Margaret Mitchell

Via col vento

The turbulent romance of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler is shaped by the ravages of the Civil War and Reconstruction

Gone with the Wind

Selina 

‘He never really existed at all, except in my imagination,’ she thought wearily. ‘I loved something I made up, something that’s just as dead as Melly is. I made a pretty suit of clothes and fell in love with it. And when Ashley came riding along, so handsome, so different, I put that suit on him and made him wear it whether it fitted him or not. And I wouldn’t see what he really was. I kept on loving the pretty clothes - and not him at all.’

No, everybody would believe anything about her, though they might regret that so fine a man as Ashley Wilkes was mixed up in so dirty an affair. As usual they would cast the blame upon the woman and shrug at the man’s guilt.

Now he saw that she understood entirely too well and he felt the usual masculine indignation at the duplicity of women. Added to it was the usual masculine disillusionment in discovering that a woman has a brain.

‘There’s only one way you can help me,’ she said dully, ‘and that’s to take me away from here and give us a new start somewhere, with a chance for happiness. There’s nothing to keep us here.’ 

‘Nothing,’ he said quietly, ‘nothing- except honour.’

‘Starving’s not pleasant,’ he said. ‘I know for I’ve starved, but I’m not afraid of that. I am afraid of facing life without the slow beauty of our old world that is gone.’

Over the waffles next morning, Pittypat was lachrymose, Melanie was silent and Scarlett defiant.

“Bright lights and wine, fiddles and dancing, brocade and broadcloth in the showy big houses and, just around the corners, slow starvation and cold. Arrogance and callousness for the conquerors, bitter endurance and hatred for the conquered.”
--------------------

Well, well, well… What have we here? An American classic set in the heart of the south during the civil war, starring Scarlett “I’ll think about it tomorrow” O’Hara as she scrambles to stay alive, pampered and abundantly-coined, in times of crises. And with this territory comes a lot of *opinions*.

First of all, let’s talk about the main character. Scarlett is an absolute “pick me” of a character, endlessly shallow, selfish, and misogynistic. She never makes the right choice, and she never learns from her mistakes. If anything, she will double down on her worst decisions with all her life force, time and again. Now, I can respect that. I love a proper irresistibly unlikable character in my stories. It creates the setting for a sweeping drama.
However, despite the book’s chonky size, we do not see a crumb of character development from her throughout the whole story. Yes, Scarlett finds herself doing things by the middle of the book that she would never dream of at the beginning, but the driving force and motivation is always same: selfishness, vanity, pride, and a sense of her own survival and entitlement. By the end, I knew what she was going to do or think each time she was faced with a problem. She just didn’t have any depth at that point. Combine this with the cast of other shallow caricatures, and it just didn’t grip me as I would have expected.

Now, in total contrast, I have also met one of my favorite literary bad boys in this book. Rhett Butler, the sarcastic, scandalous, cynical asshole with a heart full of knavery and bitter love. Absolute fire. 10/10, no notes.

Overall, I thought the story itself was written quite well so that it reflects the south deeply. At times, I felt like there were a lot of parallels with other classics such as War and Peace (with its war depictions and its reflection through the eyes of the civilians) and Anna Karenina (who essentially Scarlett seems to embody). So, it would be a very enjoyable book, except --

Alright, it is quite unsurprising that this book is quite problematic; right off the bat, we have inbreeding, child brides, and racism. I mean, okay, the book is set in the south during the civil war. These idiots were literally fighting for their “right” to own slaves, so I don’t know what I expected. That part is historically accurate, if nothing else. But, it was cringe to read the amount of racism. Like, Mitchell didn’t need to be this overtly racist. At certain points, it just felt like we slipped into an alternate history, where the author is trying to justify and romanticize slavery, while minimizing the effects of the KKK. Throughout the whole book, she is all “slaves are actually super proud to be slaves, and would hate be freed. This is because we never treat slaves badly, they are literally a part of family. Except for the part that we kind of find them disgusting, and would not touch a black person with a ten foot pole, but like, in a loving way. We only formed the KKK to get justice for all the freed slaves, who have all become monsters and will of course hurt and rape us. White southerners are clearly the victims in all of this.” Get out of here with that bullshit.

