This next book is one that was well written and overall pretty good but also one that I did not necessarily like or enjoy all that much. I also know that I probably just confused you a little with that statement so let me explain. Today’s book is often considered a classic and so is the movie that was based on the book, though I have to admit that I have not seen the movie in question. Gone With the Wind was written in the 1930’s by Margaret Mitchell and was almost immediately made into a movie. It tells the story of Scarlett O’Hara, a young lady who is coming of age in Georgia during what would become one of the most turbulent times in Georgia’s history, the American Civil War. The O’Hara family was part of the relatively rich and land-owning elite in rural Georgia at the time. They had a large extensive cotton plantation with a large slave population. The story starts prior to the war when the rumors of rebellion and secession are just that, rumors. However, as the country undergoes radical changes due to the advent of the Civil War, Scarlett also undergoes change as she is forced to watch her home, her people, and her way of life get destroyed. As such, Scarlett goes from a flirtatious and precocious young girl to a hardened and slightly selfish young woman. Intertwined with her narrative we also see the stories of those she interacts with such as young Melanie Wilkes, who married the man Scarlett was in love with, Ashley Wilkes, the man Scarlett loved and who was drastically changed by the war, and Rhett Butler, a young man often considered to be a scoundrel by polite society.
This book was very well written and paints a very compelling picture of what society was like among the landed class in rural Georgia prior to, during and after the American Civil War. However, it is only accurate in that it depicts only the viewpoint of the landed plantation owners and heavily relies on the rose colored glasses they used when viewing their own culture. If you keep that in mind then the book is actually really good as it provides an incredible and fascinating insight into the viewpoint of that particular group of people and their overall culture. I say that it is well written because it includes a rather astonishing level of detail about the rules and customs of that society in regards to what is and is not accepted. Something that both Scarlett and Rhett like to push back on rather frequently throughout the book as neither likes following the accepted rules for society. On top of that it also includes great characterization, especially for the protagonist Scarlett, as you really get to know the character over the course of the book. I felt like I almost knew what she was feeling and how that was affecting her thought processes, especially towards the end of the book after I had seen everything that had happened to her. That being said, earlier I mentioned that I did not greatly enjoy or like this book and that has nothing to do with the quality of the book but rather the content. This book painted an idealized and romanticized portrait of what life was like for the landed plantation owners around the time of the Civil War. In doing so, it also attempts to paint an extremely positive slant on the topic of slavery and a negative slant on the emotional and intellectual capabilities of the blacks. This is not something that I agree with so it made the book hard to read at times as I really struggled with empathizing with characters in a society that thought that way. It made it difficult at times because of this. The book was still good, just difficult. I would give this book three out of five stars.
Overall, this is one of those books that even if you don’t enjoy I would recommend that you consider reading it, purely to help broaden your viewpoint about things. I did not agree with the way the characters viewed things but I can understand where they were coming from by getting this glimpse into their cultural frame of reference. As such, I would recommend that most adults consider reading this book at least once. I am not sure if I would recommend it to younger readers though as it does contain some topics and themes that might be considered inappropriate by some people. At best, I would recommend it only to older teens who are mature enough to handle the content it contains. Like I said before, it was a good book even if it ended up being one that I didn’t greatly enjoy but I am happy that I read it nonetheless. As always feel free to share your thoughts about this book in the comments as I am curious if anyone else has read it.