Gone with the Wind

I have a hard time reviewing classic literature. I feel like most of the world has already read them and if not they can find much better written reviews than what I could come up with.

With that being said I just finished listening to the audio book of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and wanted to share some quick thoughts about the classic book.

First off I wanted to stop this book a few times, the selfishness of the lead character was insufferable. The book was released in 1936 and to me Mitchell was a brave writer to create a character so self centered. I was surprised how well it turned out and big props to her.

The second observation was how the book didn’t seem that foreign to me. As far as I know my family has lived in the south for at the least the last four generations, but it could go back much longer. My great grandfather/grandmother would have been around the age of Margaret Mitchell and their parents would have been in the period of the book.

You might think the book is ancient history depicting slavery in the United States but in reality it’s only about four generations back. Even less since segregation was abolished. In the grand scheme that isn’t much time and even though our country has a long way to go I feel like we have came a long ways since the 50’s and 60’s.

If you haven’t read this book yet I’d recommend it. It is one of the most read books for a reason. Once you’ve read it check out To Kill a Mockingbird which is one I enjoyed even more.