, if you're going to draw parallels between the beautiful,...

I received my copy of *Gone with the Wind* in 1991 and never got past the first 50 or 100 pages in any of my annual attempts at this book until 2004, at which point I decided to defeat the book once and for all. I FINALLY FINISHED READING THE DAMN BOOK. I want my time back. There was a reason I never before read past the first 50 or 100 pages - Scarlet is a raging evil snarky miserable bitch and I hate her. None of the other characters were particularly likable - ranging from sniveling, whiny ...

So much has been said in praise of *Gone with the Wind* it feels redundant to add more. Regarding its portrayal of the slave-holding society, the film actually toned down the pro-South view of Reconstruction (Scarlett's second husband joined the KKK in the book), and Mammy remains probably one of the most fully-developed and likeable African-American characters from 1930 you'll read. Rhett Butler is the consummate alpha male. *Gone with the Wind* definitely lives up to its reputation as a timel...

I honestly don't know whether to give "Gone with the Wind" 5 stars for being one of the most completely engrossing, shocking, and emotionally absorbing pieces of literature ever written, or to give it 0 stars for being the most tragic, unendingly upsetting, disturbing book I've ever read. I read the last 50 pages or so literally with my mouth wide open, unable to believe that it was really going to be THAT tragically sad. When I finally finished "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, I walke...