5/5 STARS - ADDED TO MY FAVORITES
I don't even know where to start. So many thoughts. None of them coherent. lol I'll start with my love for the characters.
1. Scarlet O'Hara - Scarlet O'Hara is such a great character, and yet such a terrible person.
She's so wonderfully vain and blind and greedy and selfish and human and real, you can't help but to feel for her and all of the hell she goes through throughout this 1000 page epic novel. What a strong character! I know that she's one that's going to be staying with me for many, many years to come.
2. Rhett Butler - I liked Rhett Butler from the very first moment he appeared in this novel. Um, that doesn't just happen usually. I loved his swagger and his cocksure ways. I loved his attitude and the fact that he didn't take any shit from Scarlet, even though most men were putty in her hands. I was entirely not expecting for his character to change so abruptly near the end of the novel, though. He went from a bad ass to #1 Dad! so quickly, I honestly didn't see it coming. You know what, it worked for him though. I still liked him both ways. The dude was hawt.
3. Melanie Wilkes a.k.a. my beloved Melly - I think that Melly was actually my favorite character in the whole book, even though she is by no means the main character. A lot of bad things happened in this book, but none of it made me want to cry until it affected Melly. She was such a loyal, strong and amazing woman. I wish I were as great a gal as her. She is like the poster child for the perfect Hufflepuff. I loved her devotion to her husband, her son, and most of all, to her best friend Scarlet, who definitely 10000% percent underestimated her. Just judging by her meek outer appearance, at first glance, Melly is a mouse. But on the inside, a freaking tiger roars. Go Melly! I loved her so much!
4. Ashley Wilkes - Okay, him I didn't like so much but I so appreciated the part that he played throughout the novel, I'll overlook his stupidity for the sake of plot progression. Alls I gotta say is that it was so obvious that Scarlet was fooling herself thinking she was in love with Ashley her whole life, when she didn't even know the dude. She just projected her childish dream man onto him, and so, in a way, Ashley wasn't really even a character, so much as he was a plot device.
5. Gerald O'Hara - Dude, I loved him so much as well. He's such a unique character. He's described as a 5'4, 60-year-old Irishman with long white hair, and light blue eyes and a penchant for getting rip roaring drunk. What happened to him broke my heart, but also touched my heart deeply at the same time.
6. Ellen O'Hara - She was a prat. Sorry, I didn't like her and her holier-than-thou martyr attitude.
7. Bonnie Blue Butler - I am dead inside after what happened to her. R.I.P. Me.
There were a million and a half other great and notable characters in this book, but I'm going to stop there so that I'm not here all night.
On to the plot...
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE THERE WAS SO MUCH DRAMA AND HARDSHIP TO BE FOUND IN THIS BOOK, MY JAW WILL REMAIN PERMANENTLY UNHINGED FROM THE REST OF MY FACE.
Seriously, there were so many times while reading where I had to take a break and tape my jaw back onto my body. I was shook many, many times. I have never read this classic, and I also have never seen the movie, but I did have an ideaof what this book was about. I WAS SO WRONG. I could have never predicted even 1/100th of what was about to happen. It was original and real and raw and beautiful.
And now a word about the writing...
For a 1000 page book, I didn't get tired of reading the story, not even once. Even now that I'm finished, I WANT MORE, dagnabbit! It may have taken me two weeks to get through, but I wish I still had another two weeks of story left to digest.
It was beautifully written and I really liked the dialogue. I feel like the author got the dialects down pretty perfectly and I could picture the characters delivering the lines in my head. The writing style was a bit on the dramatic side but I liked it. It made sure that you never got bored, even during the slower parts.
I also kind of feel like this was the MOST AMERICAN BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. The majority of the classics I read tend to take place in England. Don't get me wrong, I love London and the rest of that merry old land, but it is so refreshing to read something a little bit different for a change. I'm American, and this book felt like home in a way that no other book has done before.
The bottom line is you should read this book. Don't be intimidated by its impressive size. (Plus, the book is big enough to be used as a bed for a small dog or an extra large rat when you're done with it. Bonus!)