Friday, July 22, 2005

Gone with the wind - Margaret Mitchell

Sold to me as the Best love story by a colleague , in the end its neither the best story nor a love story, which isn't the same as saying its not a good read.
Chronicaling the life and loves (or what purpots to be love) of Scarlett O'Hara , set in the time of the American Civil war and the fight to free the slaves, A reasonably well written and engrossing book which however fails in some crucial areas. Some of the parts that make me uncomfortable is the cleaning up of the treatment of slaves and the rationalization of the Ku Klux Klan (admittedly not a major part of the story) which if treated correctly could have made this book so much more (for an example of how to do this read To Kill a Mockingbird). The famed love story between Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara in the end for me is anticlimatic (and in ways reminiscient of the shakinh head feeling i had when i read Pride and Prejudice). And in the end my favorite character in the book has to be Mammy, A woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get her way , rather than Scarlett who one cant dislike or like. Perhaps Mammy's story would actually be a much better book