“Great book, but I will not be reading it again
This is one of those books where you find a little bit of yourself in each character, rather than finding one you can entirely associate with. It's imposible to completely like or completely hate any of the characters
Yes, it is a magnificent novel, an American classic. Filled with larger than life characters Gone with the Wind takes the reader to a chapter of American history not readily remembered (Southern Reconstruction) and to institutions we wish we could not remember. Slavery, racism, and the KKK
Lets talk about the novel. It is not a book for the faint of heart- my edition is over 700 pages. Yet, Margaret Mitchell has the gift to immerse you in a world that has long since passed. From the comfort of our armchairs it is difficult for us to imagine the sense of lostness the southern gentry must of felt during and after the war. They simply lost everything. Yet, there is something about the American character that does not want to give up, a stubbornness best personified by Scarlet O'Hara.
I first read Gone with The Wind in the early 80's, it left an indelible imprint on my mind. About a year ago as I was persuing my library, it caught my eye again. I pull it for the self, sat down in my wing back chair and began reading eagerly anticipating being drawn into Mitchell's south once again. This time, however, I could not finish the book. A few hundred pages into it, I gently closed the cover and put it back into my library. What was it that caused me not complete this book? It was the blatant racism that seemed to permeate every other page.
Yes, I realize that this book was written by a southerner reflecting a time and culture long since gone. Yes, racism is an appropriate subject to write about. Yes, one may write a novel that reflect the racism of the antebellum south- but this is one country preacher who will not read it again”
