I had read this ginormous book (over 1000 pages!) once before in high school and had seen the movie at least once, so I knew all about Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley, and Melanie, and the major events in the story. While it was nice to fill in the blanks that were lacking in my memory bank, I was a little disturbed by the amount of profane language used by the characters, especially considering the negative publicity associated with the single word present in the 1939 making of the movie of the same title. All the characters except for Melanie and Ellen (Scarlett's mother) were also very disappointing, as selfishness, deceit, lust, gossip, and countless other sinful actions and attitudes were prevalent and even justified throughout the pages. I read the last few chapters through tear-filled eyes, severely affected at the mess the characters had made of their lives. I don't think this will be a book I read again in my lifetime.
Having said all that, there were several things that I did enjoy about this book. The first is the fact that because I now live in the metro-Atlanta area, I was super-excited every time I saw the name of a city that I knew of- Marietta, Atlanta, Kennesaw, Jonesboro, etc. The story really came alive for me since I am now familiar with its setting. Secondly, it was nice to review tidbits of history since I haven't had a true history class in years. It has never been a favorite subject of mine, but I do enjoy learning about certain past events when I know there's not going to be a test afterward. The thing I was most intrigued about, however, was that for a book about very worldly (and mostly ungodly) people, there were several Biblical references in the text that I was excited to find- the hanging of Haman, baptism washing away sins, carrying your cross (although, I think this was misused), gaining the world and loosing your soul, etc.
Those are my thoughts on this monster of a novel. Have you ever read Gone with the Wind? What parts did you like/dislike?
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