I really wanted to like the story, and the drama, and how the characters turned out, but it is so hard to separate the story from its racist tones, as is the case with the South and its history. It was alright. But I think there must be so much better historical fiction out there that doesn’t feel quite as tasteless as this one.

This carefully crafted ebook: "Gone with the Wind" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty following Sherman's destructive "March to the Sea". This historical novel features a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, with the title taken from a poem written by Ernest Dowson. Mitchell received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the book in 1937. It was adapted into a 1939 American film.

Laura Mauler

WOW.   Where do I even start for this book?

At the beginning I had very mixed feelings on Scarlett (main protagonist), at first she just seemed like a popular spoilt brat, desperate for more attention than she already has. 

Later on, she shows her true colours as a truly strong-willed, resilient, intelligent and determined woman, (not going to give spoilers so you’ll have to take my word for it… or actually read the book…) she takes on a business and expands it, something shocking and unheard of for a woman of her time, along with many other amazing feats.

Great characters with three- dimensional personalities and charisma.

This is one of the few books that actually made me nearly cry when characters died, I was so lost in this book, it was like I personally knew them!

This book is absolutely a classic for a reason, beautiful writing, I found this easy to get into as well, which is often a problem with classics. 

Never a boring moment in this book, I had no idea what was going to happen and would 100% recommend!

WOW.   Where do I even start for this book?

At the beginning I had very mixed feelings on Scarlett (main protagonist), at first she just seemed like a popular spoilt brat, desperate for more attention than she already has. 

Later on, she shows her true colours as a truly strong-willed, resilient, intelligent and determined woman, (not going to give spoilers so you’ll have to take my word for it… or actually read the book…) she takes on a business and expands it, something shocking and unheard of for a woman of her time, along with many other amazing feats.

Great characters with three- dimensional personalities and charisma.

This is one of the few books that actually made me nearly cry when characters died, I was so lost in this book, it was like I personally knew them!

This book is absolutely a classic for a reason, beautiful writing, I found this easy to get into as well, which is often a problem with classics. 

Never a boring moment in this book, I had no idea what was going to happen and would 100% recommend!

Andrew John Kinney

This was one of the first novels I ever read. While it is a page-turner, it propagates the old lies of the Lost Cause. It has not aged well, to say the least.

Audrey Lord

I loved this book! I finished it in a month! It was really long but it held my attention the whole way through! I can't wait to watch the movie! Great book to read about the civil war. Made me feel like I was her

Midori Kobayashi

Gone With the Wind

Trish

Gone With the Wind is a classic of epic proportions.

Jantien 

** spoiler alert **
           Omg I'm so happy that I have finally finished this book. What an enormous struggle!! 
I have known for a while that 'classics' are not really my thing, and it was proven again. 

Let me start off by saying this was a very unfortunate choice to read in Black History Month, though I had hoped to finish it in January..

Scarlett O'Hara is the worst character in this book. 
Spoiled, arrogant, thinks very highly of herself, does not listen to a word other people are saying when it doesn't interest her, has zero respect for the people that love her, chases ghosts from beginning to end, there is zero hope for her changing her ways at all. 
This book covers 12 years of her life and my god does it feel that way too. 
It drags on and on AND ON and still dear Scarlett learns nothing about what life is really about. 
She will never be happy and she reminds me all too well of someone else in my life. 

I didn't count how many times she uses the phrase 'fiddle-dee-dee' when someone has a different opinion. I tried googling it but couldn't find it. BUT IT'S A LOT.

