Calista's Reviews > Gone With the Wind

After 30 years, I have finally read this American Classic. Our family has stories about this book. My mom's mother read this story when it came out. My family inherited an outdoor glider from my great-grandmother who lived in Newport News Virginia and my grandmother sat on that glider couch one summer and read this book. I've heard this story most of my life. I have a dear cousin who claimed this story her favorite book from her teens till after college and I'm not sure about now. She must have read this book between 10 and 20 times at least. I remember thinking as a teen, how could someone, who was 5 years younger than myself read a book over a 1,000 pages long. It amazed me. I have many other family members who read this book and loved it. Well, now I'm among them.

My dad had a hardback copy of this book on his shelves and when I told him I wanted to read it, he gave me his copy. He has a 5000 book library in his house and he always puts his stamp on the first page that has his name and then he writes the date of when he begins and ends a story. I took up the practice myself and I love that. He started this story Dec. 23rd, 1996, but he never finished it. I started this on March 22nd, 2020 during the pandemic. It was nice to read something from his library.

This is the great American novel if there ever was one. It was Titanic before the movie Titanic was a big hit. A hug sweeping story set against the Civil war in Atlanta GA with characters to last through history. The story came out in 1936 and the movie came out in 1939 (I did see the movie) By 1939 it had sold over 2 million copies of the book and this was the time of the great depression when no one had much money.

This story romanticizes the South at the time of the Civil War. The historical events are correct and seem meticulously used in the story. The book shows the attitude of the South at this time; it is the perspective of Southerns at this point in time. I grew up in the South and never understood my culture, feeling like an outsider. Several times people asked me if I was from up north when they met me because I didn't fit in. This book helps me to understand the South in a way I never have. I have to say, all the people's attitudes about the South and the way they think are still going on strong today and it really is like the South is rising again to win the country(scary). This mindset is still alive in the country today and we are as divided as back in this time.

I love the characters in this story. Spending 1000 pages with them, I feel like they are walking, breathing people. I think one of my favorite characters in the history of literature is Melanie. I so love her soft strength and loyalty. She was a Trueheart. They are people that simply make the world a better place and she can only see only the good in people. She believes in people.

The end of the story got me and I cried so much. The last 50 pages are heart wrenching.

Scarlett, the famous Scarlett O'Hara is an Anti-hero. She is the villain of the story. She is shallow and doesn't really understand people while she is a master manipulator and so strong. I do admire her strength in this story. No one can put her down. I do love that Rhett helped to free her from the constraints of her society that she hated even if she didn't know she did, but she didn't have the self-character to stop herself from going too far or getting too brutal. She deadens her heart basically. By the end of the book, I simply hated her. In that final moment, the climax, where she finally figures out what she wants, I start to feel for her again and my hate gave way to pity for her.

Rhett is such a scoundrel, but he is fiercely honest and can not stand pretense. He knows Scarlett for who she really is and he loves her. He was hard and rough, but I always had a soft spot for him. He too could not accept the constraints of his strict society and he threw them off fiercely. I admire him. But the end breaks my heart for him. He is one of the best father figures I have seen. It is amazing to see him and Bonnie together. It is some of my favorite parts of the book to see his love transform him.

Melanie, seeming so mousey, but there is a strength of character no one else has in this book. She is kind to all and she ignores class and what others would do. She is kind to murderers, prostitutes and anyone that needs help. She always says what she means and she is the silent hero in this story, the one shining good person in this story. Rhett knows it and he has the utmost respect for her. She is the greatest character written on the page in my opinion. Scarlett gets all the attention, but Melanie is something else here. She is a true angel on Earth. She made the story and really it all hinged on her.

Ashley is the love interest for Scarlett, the beaux she can never have. He is a refined gentleman who knows nothing else in life and when his world collapses, he is nothing.

Scarlett has unrequited love for him the entire novel. She doesn't really see him, she only sees what she wants to see. This love only lives in her mind. She has made this man what love is and it blinds her to reality and she prizes herself for being so grounded in reality. She wants to understand Ashley, but she can't. She is too different and she only wants to change him to be who she wants him to be.

I'm sure most people know the gist of this story and they know the famous last line. The movies adds the word 'Frankly'. This is a love story, but it's a tragedy at the same time. The ending could not be more perfect. It is the most gut-wrenching, most painful, most perfect ending I have read.

I can only say that this novel is worth every word. I admit that pages 600-800 do drag a bit, but it's still interesting enough to keep going and it's worth reading. Everyone should read this book once in their lives. I was swept away in this story. It is simply a masterpiece. It is the American classic novel.

I have loved this book and I will be sad not to be able to visit with Melanie and cluck my tongue at the goings on of Scarlett. My heart still weeps for that ending. Oh goddess, I love this story. What an experience!! The movie is good, but it simply can't move you the way the book can. Rhett Butler is perfect in the movie and he was my picture in my head reading this.