Posted on 06/25/2006 9:55:57 AM PDT by EveningStar
Confined to her bed in Atlanta by a broken ankle and arthritis, she was given a stack of blank paper by her husband, who said, "Write a book." Did she ever.
The novel's first title became its last words, "Tomorrow is another day," and at first she named the protagonist Pansy. But Pansy became Scarlett, and the title of the book published 70 years ago this week became "Gone With the Wind."
You might think that John Steinbeck, not Margaret Mitchell, was the emblematic novelist of the 1930s, and that the publishing event in American fiction in that difficult decade was his "Grapes of Wrath." Published in 1939, it captured the Depression experience that many Americans had, and that many more lived in fear of. Steinbeck's novel became a great movie, and by now 14 million copies of the book have been sold...
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Great Post!
~ thanks ~
A wonderful, amazing book. I did not read GWTW until just a few years ago and I had probably seen the move 30 times. What a revelation! It truly is the Great American Novel, and none better has yet been written. Margaret Mitchell captured the spirit of the American woman better than any modern feminist possibly could. If you have never read it, do yourself a favor and read it!!!
ping
Too bad George Will cannot be "Gone with the Wind."
Margaret Mitchell captured the spirit of the Southern woman ... a breed apart from the American woman ... was then and is now.
The movie was wonderful of course, but like any film it condensed some minor story lines and characters.
I agree, reading the book is a great experience.
GWTW is the best bad novel ever written nothing more though it is a fun read. I read it two years ago. No American novel is better than Moby Dick.
Having seen the movie countless times, I finally bought the book and read it on vacation one Summer. I think I may read it again this vacation. This post reminded me what a good read it was. So much to read and vacation is so short - I tend to re-read books I know are good - hate to waste good reading time on a bad book!
To Kill a Mockingbird stays on my bedside table - it's a well worn favorite.
bet your freepmail box stays pretty full with a screenname like that.
OK, I must have been sleeping during this past year...what happened to Will? Why is everyone mad at him?
Gosh, I've never read it; never considered it, but now I might put it on my summer reading list.
It is a little above an ordinary potboiler but fun nonetheless. Great literature? Not even close.
I'm not looking for "great literature" in the summer, are you? :-)
Gone With The Wind is a classic literary masterpiece, and parents should make their children watch it so they get an accurate portrayal of American history. Along with Gods and Generals, one of the best historical movies of all time.
It truly is the Great American Novel, and none better has yet been written. Margaret Mitchell captured the spirit of the American woman better than any modern feminist possibly could.
***
No, it was not Great. A good story with interesting character development but not great.
As for capturing the spirit of the American woman, I hope that you don't see the grasping, conniving Scarlett as the archetypal American woman.
My mother gave me GWTW to read the summer after fourth grade. She wisely told me that GWTW is the kind of book that is fun to read and very emotional. It is the kind of book one should read interspersed between other more serious books ... and that way, the fun one is more fun and the serious ones have more meaning.Great literature? Certainly not ... more like an earlier version of popular culture ... but still well worth the reading.
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