I'm pleased with myself for being able to finish this book even though I couldn't stand Scarlett. 
Also had a very difficult time reading the parts of the black people in this book. Is it so difficult to write these sentences like a normal person though? 
Such a racist book in every way. 

Now I really need something light or I might stop reading books altogether. 
Gone with the wind indeed, that's where this book is flying off to. 

The writing was very well done (if we try to ignore the racism..), and I loved reading about the 19th century in Southern America. Which is the reason I still give 2 (and a half) stars. 

Would not recommend it to anyone though.

Annabella

Adesso sapeva cos’era il rifugio che aveva sempre cercato in sogno, il luogo caldo e sicuro che non era mai riuscita a trovare in mezzo alla nebbia. Non era Ashley. No, non era mai stato Ashley! In lui c’era il calore di un fuoco fatuo, la sicurezza delle sabbie mobili. Era Rhett. Rhett, che aveva braccia robuste fra le quali rifugiarsi, spalle larghe su cui posare la testa stanca, una risata beffarda capace di ridimensionare i suoi crucci. Rhett la capiva profondamente perché, come lei, vedeva la verità per quello che era, senza lasciarsi sviare da futili concetti di onore, sacrificio o esagerata fiducia nel genere umano. Rhett la amava! Perché non si era resa conto prima che, malgrado le sue battute e il suo sarcasmo, la amava? Melanie se n’era accorta e con l’ultimo fiato che le restava le aveva detto: «Sii buona con lui».   
CE L'HO FATTA. L'ho letto davvero. Posizioni discutibilissime invecchiate male a parte, è stata una bella scalata e ha pure sottolineato quanto mi piaccia l'angst

Ayden

** spoiler alert **
           okay so i know this book deserves 5 stars but but after the emotional distress it put me through i just don't feel physically capable of giving it anything over 4. and looking at the rating for the fault in our stars you must be confused for i gave it 5 stars despite all the tears "let me explain no there is too much let me sum up" TFIOS had an awful ending but it was necessary and you left it with strong belief in love as opposed to gone with the wind were the constant unfairness of life just left me distraught.

to begin with we have a character who from the first moment i met her, her arrogance and conceit her selfish disdain for the feeling of others made me realize that she was the last person in the world anyone could ever be prevailed upon to marry. except alas that is not the case somehow she manages to trick 3 guys into marrying her and if she wanted to could have entrapped a few more.

now leaving my pride and prejudice reference lets begin this review in earnest.

our story revolves around a girl who is truly the epitome of evil. she's ignorant, arrogant, ostentatious, greedy, immoral, materialistic, and just straight up dumb. and as the story continues each flaw becomes more apparent. Though to give credit where credit's due as her faults grow and become more evident so do her good qualities for instance her bravery and perseverance go beyond any character iv'e ever encountered with maybe the exception of Melanie who in contrast to scarlet seems to posses only the best of human traits.

moving on the background to the gone with the wind is the civil war which i must admit reading this book made feel extremely ignorant on such a crucial time in history that i am so connected to having roots in Georgia and i thoroughly recommend it to anyone slightly curious of black slavery, its truly eye opening. 

