Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

“Hardships make or break people.” 
― Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind

 «Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realised it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were…»

The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia during the American Civil War and Reconstruction and follows the life of Scarlett, the daughter of an Irish immigrant plantation owner. The story follows her life during Civil War and Reconstruction years.

This book is my second favourite (after Harry Potter, of course). Months after I read it for the first time, I was under impression. Don’t be afraid of its size (1000 pages or so), it’s worth it. The first hundred pages are really boring, but then you just can’t put the book away. “Gone with the Wind” is a story of love, war, friendship, jealousy, devotion and self-sacrifice in the world where you can purchase or sell almost everything (that’s how it seems to Scarlett). The other major characters Rhett Butler and Melanie Wilkes are people who stay beyond the rules of that world unlikely Scarlett and that’s why I like them.  Next thing is that the protagonist of novel isn’t a good one we are used to. And I like it. During the story, my feelings to Scarlett O’Hara often changed: I felt sorry for her, felt disrespect to her or was surprised by her stupidity. Although the only thing that didn’t change was my admiration by her ability to go on whatever happens. I liked this book because it’s one about Old World where ladies and gentlemen go for barbecue, ride horses and do all that kind of stuff.

The style of writing is good, but it contains many history information with detailed pace of American Civil War. Genre is romance and historical fiction.

Lots of people think that the book isn’t ended, but I don’t agree with them I’ve tried to read GWTW sequel by Alexandra Ripley, but it disappointed me so much, that I left it half-read. Gone with the Wind movie is one of few movies that I think are as good as the books they’re made after. There are many famous quotes from both book and movie such as «I’ll think of it tomorrow» or «After all tomorrow is another day».

In my opinion, the main idea of the book is that you should appreciate what you have before it’s too late.

 I don’t think it’s an easy read book, but I believe Gone with the Wind that kind of book that everyone must read. Maybe, that’s why it’s called classic?