Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell (Book)

Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell.

Another epic that I wanted to finish last year but just couldn't, again all thanks to Joyce Uncle and Margaret Aunty for their never ending sizes and let me be very clear that I am not complaining here. Gone with the Wind, as long as it actually is for whatever version you read, it is indeed worth it. Although it took me quite a while to read but with an average of 40-50 pages a day, I was still on tenterhooks as which way the story will go and what next is Ms Scarlett O'Hara going to do as her histrionics never actually end till the Author justifies the title with full style. I am 200% sure that I have read this earlier (guess in teenage) as I am a sucker for love stories but was super glad that I had no memory of this one other than that it was a perfect love triangle wherein I was in love with the fourth character by the time it ends. For people who have read this, they will shout on top of their voices saying "Melanie" isn't it guys? She is one heck of a character which totally stands out and try as much as I might, no ways that I wasn't falling in love with her.

First time in my life I will confess that I was actually in love with a man (OK! Not exactly first time but lets make it a third time considering my love and admiration for Atticus Finch and Ove in no particular order) but Rhett Butler has surely won my heart one big time in this one. More than Scarlett, more than Melanie or Mammy :) Rhett is my man and I totally hated Ashley (for no fault of his own actually) but to not have a backbone mostly ;) Also this was one of those very few books and stories where my loyalty kept shifting from one character to another up-to an extent that I was about to give up on them but they always bounce back with a bang. First it was the girl born with a silver spoon Ms. O'Hara who considers the waist size of 18 inches a little too fat and even after having a few babies of her own she tries to fit in those dresses and calls her self too fat (20 inches at the most) I had a riot of a time reading her histrionics. But the way she goes from riches to rags and back to riches in her own way is one heck of a story. Her love for her father, awe for her mother and equation with her sisters was something which kept a permanent smile on my face. Especially the way she keeps imagining how her mother will not endorse what she was made to do because of the situation always going out of her hands. A class act. Scarlett's never ending love for Ashley and struggle to keep up with the man had me in tears, shock, awe, frustration and so many more emotions which are hard to put in words. To what extent she goes to get the man of her dreams and how it all turns out for her is simply heart-touching.

Rhett Butler's vanishing character that too always at the wrong time and bouncing back had me on the edge of my seat. The 1300+ page epic's high point is the scenes between Rhett and Scarlett. The way he reads Scarlett like a book, the way he calls her "my pet" (at times I hated it but mostly loved it) and the way he drives her (mad too) was totally the high point of the novel. I can bet my life that even Margaret herself was in love with her own fictional character big time especially the way how she has carved him out. That I guess is one the reason why she makes him vanish for so long at times, keeping the readers hooked expecting so much more from him. I so much want to talk about Ashley the love of Scarlett's life but that will be like giving out so many spoilers ;). You've got to read the book to know more of the amazing characters. I for one am definitely going to read this one again for sure before meeting my maker in very near future as one can never get enough of these amazing characters.

The book is indeed an epic not only for the amazing love story but for the way it touches and covers up so much from the times. Slavery, Social division, Civil War, Freedom for African Americans, North and south divide and the brutality of war. The way character's lives change due to the war and its repercussions was simply mind-blowing. The coming of age story of Scarlett and how she changes from what she was to what the time makes her was simply unbelievable (short lived though yet commendable). And It throws so many terms some 100 years old that I had to actually Google to understand their meanings :). Full marks to Author for using the authentic accents of the Afro-Americans, especially the way Mammy talks throughout the novel, totally loved it. I guess I would have finished the book a few days earlier if I wouldn't have spoken those sentences in my mind the way Mammy was delivering them to Scarlett :) but that actually was super fun.

I am sure my Dad and Mom have never read this classic but they always admired the Clark Gable classic movie which totally didn't work for me. Although to my relief it was almost four hours yet it leaves out at-least 70% material from the book and works like a good thriller as it is too fast and the viewer just doesn't develop any feelings for anyone unless of-course he or she has read the book. But I won't deny that it was super fun seeing the amazing characters in flesh.

Have you read Gone with the Wind? If yes, do tell me about your favorite character.

The next epic that I am planning to pick up shortly is "A Suitable Boy".