so during these hard times scarlet marries to spite Ashley who cannot marry her loses her husband has a baby she doesn't love lives promiscuously considering the times. a man named Rhett Butler comes in the picture he encourages her to forget all the morals her mother thought her yet she assumes she's making all these decisions by herself and gets offended when he points out the truth of her character. the war reaches Atlanta and scarlet stays to protect Melanie who's having Ashley's baby because she loves him. when the babies born Rhett takes them to Tara only to ditch them because he suddenly cares about the Confederate cause. scarlet reaches Tara kills a Yankee her mothers dead her father losses his mind. When the war ends Ashley comes back she wants to run away with him he says no she goes back to Atlanta offers herself to Rhett for money he declines she marries Frank Kennedy her sister fiance buys mills with Rhetts help starts a business forgets any spec of dignity she may have had has a baby girl which she hates nearly gets raped by a black man her husband gets killed tracking the man down with the KKK (it was very interesting to learn about the origins of such a notorious group) Rhett saves Ashleys life. the hole town blame scarlet for Franks death. Rhett proposes but scarlet is too dumb to see he loves her she accepts him for his money which is like craving a chocolate chip cookie and getting a raisin cookie. they have a daughter which Rhett loves more than anything in the world (i forgot to mention that scarlets father dies partly because of sauleen) scarlet gets pregnant Rhett is mean to her she falls down the stairs has a miscarriage she starts appreciating Melanie. than Rhetts daughter dies the same way scarlets father dies. scarlet blames Rhett for her death. Melanie dies scarlet finally realizes she doesn't love Ashley she loves Rhett (despite all he’s done to her including rape) and when she comes to tell him he says his love wore out and that he doesn't give a D--n 
end of story 

what the heck who finishes a story like this??!!!!!! I hate scarlet but at this point I just want everyone to be happy.
okay i appreciate how it ends in the middle because in real life everything doesn't wrap up nicely and it stayed true to the theme of the story which was everything scarlet ever had going with the wind yet she stays strong and believes in tomorrow.
another thing i found incredible was that only in the end do you realize that all this turmoil happend in the course of a little over ten years while it felt like a life time 

so in short despite the facts that the main character was so annoying i could hardly finish the book and once i did finish i was in too much of a melancholy mood to properly study, the only reason i got so upset was because of how real it all felt and this book is beyond doubt a masterpiece.

Now excuse me while I go read a book that begins with “once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after” and try to recover a sliver of my faith in humanity

Part Five

Sara Borden

this book was sad and beautiful and infuriating all at the same time. following a main character who doesn’t realize the many errors of her ways until the last few pages of the book is hard, but gone with the wind is worth it. it’s fascinating to read a book about an entirely different time and world, particularly one where no one ever seemed to say what they really meant (that is, except rhett). the only characters that i actually liked throughout the novel were melly, rhett, and mammy.

Sarah Ryan

A classic for a reason. A great read with great characters. I found there was an awful lot of American political history at times, which was interesting but had there been slightly less I probably would've given this 5 out of 5.

Flavia Louise

3.5 stars

A pain to read at many points for various reasons - obvious ones as well as other ones - but ultimately a very interesting and worthwhile read.

Bee 

I first read this book when I was in the 9th Grade and have lost count of the number of times I have since read it . It is amazing how one can love a character so dislikeable. Scarlett is such a brat but she's right up there with Jo March as one of my favorite book characters.

Allison Francis

I am so happy I picked up this book as it is now one of my favorites, though the ending left me very emotional. Though Scarlett can be foolish sometimes I loved her because she was such a strong female character. She overcame so much adversity when now one else would. I loved Rhett as well though my heart suffers for him :(

Summer Stanley

So happy that I finally read this classic novel. Scarlett demonstrated so many strong characteristics that made you want her to succeed despite her insufferable nature at times. Mitchell's choice to make Scarlett selfish and callous was risky, but I believe it worked completely.

Agata 

Scarlett O'Hara non è bella. Viene convenzionalmente considerata come carina - un marchio d'infamia per un'epoca in cui le donne erano viste come scodellabambini al più - ma tutti la consideravano intelligente e sveglia. Possiamo definirla tale? Io, dopo 1250, dico no.

Ostinata, opportunista, viziata, egoista e incapace di introspezione tanto da non sapere cosa vuole dalla vita: ecco, questi aggettivi vanno bene per Scarlett. Un cocktail esplosivo. Margaret Mitchell riesce là dove molti hanno fallito, costruendo un romanzo su un personaggio detestabile - a dire poco - senza risultare mai tediosa. Sì, ogni tanto alzi gli occhi al cielo leggendo i suoi ragionamenti spocchiosi, ma la lettura è scorrevole e mai noiosa. 

