Gone With the Wind (finally)

[kalquessa]

I've tried several times to write a Gone With the Wind review, to no avail. Thus it is that I find myself once more backlogged on book reviews and dreading writing them more and more the longer I put the task off. And, then, of course, there's the fact that my memory has all the fine-tuned retention of cheese cloth, and the longer I put off writing

Comments

[sartorias]

I so totally agree. And Melanie knows because the single point of honor Scarlett clings to (not very well or wisely, but she does) is not running off with Ashley. She breaks down the once, under circs that would finish anyone, but after that, doesn't. And in her own way she's loyal to Melanie. A truly selfish woman would have dumped Melanie and the baby on the roadside "to come back for later."

And Rhett comes back, if only because he misses the fights. But he comes back. And those two fight and make up and rock until old age. So there.

(the only aspect that makes me wince is that Scarlett is so horrible to her own children, but Melanie did good there--and they do have a community.)

[kalquessa]

Ugh, the way Scarlett treats her kids! Argh! I am (don't hurt me) a closet fan of the "Mad About You" TV show that used to have Helen Hunt in it. There's a scene where Hunt's character's sister is in the house with the husband, and she's complaining about her most recent break-up to the husband (I have a point here, gimme another second) and the husband (Paul, I think) at one point just bursts out at the sister (who is rather self-centered and prone to needless drama) something along the lines of "You know what, I think if you don't grow up and get over yourself you're just going to keep hurting yourself and other people, and the people you hurt are going to go out and hurt more people because of how messed up you've made them, and those people are going to be messed up and hurt other people, until it's just this huge Lisa universe of pain with the planets and the moons and the black holes, all orbiting around you!"

Anyway, my point being that Scarlett's kids made me think of that rather verbose tidbit of wisdom.

[sartorias]

Never saw the show (no TV for me most of the year) but definitely yeah.

[mollyringle]

Woohoo, more GWTW! Good to discuss it while I still remember it, too. And I *heart* that you loved it so much. Not that your good taste was ever in question

[kalquessa]

What was Rhett neglecting to do, previous to that night? Or was Scarlett just that unreachable? Hmm.

I kind of wondered about that, too, and I think I've settled on Scarlett just being unreachable because of her preoccupation with Ashley. I think the night that Rhett gets drunk and hauls her up the staircase is the first time that he makes her focus all her immediate attention on him. He freely admits before then that he knows she pretends he's Ashley when they're making love, and that he finds this obscurely funny (though it probably drives him crazy in truth). I think that was the first time she let herself enjoy sex with Rhett and that's what made the difference. Or something.

Scarlett is definitely a wench of the first water. But you can't help but give her props for being so resourceful and ruthless.

[mollyringle]

Aye, that's probably the best explanation. Poor Rhett. The "I know you think about Ashley" thing made me cringe for them all. But I do love Rhett's quip about how Ashley can't be faithful to his wife mentally or unfaithful to her physically. :)

Mammy

[anonymous]

I'd be interested to hear what you thought about Mammy, as she's one of my favourite characters in the book. I know the depiction of slavery is far, far too benign, but I think Mammy has some of the best lines in the whole story and there's a lot of wisdom in her. "Mule in horse harness . . ." What better description could there be of Paris Hilton? ;-)

And yes, Scarlett was a twerp to steal Frank from her sister--but I see that Mammy declared her intention to "help you pleasure Mister Frank in every way I know how." And Scarlett sees in Mammy "a realist even more uncompromising than herself." Interesting mix there, how Mammy will fuss about what she perceives as improprieties in Scarlett but when there's a real problem she swings right into action. "The rights of Suellen and Frank Kennedy did not occur to her, save to cause a grim inward chuckle," etc.

MA

Re: Mammy

[kalquessa]

I knew I'd forget something! I love Mammy. I loved the ironic way her mind works, and her excellent quips. I loved the way she finally came around to liking Rhett because of how delighted and doting he was with his daughter. I think it's telling that Mammy and Melanie are the only two people that you ever see Rhett make an effort to please: they're the two most basically honest people in the book, and even if Rhett isn't honest himself he deeply respects those who are.

Another of my favorite things about Mammy is how she shamelessly works the system. For instance, she knows that her white folks cannot admit to listening to her when she's just grumbling to herself, so she's grumbles to herself very loudly, knowing that they have no way of not hearing her. She gets to have her say without ever actually stepping out of bounds! Love it!!

[polingly]

Having recently read the book, just YES to everything. Especially on Scarlett being a change of pace as a protagonist. She was so unlike any POV character I've ever read that I couldn't help but be completely fascinated by her, even while I disliked her. That's good writing. Yum.

Also, Rhett comes back to Scarlett eventually. He goes away, is miserable, realizes that he can't live without her and comes back. This is not open for negotiation.

I so agree. ^_^ But abinimbus refused to enjoy the book simply because that did not officially happen at the end. I keep on telling her that Noooo, GWTW is awesome because the characters are so real and vivid and they do exactly what they will do, and you can see that the story naturally keeps going after the book ends! Yet she persists in saying she doesn't like realistic endings in books. Tsk, tsk.

Me, I just loved the whole thing. It will be one of those bi-yearly re-reads, I think. ^_^

Oh, Ashley!

[johncwright]

Here is my GONE WITH THE WIND anecdote. My wife and I have a deal where, when we go on long car trips, the person riding shotgun must entertain the driver. Once when it was my turn to entertain, my beloved wife informed me that my duty was to read aloud to her her current romance novel--GWTW. Naturally, being a guy, I made icky-poo faces like Calvin from CALVIN AND HOBBES being forced to eat spinach; and naturally, being a gentleman, I gave in to the lady's request, and prepared myself to read an enourmous word-pile of girlishness and stuff

Re: Oh, Ashley!

[kalquessa]

Wow, thank you for the awesome (and huge!) comment!

I quite relished that scene with Scarlett and Old Miss, but had quite forgotten it until you mentioned it! I remember thinking that finally Scarlett would connect with someone because here was another woman who had suffered just as much as she had, but she once again surprised me with how insensitive she could be. The contrast between Old Miss's heart-wrenching tale and Scarlett's "fiddle-dee-dee" response was delicious.

And props to your wife for getting you to read a "romance"! I begin to think that she is a kindred spirit: she made you read GWTW and also suggested penguin!Rhadamanthus, who was my favorite part of The Golden Age. (The which I will be reviewing sometime in the not-too-distant future, I hope...just finished it a week or two ago.)