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April 2011 Book of the Month: Poll

What Will Be Our April 2011 Book of the Month?

Poll ended at Mon February 28th, 2011, 2:09 pm

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
10
71%
Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
1
7%
Land of the Painted Caves by Jean Auel
1
7%
The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman
2
14%
 
Total votes: 14

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Tue March 8th, 2011, 4:13 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Michy you can always come back and add your thoughts as you reread it when you have time this summer.

Should we create a phrase for when someone is "caught" referencing the movie? :D [/quote]

Hmmmm, that does have possibilities.

I read this as a young girl, and then a few years ago as a grown up person. Quite a different experience so Ludmilla has something to really look forward to.
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Michy
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Post by Michy » Tue March 8th, 2011, 4:40 pm

Yes, I sensed that last night just in the few pages I read -- the scene where Rhett proposes to Scarlett, and then parts of their honeymoon in New Orleans. As a young girl reading the book I -- naturally -- envied Scarlett and fell in love with Rhett. However, last night I actually felt myself feeling pity for both of them. :eek: That's why I think my reaction to the book will be very different now. I definitely must re-read it.......

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Ludmilla
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Post by Ludmilla » Tue March 8th, 2011, 5:50 pm

I want to pay attention to how Mitchell describes the landscape this time around. I literally live in GWTW territory (Mitchell's maternal grandparents and great grandparents owned much of the land at one time where I live). If I find time, I might get my camera out and visit the civil war cemetery in Jonesboro. I can't believe I've lived here for nearly 15 years and not been there. Maybe the kids and I will do this as an educational field trip one weekend.

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Wed March 9th, 2011, 2:04 am

Never read the book, but I love the movie. :)
I won't be reading it this time either. Way tooo many pages.
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Michy
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Post by Michy » Wed March 9th, 2011, 3:04 am

If you love the movie, then you will loooooooooove the book. You really do owe it to yourself to read it sometime. Trust me, those 900+ pages will just fly.......

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Wed March 9th, 2011, 6:44 am

If you love the movie, then you will loooooooooove the book.
True. Especially with your interest in the Civil War period, Divia, this is one you will really be glad you set some time aside for if you make a point of doing it. GWTW is not one of those long novels with extensive dry passages. It's a page-turner from beginning to end. There's a reason why so many of us have read it more than once.

I've really noticed in the last few years since I started reviewing historical novels, and therefore reading a wide variety that I might not otherwise have read, how much more quickly I can read a long but gripping novel than I can a short novel that drags.
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Divia
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Post by Divia » Wed March 9th, 2011, 9:25 pm

Yeah, I know GWTW is a great book, but its depiction of the civil war is a little flowery for me.

I tired to read it once, and didnt have the time for it. Way too long. Maybe when I retire. :D
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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Wed March 9th, 2011, 11:10 pm

[quote=""Divia""]Yeah, I know GWTW is a great book, but its depiction of the civil war is a little flowery for me.

I tired to read it once, and didnt have the time for it. Way too long. Maybe when I retire. :D [/quote]

Flowery? I didn't get that at all. Maybe not gorey and gruesome, but certainly not flowery.

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Michy
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Post by Michy » Wed March 9th, 2011, 11:17 pm

I wouldn't consider it flowery, either. Definitely not balanced, but remember, Margaret Mitchell was born only about 35 years after the end of the Civil War, so she still had living relatives who had served in the war on the side of the South. And she grew up listening to their stories. So the way she depicted it is no doubt the way her relatives told it to her -- from the side of the South and with a lot of nostalgia for the way things were "before."

She doesn't go into a lot of detail about the war because, primarily, the book is a story about Rhett, Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley. She was really writing about the culture and society of the south, and how it was forever changed by the war, more than the actual war itself. I read somewhere that she meant the story of Scarlett to be a kind of allegory of the South's transition from "Old South" (before the war) to "New South." Scarlett and Rhett represented the people with "gumption" who survived and even thrived in the New South. Ashley represented the people who were trapped forever in the old ways and couldn't make the transition. Melanie fell somewhere in the middle; it's difficult to know how she would have coped since she died prematurely.

Just my opinion, but as a storyteller Mitchell is captivating and her skill at characterization is second-to-none. I can't think of any other book where the characters so come alive and live on in the imagination years after you've read the book. I almost feel like Rhett, Scarlett, Melanie and Ashley are real people I've known.
Last edited by Michy on Wed March 9th, 2011, 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Thu March 10th, 2011, 2:58 am

flowery, romantic, not realistic.

Yeah, I know the entire background on her take and all that good stuff. But that doesnt mean I'm jumping to read it. Its' a great movie. But I am a slow reader and that doesnt change the fact taht it would take me way too long to read this book in a month.
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