Brenna B. (demiducky25) reviewed on 11/27/2009 + 161 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

I technically read this book in 7th grade after seeing the movie version. Though when I read it then, I more or less focused on scenes from the movie and skipped over portions of the book that didn't seem to match the movie. I figured that now that I'm an adult, I should try to give the book its proper dues. I read the whole thing in about two weeks and absolutely LOVED it. It is truly a classic! I am keeping in mind that it is a product of it's time (written by a Southern about 70 years after the Civil War at a time while America was still segregated). As a result, it does present an idealized version of slavery, but since it's also coming from Scarlett's POV (a Southern raised on a cotton plantation), one wouldn't expect anything except a bias point of view on this anyway. What captured my imagination the most was Scarlett's relationship with people (family members, Mammy, her beaux, Rhett, etc..) She is honestly one of the most selfish, confused characters that I have ever read, but I didn't hate her. I did want to see her succeed in her goals of securing Tara, surviving after the war, etc. One really got a sense of the destruction of the South during the Civil War. After all, in Scarlett's mind, the Yankee's are the "bad guys" and it is tough to realize that Sherman and other Northern generals did create such devastating destruction in the South on civilian lands in hopes of breaking the South's spirit. The characters are very fleshed out, the settings are painted so vividly that you can picture everything (though I guess seeing the movie also helps with this: I re-watched the movie within a few days of finishing the book and was amazed by how faithful to the book the movie was...of course they had to cut things out to streamline it, but large passages of dialogue and things are kept remarkably in tact). All-in-all, this is one book that I will recommend to anyone looking to read a good love story, a vivid piece of historical fiction, and just a great piece of story-telling in general! :-)

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