April 2011 BOTM: Gone with the Wind

boswellbaxter · Post by **boswellbaxter** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 12:36 pm

Please discuss Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell here.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 2:04 pm

This is April Fools, right? It can't possibly be April yet...oh, wait...

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 4:05 pm

So is anyone else reading this? Or are most folks going to rely on memory from their previous reading? I finished last weekend and really appreciated it more this time than when I read it as a young teen.

Not sure where to start with discussion. I live very near where Tara would have been located. The Nash Farm battlefield is approximately five or six miles east of where Tara would have been. They have a great website here describing the fighting in and around Jonesboro and Lovejoy if anyone is interested in perusing. I love the map section, some of which show the Rough & Ready Road mentioned in GWTW. This onein particular shows the places in GWTW that are mentioned during the Atlanta campaign. I think it was even more jaw dropping this time imagining Scarlett trying to get herself, Prissy, Melanie & baby back to Tara after Rhett leaves them in between those enemy lines.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 4:24 pm

[quote=""Ash""]This is April Fools, right? It can't possibly be April yet...oh, wait...[/quote]

Speaking of April Fools go and see BB's latest blog post. She had me going, but it was early yet.

So is anyone else reading this? Or are most folks going to rely on memory from their previous reading? I finished last weekend and really appreciated it more this time than when I read it as a young teen.

I won't have time to read this, but did just reread about three years ago so I'm ready to jump in anytime. Have to work now though..

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 5:40 pm

I'm embarrassed to admit this, given that I nominated it, but I've lost my copy. Can't find it anywhere. May have loaned it to my parents or a sister. So I'm sending my husband to the library. They should have a copy. I will absolutely be reading this for at least most of April. I'll buy it again if I have to.

I do remember the first five words though: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful..." That really struck me when I read it because Vivien Leigh most certainly was beautiful.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Fri April 1st, 2011, 7:20 pm

[quote=""LoveHistory""]I'm embarrassed to admit this, given that I nominated it, but I've lost my copy. Can't find it anywhere. May have loaned it to my parents or a sister. So I'm sending my husband to the library. They should have a copy. I will absolutely be reading this for at least most of April. I'll buy it again if I have to.[/quote]

The same thing happened to me except it's my mom's fault! I read the book in high school and did a whole "book report" on it. I asked my mom to bring her copy to me two weeks ago and she says now she thinks she threw it away!

How do you throw away Gone with the Wind???? Needless to say I will also be stopping by the library and plan on joining the discussion. Personally the whole "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a damn" is the best line of the book and really sums up how I felt about her at the end. You made your bed, now lay it in lady was written somewhere in my book report (keep in mind, I was 17 at the time!)

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Sat April 2nd, 2011, 8:52 am

The word 'frankly' wasn't in the book, just 'My dear, I don't give a damn.' I think 'frankly' was used in the film to take the emphasis off the word 'damn' as it wasn't thought very appropriate in 1936. Or something like that.

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Sat April 2nd, 2011, 9:48 am

That's right, Vanessa. It was a shock that someone in a movie used the word "damn." Ah, the good old days.

I got one from the library and I'm in chapter 4. Had to stop and remember what was the difference between "poor white" and "crackers."

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat April 2nd, 2011, 11:40 am

[quote=""LoveHistory""]I got one from the library and I'm in chapter 4. Had to stop and remember what was the difference between "poor white" and "crackers."[/quote]

Lol, I hope we are all in agreement that we don't need to worry about being PC when speaking about this book?

LoveHistory · Post by **LoveHistory** » Sat April 2nd, 2011, 8:50 pm

I say with one or two exceptions, if it's used in the book it can be used in the discussion. Though obviously we should try to use the quote function or quotation marks when we can so that it's clear which wording is our own and which is in the story.

Trying to be 100% PC in this discussion would be a hoot.