Histrionic Personality Disorder marries a Sadist. Hilarity ensues. ( )

WOW. That's my one word summary of this book. And that one word is meant both in good ways and very dark, very bad ways. Gone with the Wind is a powerhouse, again a double-edged sword. I had always mentally brushed off the novel, thinking it was one of those poorly written, fluff pieces that is so often what a popular bestseller amounts to. I was WRONG. This book is well written and contains extremely well-developed and vividly portrayed characters and lays their emotions bare. No holds barred. Ultimately it has disturbed me more deeply than any other book I can remember reading. Its racist diatribes are the worst I have seen. And these rants go on at length including countless demeaning descriptions of slaves, and in particular, former slaves. It is a love letter to the Confederacy and their perceived white supremacy. It condones the KKK, and all of their vile, despicable actions. And I am not talking about artistic license for the sake of literature. I am talking about heartfelt, clearly expression emotions of beliefs held by the author. There is absolutely no other way to explain this book. In that respect, it is a vile, disgusting, disheartening work. It's hard to look past that, but assuming we do, I'll move on to other aspects of the book.

Gone with the Wind also contains the most vividly portrayed and well developed characters I can recall in a book. The plot is masterfully woven throughout. The attributes of each of the main characters become quite clear, as well as their relationships to one another. While, of course, Scarlett's character is defined in much more detail in the book (as opposed to the movie that we are all familiar with). And although, rarely, I thought I might be on the brink of discovering an admirable characteristic in her; ultimately I failed to do so. Because both she and Rhett are so narcissistic and hateful, I could never develop a sympathetic feeling for either one of them. Nor could I ever empathize with their "romance", which I never viewed as such. There was no romantic feeling at all for me between those two, or in fact in the entire novel. The only character I could like, fully embrace and develop an empathy for is morally upright, nearly angelic Melanie. And I discovered sadly, even she is full of the bitter poison of racism. In fact, I was appalled to find out that she was responsible for possibly the most vile quote I have yet come across in a book; to the effect that she would teach her children hatred of the Yankees and she hoped they would pass that hatred to their children, and they to their children, and so on down the generations. I think you can begin to see why I said I found this book so disturbing.

It is a dark, bleak, war-torn landscape that is portrayed and the characters are masterfully crafted to match the setting. From the beginning, it is clear that this is no happily-ever-after tale. But, again, it's most powerful and extemely disturbing message is one drenched in hate, racism and division. It's a message that has scarred our Country from its inception and continues to affect our lives on a daily basis. ( )

This is one of the most racist novels I've ever read and I feel little sympathy for the plight of the white confederate man who's afraid he'll lose his precious plantation if the war doesn't turn out so well (for God forbid he actually has to get off his ass and do some work). Also, Scarlet O'Hara's attitude irritated me something fierce and she never really struck me as a strong protagonist, but more of an immature brat who complains constantly. Sure, it's a well-written novel and has an excellently drawn-out story, but every single scene in this novel is marred by the problems I have with Mitchell's prejudices. Hence, the one-star rating. ( )

2024 - Great read! Educational and interesting. ( )

Story: 9 / 10
Characters: 10
Setting: 10
Prose: 8

Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read and certainly the best Romance book I've come across. ( )