Gone with the Wind

I did promise more book reviews, and as promised I now deliver... Gone With the Wind.

What can be said about GWTW? Well first, don't watch the movie before you read the book. The movie ranks about a two on a scale of  1-10 where the book is a 10. That's usually true of books that are made into movies though-- the book is almost always better.

The heroine, Scarlett, is completely amazing because she is so horrid. Her character is vain, self-centered, cruel, and very mean while at the same time managing to be attractive and beautiful. Yet she's not always horrible. I think that's quite a talent. As much as you want to hate her though, you just can't. I know personally I identified with her and her flaws, and saw a lot of myself in her. The main male protagonist is Rhett... * cue swooning * Ahem. Well, to say he is a lovely male character is a major understatement. He's completely lovely.

GWTW is described as a story about survival, and that's definitely the main theme. The rest of the story revolves around love, the American Civil War, and the reconstruction period. I would fully recommend this book to APUSH students, coincidentally, because the historical aspects of the book are entrancing and partially why I love it so much. And as a general rule, the facts are mostly accurate considering the author spent over a year researching just the facts alone to make sure they were so.

I love the story. It's tragic, it's beautiful, it has some of the most witty dialogue I have ever read in my life. A few of my favorite quotes were (SPOILERS!):

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"It will only be a few minutes. I'm going to bid you in for the next reel-- and the next and the next. " "Oh, no, I couldn't! You mustn't! My reputation will be ruined." "It's in shreds already, so what does another dance matter?..."

"I bare my soul and you are suspicious! No, Scarlett, this is a bona fide honorable declaration. I admit that it's not in the best of taste, coming at this time, but I have a very good excuse for my lack of breeding. I'm going away tomorrow for a long time and I fear that if I wait till I return you'll have married some one else with a little money. So I thought, why not me and my money? Really, Scarlett, I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands." 

"Scarlett, I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken...I'm too old to believe in such sentimentalities as clean slates and starting all over...I couldn't live with you and lie to you and I certainly couldn't lie to myself. I can't even lie to you now. I wish I could care what you do or where you go, but I can't." He drew a short breath and said lightly but softly: "My dear, I don't give a damn."

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And there are more and more wonderful quotes but these are just a snippet of what the book is like. It's quaint, old fashioned, charming, and totally entrancing. It's 959 addicting pages of reading. I don't recommend it unless you're willing to devote a large amount of time to reading in chunks, because it's really hard to put down. I love the characters, I love the story, and just the general feel of the book.

On a side note, there's nothing explicit about the book, persay, but it is definitely more mature content and I would not recommend this book to a younger audience. Even if your reading tastes are mature, I think it's more enjoyable for 16+ . Fully recommended and I'm so glad I read it! It's become a favorite.

Enjoy! :)