Gone with the wind Review - Spoilers alert

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. - Oscar Wilde.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is the first book that came to mind when I thought of writing a review - simply because I had fallen in love with reading books and really understood the implication of the above. For me, this is the best book ever written, a reader’s life is not accomplished if he or she hasn’t read this book more than once. Yes it’s lengthy, but it goes fast! It is a romance novel, a war story, a documentary all rolled into one. And there is something for everyone who reads it.

We would love to be more like Melanie, but most of us would agree that we are more like Scarlett. She is cruel, materialistic, unyielding and the spoiled one. She isn’t one to be envied. But still, we would relate her to just another strong willed woman. we know her hopes, her fears and what drives her so far, and we cannot help but admit that if we were in her shoes, wouldn’t we have responded in a similar way? In spite of her character one feels very little sympathy for her in the end, as she loses everything that matters, and is left with nothing but her money.

What more can be told about Rhett Butler? He is the hero of every girls heart! You fall in love with him as you read the book. But Scarlett was so blindfolded she couldn’t realise her love for him until it was too late. He is certainly the tragic figure in this story. He loves Scarlett so much, yet due to her blindness to her own emotions, and the general reservations between them, their marriage fails. He tries to pour all the love and emotions he would otherwise show Scarlett onto Bonnie Blue; but when she dies, there is nothing left for him. Its ironic, he is a big man, a strong man, a man to be afraid of… yet one almost cant help but to pity him.
Great book.

Maddie ,

Thanks for the review.I remember watching the film when I was a kid but the euphoria one experiences while empathiziing with the characters is quite different to watching a film.

-Sabitha

Maddie
You have given a very good book review here.

I read this book some years back. What I absolutely enjoyed in the book was the historical aspect of it. I felt at that time it had more useful history and civil war information that I really enjoyed reading it and also becoming more aware of the background of Atlanta and more detail of the state as well. For me these facts overshadowed the lead characters and was the only reason I reread was to learn more on the history.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane as well

"Gone with the wind" is one of my favourite books of all time. I have read it over and over again. I love the chutzpah of Scarlett who goes to Rhett regally dressed in clothes made from curtain cloth and asks him for money. I like how she wheels and deals and makes the best of the circumstances. Scarlett is my favourite heroine. She is beautiful, charming, cunning, selfish, courageous and frail at the same time. She has faults and weaknesses like the rest of us. She is an enterprenuer and way ahead of her time. Scarlett and Rhett's romance is of course legendary. I always thought that Ashley Wilkes was weak and did not deserve her love. Melanie is the good girl. She seems fragile and weak but is as strong as Scarlett in a very different way. I think we all have a little bit of Scarlett in us. I Like the quote in which she says 'This too shall pass. Tomorrow is another day".