2.10.2011

A goner?

So I've been making pretty good progress on my Historical Fiction Reading Challenge but I want to make sure it is actually challenging me. Even though they are fiction books, I don't want to allow myself to get by with only "easy reader" type stories. So when I saw Gone with the Wind at my parents', I picked it up. I've never read it or even seen the movie so I had no idea what I was getting into but  I have another book which tells the story from Rhett's perspective that I have forbidden as a reading option until I have read the original, so now seemed like a good time to finally get to it.

I'm about 100 pages or 1/8 of the way through my teeny-tiny worded edition and so far, I'm not sure I like it. I don't completely dislike it but:
  • Am I supposed to like Scarlett? Because I don't. Does she improve upon further acquaintance? She is still 16 though and I think the book covers a span of 12 or so years. Is her maturation part of the story? I hope so. Right now, when it comes to caring about Scarlett, frankly, I feel a little like Rhett. 
  • The slave's speech. My goodness. Because of how slave dialogue is spelled, it takes me a good minute of sounding out to read just a sentence or two of what mammy or any other slave is saying and that really messes with my reading flow. Maybe I should read this when I'm teaching Lucy to read so I will have more empathy for the chore of  "sounding it out."
  • I don't really consider it a fault of the book, but I was surprised to see the "N" word in GWTW. I realize I should have expected it but I've been hearing a lot about it being in Huckleberry Finn, especially with the new edition coming out, and have never heard about it being in here so it did catch me off guard. But again, that's just an observational. I don't have a problem reading it when it fits the historical context. 
  • I've heard through the grapevine that she doesn't end up with either Ashley or Rhett. What kind of love story is this! I haven't formed a particular attachment to either of the male protagonists (if that is even what they are, I'm not quite sure yet :-) and as I said, I don't like Scarlett yet but I'm not sure I want to read a love story about a bunch of people I don't like who don't end up in love. Maybe that's my problem, should I not be thinking of it as a love story?
So basically, I need your help. Convince me to keep reading this. I don't want to be a quitter but I'm not sure I can make it. Have any of you read it? Would watching the movie first help or hurt? Inspire me!

5 comments :

  1. To me GWTW is more of a survival story, rather than a love story. I'm not sure I "like" Scarlett but there's something about her that you just don't forget.

    Margaret Mitchell said she considered Melanie the heroine of the story. I hope you don't consider that too much of a spoiler.

    It's been at least 5 years since I read the book. I first read it as a young teenager. Maybe that's why it seemed like a love story at the time. It sure doesn't to me now.

    P.S. I can't believe you've managed to avoid seeing the movie. It's one of my mom's favorites so I've even seen in in a theater. ;)

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  2. You aren't supposed to like Scarlett, and I'd be really concerned if you did! I think it is a survival story and perhaps even a morality tale about what happens when women connive to get their own way.

    I appreciate your ability to separate modern sensibilities about racism from a historical novel. I get so tired of people white-washing (odd word, but it fits the context) Southern novels by removing dialectal speech and references to slavery. It is so much better to just learn from the mistakes of the past instead of editing a book within an inch of its life. I'm thinking of the new Elsie Dinsmore series, but I know there are other examples.

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  3. OK: you should keep reading it. I read it for the first time a couple years ago, and I thought it was really great. As previous commenters have said, no, it's not really a love story and no, you shouldn't really like Scarlett. She's awful. There came a point in the story where I really started to root for her, but I never really liked her. My advice would be to enjoy it for the setting, the writing, and the history, so you can hang in there until the story gets going enough to pull you in. Also, the longer the book goes, the more awesome Rhett gets. So look forward to that.

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  4. The only reason I haven't seen the movie is that I'm incredible stubborn. We were going through movies and I said I didn't want to watch GWTW. Someone replied that I should since I would love it. Apparently, I decided that I didn't want to just because they said I should and years later, I still never have! I'm not opposed to it anymore, it just hasn't happened. Maybe next time I visit my mom we should rent it.

    I've decided to just make myself read the next 100 pages. After that, I can stop if I want but by then I'll be 1/4 of the way done so I'll probably just continue. Am I the only one who "tricks" myself into doing things? I don't know why I fall for it but I always seem to :-)

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  5. GWTW is much more akin to "Grapes of Wrath" than any love story you can imagine. it seems that the main purpose is to introduce the reader, through a group of characters, to the Civil War period, much like "Grapes of Wrath" was more about a commentary on the Great Depression than anything else.

    when you look at it that way, you can sort of forgive Scarlett for being such a whiny brat. and no matter what, Rhett's character is amazing. :o)

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