Here's how to play.
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. In her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. But it was an arresting face, pointed of chin, square of jaw. Her eyes were pale green without a touch of hazel, starred with bristly black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. Above them, her thick black brows slanted upward, cutting a startling oblique line in her magnolia-white skin--that skin so prized by Southern women and so carefully guarded with bonnets, veils and mittens against hot Georgia suns.
Yes, I'm spending the waning days of summer with Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. I haven't read it in years and it's good to spend time with my old friends in Atlanta and The County. Everything ties together so beautifully. It's well written, meticulously plotted, and highly entertainingly.
It's also beyond problematic. Maybe it's because I was raised in The Land of Lincoln, but I have never understood the fetish for the Confederacy. The Southerners were the least patriotic people in our history. They fucking fired upon the American flag, people! (No wonder those rioters on January 6 were carrying Confederate flag.) There is nothing "noble" or "brave" about them, regardless of how many times Melanie says it.
Then there's the language. I can throw "fuck" around with the best of them, but I never use really obscene words, like racial epithets. The way blacks are referred to on these pages makes me shudder.
Which is not to say I'm not enjoying the read. I don't like Scarlett, but I get her -- and at times I am her. Melly, Miss Pitty, Rhett, Ashley, Pa and Miss Ellen ... I feel like I know them all and I've missed them. When I put it down, I tell myself it won't be long until I can pick it back up and get back to them. Is there any higher compliment for a book?
And I think GWTW important. I don't think we should ever forget how popular these words and concepts once were, and question why for some convoluted reason The Glorious South and its culture are still celebrated today.
I have read GWTW 7 times during Jr. High and High School and maybe a couple of times after that. The book had more than the movie and I like them both. I have my mom's book from the 60's and may read it one more time. I even had a GWTW poster in my room. My mom gave me a Scarlett Madame Alexander doll when I was in my teens. I enjoyed the making of GWTW too. Maybe I will read it after I finish my current book. I may see it in a new light. Racism lives and has become bolder. Can't contribute it to just ignorance. Seems there is a lot of hate out there. So sad. Oh, I was raised not to cuss. We could not even say stupid. So, I do wince at bad words.
ReplyDeleteI have never read GWTW. Or seen the movie (the Carol Burnett show ruined it for me as a kid, I just couldn't take it seriously).
ReplyDeleteMy ancestors fought for the confederates and my husband's family had slaves. I agree with none of that and never have. But my father and brother do, to some degree. I can't explain it any more than I can explain why people love the orange guy, although I can try.
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