Last night I finished reading "Gone With the Wind" and how sad I am to see it go.
I began "Gone With the Wind" a year ago last August (August 2010). I had begun the book once before but didn't have the time or patience to devote to finishing it.
I was prompted to begin again August of 2010 because Chris and I had just finished our baseball trip and I read 4 books on the trip. Perhaps a better way to say this is that I lugged 8 or so books on this trip and read 4 of them.
Chris was not a fan of most of my luggage being compiled of books and so I began "Gone With the Wind" -- one book, I knew would take me awhile to finish. There was no need to lug around multiple books because there was no end in sight to the beautiful, epic, timeless tale to be found in "Gone With the Wind."
And tonight, 15 months later, it is finished. I wish it weren't. What an amazing story that was, and what is more, how much my life has changed since I began the book. I cannot even list the changes in my life that took place while reading this book, but the book was such a comforting constant. The same characters on their own journey through life as I was living my own journey through life. Living in such different times, and yet despite time, there exist so many of the same human concerns, conflicts, courage and convictions.
If you have not read "Gone With the Wind," I highly recommend it. The movie is spectacular in its own right -- especially given the era it was created... but the book is like nothing else. In the book you learn the history of Scarlett's family, you learn that Scarlett herself is a symbol of the city of Atlanta, you meet characters omitted from the movie, and witness the ramifications of events in much more depth and explanation than a movie could ever hope to capture.
Last but not least, when you read this award-winning text, you witness writing of another world. This Confederate writer tells this story in words that are almost Shakespearean as you can hear another time, another era, another world telling the story... relaying their way of life, recalling what is forever lost, sharing what was Gone With the Wind.
A few of my favorite lines include the following:
"Then above the confused sounds Stuart Tarleton's voice rose, in an exultant shout, 'Yee-aay-ee!' as if he were on the hunting field. And she heard for the first time, without knowing it, the Rebel yell."
"Such a breathless week when something within her drove Scarlett with mingled pain and pleasure to pack and cram every minute with incidents to remember after he was gone, happenings which she could examine at leisure in the long months ahead, extracting every morsel of comfort from them -- dance, sing, laugh, fetch and carry for Ashley, anticipate his wants, smile when he smiles, be silent when he talks, follow him with your eyes so that each line of this erect body, each left of his eyebrows, each quirk of his mouth, will be indelibly printed on your mind -- for a week goes by so fast and the war goes on forever."
"They were the eyes of a happy woman, a woman around whom storms might blow without ever ruffling the serene core of her being."
And so many more... Please read this book. Mark my words -- 15 months fly by when spent with these characters.
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I was prompted to begin again August of 2010 because Chris and I had just finished our baseball trip and I read 4 books on the trip. Perhaps a better way to say this is that I lugged 8 or so books on this trip and read 4 of them.
Chris was not a fan of most of my luggage being compiled of books and so I began "Gone With the Wind" -- one book, I knew would take me awhile to finish. There was no need to lug around multiple books because there was no end in sight to the beautiful, epic, timeless tale to be found in "Gone With the Wind."
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| Even Actor Clark Gable recognizes this literary masterpiece via |
Last but not least, when you read this award-winning text, you witness writing of another world. This Confederate writer tells this story in words that are almost Shakespearean as you can hear another time, another era, another world telling the story... relaying their way of life, recalling what is forever lost, sharing what was Gone With the Wind.
 |
| via |
"Then above the confused sounds Stuart Tarleton's voice rose, in an exultant shout, 'Yee-aay-ee!' as if he were on the hunting field. And she heard for the first time, without knowing it, the Rebel yell."
"Such a breathless week when something within her drove Scarlett with mingled pain and pleasure to pack and cram every minute with incidents to remember after he was gone, happenings which she could examine at leisure in the long months ahead, extracting every morsel of comfort from them -- dance, sing, laugh, fetch and carry for Ashley, anticipate his wants, smile when he smiles, be silent when he talks, follow him with your eyes so that each line of this erect body, each left of his eyebrows, each quirk of his mouth, will be indelibly printed on your mind -- for a week goes by so fast and the war goes on forever."
"They were the eyes of a happy woman, a woman around whom storms might blow without ever ruffling the serene core of her being."
And so many more... Please read this book.
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