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What would you most like to ask?
I think my mind would go blank if I were ever in the same room with an author to ask a question, and I very much want to keep my own impressions of a work of fiction separate from the views and public persona of an author. I do have a fantasy about how much fun it would be to have certain authors sitting at a bar having drinks together and overhearing their zany conversation.
- boswellbaxter
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 3066
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: North Carolina
- Contact:
I would love to ask Dickens how the Mystery of Edwin Drood was supposed to end, since he so inconsiderately died before completing the book.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
Coming in October: The Woodvilles
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/
[quote=""Michy""]Oh, yes, I would love to ask that too! Although I strongly suspect she would not give us an answer.
I think she always intended the book to end the way it did. She refused to write a sequel, and said the book ended the way it was supposed to (or something to that effect).[/quote]
I bet if we knew the way the story ended, Gone with the wind wouldn't be the same. 'Frankly my dear...'etc is such a fantastic ending, it's hard to see how it would be bettered! Although the hopeless romantic in me would have liked to see Rhett and Scarlett live happily ever after. But then, they wouldn't have been Rhett and Scarlett then...

I bet if we knew the way the story ended, Gone with the wind wouldn't be the same. 'Frankly my dear...'etc is such a fantastic ending, it's hard to see how it would be bettered! Although the hopeless romantic in me would have liked to see Rhett and Scarlett live happily ever after. But then, they wouldn't have been Rhett and Scarlett then...

[quote=""LoobyG""]I bet if we knew the way the story ended, Gone with the wind wouldn't be the same. 'Frankly my dear...'etc is such a fantastic ending, [/quote]
I absolutely agree -- part of what makes GWTW so strong and memorable is the uncertain ending. Margaret Mitchell was no dummy when it came to storytelling.
For whatever it's worth.... the word "frankly" isn't in the book. It was added in the movie.
I absolutely agree -- part of what makes GWTW so strong and memorable is the uncertain ending. Margaret Mitchell was no dummy when it came to storytelling.

For whatever it's worth.... the word "frankly" isn't in the book. It was added in the movie.
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4237
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
Yes, wasn't 'frankly' to take the emphasis off 'damn'? Not an appropriate word in those days.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
[quote=""Vanessa""]Yes, wasn't 'frankly' to take the emphasis off 'damn'? Not an appropriate word in those days.[/quote]
Perhaps, although I've never heard that. I think it was added just to give a little extra punch to Rhett's final statement. It does give it more attitude!
Although the producer was granted permission to use the word "damn", he was fined $5,000 for breaking the Hays Code -- which was probably a lot of money back in 1939!!
Perhaps, although I've never heard that. I think it was added just to give a little extra punch to Rhett's final statement. It does give it more attitude!
Although the producer was granted permission to use the word "damn", he was fined $5,000 for breaking the Hays Code -- which was probably a lot of money back in 1939!!
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4237
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
Yes, it would've been a lot of money back then. It's quite a lot for some people in today's world due to what's happening. Just think if that happened now, the powers that be would be rolling in it! LOL.
In the film I think Rhett puts the emphasis on 'Frankly' rather than 'damn' whereas in the book it's the word 'damn' which stands out.
In the film I think Rhett puts the emphasis on 'Frankly' rather than 'damn' whereas in the book it's the word 'damn' which stands out.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
I have a two-CD set of the entire musical score of the movie, along with a booklet about the movie and the making of it (both were produced by Turner, who owns the movie). There are a lot of interesting tidbits. For instance, both Clark Gable and Leslie Howard had to be essentially bribed to take their parts (unlike Vivien Leigh and Olivia De Havilland who both really wanted their parts). And then there is the apocryphal legend about how Leigh was "discovered" as the perfect Scarlett......