In realtà, Via col Vento lo inizi per curiosità, ma entrando nella vita di Scarlett ti rendi conto di non volerlo mollare per nessun motivo. La sua spocchia ti tiene incollato alle pagine, nella speranza che il maglio della giustizia cali su di lei e sui suoi comportamenti da egoista e finalmente la storia trovi una quadratura. Un senso di equilibrio.

Fino all'ultima pagina questo maglio continua ad abbattersi, senza pietà, ma Scarlett, impermeabile, rimane quello che è sempre stata. Un mulo bardato da cavallo. Quando chiudi il libro per l'ultima volta, ti rimane dentro un profondo senso di costernazione.

Chiunque consideri Via col Vento una storia d'amore me lo dica così posso richiedere il TSO. L'unico amore dipinto in queste pagine è quello disfunzionale, irragionevole, infantile di Rhett, che pur atteggiandosi da grand'uomo non è mai riuscito a farsi capire da Scarlett che, sveglia come un gatto di marmo, era evidente da pagina 50 che non avrebbe mai capito niente. Quello di Scarlett, invece, non è neanche amore, per quanto ripeta compulsivamente questa parola, ma una forma di elogio alla propria vanità.

Questo libro mi ha infastidito e fatta ridere, col vantaggio di essere scritto davvero bene.

Non entro nel merito del ritratto del sud, della guerra di secessione, degli schiavi e del KKK poiché non sono un'esperta di storia. Tuttavia, Mitchell mi ha fornito un punto di vista molto diverso dal solito per osservare quell'epoca e gliene sono grata.

Hannah

'I believe women could manage everything in the world without men's help-except having babies, and God knows, no woman in her right mind would have babies if she could help it'

Lucy Hacker

My most favourite book of all time - read and re-read and it just gets better every time!

Paula

One of the best classics I have ever read.

Jeni Enjaian

Absolutely lousy, almost completely unlikeable characters

That's my biggest complaint for the whole book. I could never really get into this book because I was too busy rolling my eyes at Scarlett's absolute stupidity and pigheadedness. She had no redeeming qualities. None. Don't even get me started on Ashley or Rhett. The only redeeming character is Melanie.

Another pet peeve? How Mitchell chose to write the slaves' speech. I could barely decipher what the character said and didn't feel like spending extra time trying to figure it out.

This story is completely and wholly unsatisfying. I fail to see how this became a "classic" or why people absolutely love this book.

Amy Arthun Lorton 

Love, love, love. Would have named my kids either Scarlett or Rhett if my husband would have let me.

Sonia Flores

Lo que el viento se llevó es la imagen de toda una vida y lo que se puede decir de cada episodio vivido por una persona que no sabe mirar más allá de sus narices, que está vacía, lo sabe y no le importa en primera instancia. Va desde lo más simple a lo más complejo, esto último rayano lo indescifrable; aquí se dice una cosa pero se esconde otra mucho más grande, se dan unas razones pero se atisban otras completamente distintas. Son más de mil páginas de luchas y sinsabores antes, durante y después de la guerra de Secesión (o la guerra civil de los Estados Unidos), mostrando el punto de vista con el que pocos concuerdan y exponiendo esas consecuencias de una guerra que pudo haberse evitado. Se relata a la perfección las consecuencias del orgullo en todas sus presentaciones, lo que se pierde por el egoísmo, lo que se destruye por la avaricia. Para mí, Scarlett O'Hara vendría siendo lo que ahora llaman la “villana" de la historia, excepto que aquí no puedes sentir más que pena por alguien que se da cuenta demasiado tarde de la destrucción que deja a su paso para ganar el mundo, perdiendo así su alma. Aquí, en resumidas cuentas, nos habla de lo mal que hace a otros una persona de esta naturaleza, pero se hace hincapié en lo que hace de sí misma cuando toma las decisiones que este personaje tomó.

Via col vento

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