Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
When I turned to a friend for reading suggestions, she surprised me by asking, “Have you ever read Gone with the Wind?” Of course I have seen the movie several times. (Who could forget the dashing Clark Gable as Rhett Butler or Vivien Leigh’s portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara – that combination of independent Irish femme fatale and Southern belle?) But I had never actually read Margaret Mitchells’ 1,000 page opus.
So I took a chance and began. Let me say right up front that although (at least so far) the book follows the movie closely, there is a depth of character and place that I am growing very fond of.
The plot is the “love” story between Scarlett and Rhett, but the heart of the book is the tragedy that was the Civil War. Mitchell portrays this tragedy on many levels and you come to feel deeply for the characters as they lose their land, their livelihood and their world in a futile attempt to stop the march of time and Union troops.
Another book I read recently, Song Yet Song by James McBride, presented a different view of the Civil War and slavery. McBride’s setting was the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and where Mitchell focuses on large plantation owners and their scores of slaves, McBride talks about the very small farmer, ekking out a bare existance with 1 or 2 slaves who had become truly (at least in his book) part of the family.
Both books lead to the conclusion, however, that small farmer or large plantation owner, slavery is not a viable or moral institution and its collapse brings about other kinds of destruction as well. If you have not read Gone With the Wind, I highly recommend it. Meg
So I took a chance and began. Let me say right up front that although (at least so far) the book follows the movie closely, there is a depth of character and place that I am growing very fond of.
The plot is the “love” story between Scarlett and Rhett, but the heart of the book is the tragedy that was the Civil War. Mitchell portrays this tragedy on many levels and you come to feel deeply for the characters as they lose their land, their livelihood and their world in a futile attempt to stop the march of time and Union troops.
Another book I read recently, Song Yet Song by James McBride, presented a different view of the Civil War and slavery. McBride’s setting was the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and where Mitchell focuses on large plantation owners and their scores of slaves, McBride talks about the very small farmer, ekking out a bare existance with 1 or 2 slaves who had become truly (at least in his book) part of the family.
Both books lead to the conclusion, however, that small farmer or large plantation owner, slavery is not a viable or moral institution and its collapse brings about other kinds of destruction as well. If you have not read Gone With the Wind, I highly recommend it. Meg
Posts
