Book Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Dive into the timeless epic of Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell. A captivating journey through the American Civil War.
"Dive into the timeless epic of love and survival in 'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell. A masterpiece of American literature."
The only novel ever published by American female writer Margaret Mitchell is "Gone with the Wind".
Since the novel came out in 1936, it has been selling well, not only in the United States but also in the world by readers. It is now recognized as a classic romance novel with the background of the American Civil War.
The novel uses Atlanta and a nearby plantation as the story scene, depicting the life of American Southerners before and after the Civil War. The work portrays the images of many Southerners of that era, and the central characters Scarlett, Reid, Ashley, Melanie, and others are typical representatives.
The novel describes their customs, manners, words and deeds, spiritual concepts, political attitudes, and even their clothing in great detail. Thus, the novel successfully reproduces the social life in this area of the southern United States at that time.
Book: Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. Wikipedia
- Originally published: June 30, 1936
- Author: Margaret Mitchell
- Followed by: Rhett Butler's People
- Genres: Novel, Historical Fiction, War story
- Pages: 1037 (first edition); 1024 (Warner Books paperback)
The most attractive part of the novel is Scarlett's personality and her love story. Her love is not full of poetic and romantic sentiment, but realistic and utilitarian. In order to achieve her goal, she even used deceptive tricks. So why is her love story so fascinating?
The reason is simple, this is true. It is a real situation that is completely possible under the scenario set in the novel. The real thing may not be sublime, but it is closer to people's lives and therefore more popular with readers. Scarlett first fell in love with Ashley, but he heard the news of Ashley's engagement in his population.
Confident and smart Scarlett decided to confess to Ashley before the wedding, but Ashley gently and tactfully refused. When Scarlett was most depressed, she discovered that her conversation with Ashley was overheard by a man Rhett.
Book Summary
Unlike most female readers, I was very fond of Ashley.
My love in middle school was also very simple. He was clean, handsome, elegant, and knowledgeable. Especially compared to the uncivilized uncle with a beard, the image of Prince Charming was even more distinct.
Even his worries sound so high-level: other people's worries range at most to how many kilograms less cotton was harvested this year than last year or where to find a matching mare for his stallion, but his world is full of poetry. Painting, what worries him is the unfathomable problem of the collapse of a civilization and the demise of a way of life.
What more could such a perfect man ask for? Therefore, I have expressed a high degree of understanding and deep sympathy for Scarlett's ten-year-long infatuation.
Later I learned that perfection is conditional, and there are very harsh conditions.
It is easy for beautiful, kind, and simple girls to be perfect when they study in school every day, just like countless heroines in novels.
However, after leaving school and starting to face the requirements of financial independence, it is difficult not to get a little bit of the atmosphere of secular life. If she were still as slender as a poem, as refined as a dream, and as graceful as a painting, I'm afraid she would be beaten to death on the beach sooner or later by the tide of life.
So does the elegant gentleman. Amidst the rustling of leaves in the lazy sunshine of the lazy town, in the chattering life of boys riding horses, drinking, and playing poker, how could the perfect smile of an elegant gentleman not capture the heart of the girl to be married.
There is no need for elegance in the years when the war is raging and the war is in turmoil, and the new life after the war, which is full of waste and waiting for rebirth, also does not need elegance.
Elegant as Ashley, his light has radiated in the peaceful years of the previous chapters. After many years when elegance was no longer needed, he was still as reluctant as Big Ben.
The black slave ran away, and the fence on the farm needed to be hacked, but he couldn't do it well.
Money is needed, and the lumber store business is left to him, but he can't make any money.
Scarlett was blackmailed by the northerners and asked him to discuss it. He just kept saying, what should we do, and what should all the people in the south do. The comfortable and leisurely life we once had is gone forever.
Scarlett had no choice but to marry an old man with some spare money and pay the ransom. Rhett later found out and said angrily that if he really loved you, he would not let you do this even if he stole and robbed you.
His embrace with Scarlett was seen by his biological sister, and he firmly believed that his wife used her spotless reputation to suppress all doubts, he remained silent, even as he watched his wife painfully accuse his biological sister of lying and slander.
Scarlett always believed that he loved her mentally, even though he always stayed by his wife's side.
Maybe it's because every time she asks him, do you love me? He was silent. So do you love her? He remained silent.
Although her wife loved him deeply. She had a clear understanding of his true abilities and knew that he was incapable of being strong, but she always stayed by his side with her ability, perseverance, and kindness.
And Scarlett also loved him deeply. She used her incomparable vitality and fighting spirit to survive the difficulties one after another after the collapse of her elegant life. No matter how difficult it was, she did not hesitate to do her best to help him.
Without these two strong women who loved him, he would have died long ago with the elegant life he loved and could not leave. And he always tied his soul to the souls of these two women, neither changing nor escaping, just being weak.
Although he always looks handsome, upright, elegant, and polite.
In the end, his perfect wife who wanted to have a second child behind his back died in childbirth due to her fragile constitution.
Scarlett spent more than ten years of youth and finally accepted an extremely simple fact: he didn't love her, he was just too weak to know how to reject her.
Rhett was finally completely tired of this long love race and left with a tired heart.
And Ashley's life finally became empty with the departure of the two women.
Even his own sister was forever branded a slanderous name to preserve his false reputation for single-mindedness.
From beginning to end, he was a kind and upright good man. However, the dilapidated reality finally told him that it is not badness that is poison, weakness itself is enough to become a sharp weapon that can hurt people.
It breaks the hearts of those who love you, it makes you lose love and the ability to love, and it leaves you with nothing but loneliness in the end.
Yes, remember, weakness is a sin.
And, it is often men who are weak.
Book Review
People are really weird. When I read "Gone with the Wind" more than ten years ago, I liked Scarlett Hao.
But recently, I accidentally picked up an old book and re-read it, and I was deeply attracted to Melanie.
Is it because of age? Do people's thoughts really change? What young girl doesn't like Scarlett Hao after watching "Gone with the Wind"?
Not only is she beautiful, but she is also smart and stubborn, and she is always surrounded by men.
Especially with a charming man like Rhett following and pampering her all the time, it's so enjoyable! Also, she was very individual.
When Ashley, who stood out among many boys, finally politely rejected her love, he threw a vase out of anger! This is not the ladylike style of the old aristocracy, but it is very in line with today's trends.
It is a typical example of the "sassy girlfriend"! At the fund-raising dance, she was so anxious that she couldn't dance because she was a widow.
It was so cute! When Atlanta fell, he drove a carriage and took Melanie to escape to Tara.
Also, in the scene where the northern deserter breaks into Tara and kills him with a gun, he shows his tenacity and determination.
Wearing a new dress made from her mother's curtains, glaring at the green eyes that Red said he saw opposite the pistol a foot away, she lied to marry herself to Frank and worked hard to support the lumber mill.
How cunning! Finally, when she knew that the person she really loved was Rhett, and Rhett had been deeply disappointed in her and decided to leave her, she still calmly raised her chin high.
At this time, how much I like Scarlett Hao who is flesh and blood and has character! But now, I don't think so anymore.
I noticed that at the manor party, Melanie sat quietly aside, her thin body not conspicuous at all.
At the fundraising ball, she painfully but resolutely took off her wedding ring and donated it to the army.
On the day Atlanta fell, her weak body was struggling on the verge of death because she was about to give birth, but she remained calm.
I can imagine how pale a weak mother looked after giving birth while lying on a bumpy carriage for dozens of kilometers. s face.
But she never told Scarlett Scarlett about her pain, and because of the relationship she gradually established with Scarlett Scarlett during this escape, Melanie stood silently behind Scarlett Scarlett from the beginning to the end, protecting her and defending her at all times.
When the northern deserters came, she dragged her weak body and held a heavy sword, ready to help Scarlett Hao at any time.
Calmly made suggestions to help Scarlett Scarlett bury the northern deserter. When everyone in Atlanta refused to associate with Scarlett Scarlett, it was Melanie who insisted on standing by her.
Even when Ashley and Scarlett's hidden affair was discovered and spread throughout Atlanta, she still stood resolutely on Scarlett's side. And she has always known about what happened between them.
Finally, when she died, Dr. Meade angrily told Scarlett Hao not to repent to her! Always carry the heavy cross! Don't hurt this kind woman! But is Melanie just kind?
No, it should be great, representing a female image of a traditional character. Tough, restrained, brave, and virtuous.
If Scarlett Hao is a new woman who is aggressive and daring to do things, then Melanie is the most respectable typical woman among the old-class aristocrats.
Even now, hundreds of years later, Melanie still has a brilliance that we deserve to appreciate. We admit that the book "Gone with the Wind" over-beautifies Melanie.
Maybe it's because the author loves her too much. She is portrayed so perfectly that almost no flaws can be found. If there is a flaw, it is that she is not beautiful. She is a perfect contrast to Scarlett.
I keep thinking: Does Melanie really have no selfish motives? At this point, the author's description is very vague.
It is especially unacceptable that when he died, he revealed that he had actually known about the ambiguous relationship between Scarlett and Ashley for many years.
Is she really that generous? And I prefer to believe that it is because she is smart. She sees everything clearly.
In fact, Ashley and Scarlett Scarlett have nothing at all and cannot possibly have anything. She made the wisest move by letting them go.
In comparison, Scarlett Hao is really a fool. After loving Ashley for many years, Melanie finally found out that she didn't love him at all. Rhett is the favorite.
As for Rhett, he was already hurt by her and was withdrawn and disappointed. Like Rhett said, she wants Ashley.
It's just like a little girl wanting a doll, but what's the use of her coming? She has been married to three men, but she has never understood men.
Her trick was just to fool the little boy. Or an honest old guy like Frank. When I opened the copy of "Gone with the Wind" in my hand, I found that the paper was yellow and brittle.
If you are not careful, your fingers will break the paper. This kind of book feels very old when held in the hand. I feel like I am like the book in my hand, one day it will be easily broken and broken.
The content of the book itself will not be broken, nor will the spirit of the characters in the book. If I had a soul, I wouldn't break it.
About the Author: Margaret Mitchell
Mitchell (Margaret Mitchell, 1900-1949) American female writer. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in the southern United States. His father was a lawyer and was the president of the Atlanta Historical Society.
Mitchell studied at Washington Theological Seminary and Smith College in Massachusetts. After that, she worked as a reporter for the local newspaper "Atlanta". He married John March in 1925, resigned after marriage, and devoted himself to writing.
Mitchell only published the masterpiece "Gone with the Wind" in his life. She began to work hard to create "Gone with the Wind" in 1926. Ten years later, the work came out and it caused a strong response as soon as it was published.
Because of his family's influence, Mitchell has a keen interest in American history, especially the history of the American South during the Civil War. She heard a lot of anecdotes and rumors about the Civil War and the post-war reconstruction period in her hometown and contacted and read a lot of books about the Civil War.
She grew up in the southern city of Atlanta since she was a child, and she was fascinated by the customs of the southern United States. The natural environment and social environment here have become the background and source of creation for Mitchell Vance's gallop.
Excerpts from the original text
What I love is a fictional person of my own, a person who is lifeless like Mei Li. I made a beautiful dress and fell in love with it. When Asiri came over on horseback, he was so handsome and so different, so I just put on the clothes for him, whether it fits him or not. So I couldn't see his real appearance. In fact, what I have always loved is that suit, not him at all.—— Quoting from page 834
Short Comment
The first time I solemnly felt that the United States is a great country was when I finished reading this book. The victorious North, unexpectedly allowed such a novel with a purely Southern stance to become the number one masterpiece of the Civil War.
In the novel, the Northern Army burns, kills, humiliates, and plunders, the blacks are ungrateful, loitering after losing the white discipline, and molesting the white women, and the KKK rises up to resist and fight for their lives. At the age of 21, what was the experience of being subverted in history?
If you want me to recommend a romance novel, it is definitely this, the top romance novel, the author is quite capable of description, and the girl's heart flickers. It is said that Scarlett’s masterpiece made Rhode no longer love her at last.
I want to say that the two of them are destined enemies. They are similar but not complementary. Why did Rhett say that he did not consume his love for her? He is afraid When she knows her true heart, she will be controlled and played, so she would rather ridicule and tell Scarlett that he loves her.
This is the most unmanly thing about Perfect Reid. As a classic masterpiece, I think it's still a little bit worse. In the war and politics part, the author's personal emotions are too much, and it suddenly feels very weak.
Reading Notes
Page 850 Chapter 47
When Rhett got what Scarlett said, "I still like you", his attitude became colder.
Don't you think that even if it is nonsense, you should say "Rhett, I love you"? It doesn't matter if you are not sincere. ----Quoted from Chapter 47
At first, it was Rhett who told Scarlett to tell the truth, but after learning of the result, he found that he was emotionally unacceptable. People who fall in love have a negative IQ, and Reid, who has always been romantic, is no exception. Warn the majority of compatriots to be cautious and then cautious when being frank and unfair to the other half.
However, it can be seen from this section that Rhett has completely fallen in love with Scarlett. When Scarlett reminded Rhett of what Rhett had said before, Rhett said angrily, "I fucked said too much." I guess that when Rhett said those words before, he had not completely fallen in love,
so he felt that he could pick up and put down like other women, and wanted to leave room for himself. As the saying goes, "I have been in the flowers, and the leaves are not touched." body". As a result, I didn't expect it to be Scarlett's best reason to refuse love. It's really fooling people.
