Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

What is there to say about Gone With the Wind that hasn't already been said? I've been thinking about this a lot. Since it took me a full two weeks to read, my posts about it at Instagram were just updates about where I was in the story and that seems like a good place to start. 

Here are the updates I wrote throughout the reading of Gone With the Wind:

• 5 days into my reading, the Yankees are coming, Prissy don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies, and Scarlett is frankly pissed that Melanie survived childbirth. 
• As God is her witness, Scarlett will never be hungry again, or so she says. Not sure if that's really working out for her. I'm so involved that last night I found myself thinking, "Damn Yankees!" I was angry with them for stealing food and valuables, shredding the furniture, and causing everyone but Scarlett, her son, and Melanie's baby to hightail it to the swamp with whatever they could carry. Also, Melanie is tough under that sweet exterior.
• I passed the halfway point in Gone With the Wind two days ago but yesterday I was so glum I didn't feel like reading at all. I declared that it was Intermission and went to bed early. Back to reading, tonight. Scarlett is wearing her mama's green velvet curtains and I keep thinking of Carol Burnett's hilarious skit in a dress made of curtains with the curtain rod still in them. 
• Getting there, slowly but surely. There's a lot more that's not in the movie, the farther you get into the novel. I'm enjoying the newness and depth of these added details but I'm also starting to get fidgety, wanting to finish. The funniest/weirdest thing about my Gone With the Wind experience? While I'm reading, the movie theme song is almost always playing in my head. Strange but true. 
• Rhett and Scarlett are not getting along. Rhett thinks Scarlett has abominable taste in home decorations and Scarlett doesn't care because it's so fun to have money and flaunt it. I hope to finish by tomorrow but might go to bed early and ruin my plan. 
• FINISHED!! I hope to rewatch the movie soon. I read somewhere that what's most amazing about Gone With the Wind is the fact that Margaret Mitchell managed to make people care about such an unlikable heroine. Scarlett is cunning and courageous, though, in addition to her negative qualities. And Rhett, Melly, Ashley . . . so many fascinating characters. I will remember this book fondly forever. 

Highly recommended: a new favorite - Reading this saga was not just fun, it was an experience. I gave Gone With the Wind five stars. Captivating, informative about the way Southerners thought and behaved and the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction, absolutely addictive reading. 

I can see why Gone With the Wind is considered problematic, now, and why it's also The Great American Novel. Like most other novels with vernacular dialogue, I sometimes became frustrated because those bits were so difficult to read. But, It was simply one of the most engrossing reads of my life so I can't take off even a fraction of a point. 

It took me two days but I did manage to watch the entire movie version of Gone With the Wind across Saturday and Sunday evenings. It's been ages since I've seen it and it was a different experience viewing the film after reading the book. Instead of just sitting back and enjoying it, I was analyzing the differences between book and movie, like the fact that Scarlett's first two children don't exist at all in the movie. 

Obviously, a lot of material had to be cut out of the book to make even a 3-hour film but I was surprised at how faithful the movie is to the book. Instead of cutting out too many important scenes, what David O. Selznick did was boil down many of the plot points to a single scene. So, instead of having Scarlett's long drive to Tara past burned-out mansions, as in the book, the movie shows a single ruined mansion, Twelve Oaks. This nicely ties back to the barbecue at Twelve Oaks where Scarlett surrounded herself with her beaux to try to make Ashley jealous enough to ditch Melanie. Spoiler: It didn't work. 

I like the way the movie ends on a high note, with Scarlett determined to win Rhett back. Even as a child, I was fine with that ending because I remember just believing Scarlett would succeed. I went ahead and got them back together mentally and I was satisfied. 

Back to the book:  I keep using the word "experience" to describe the reading of Gone With the Wind because it truly was. There's so much to the book. Scarlett is both heroic and hideously selfish. Rhett is a rogue but he also has a heart and adores children. Melanie is weakened by childbirth permanently but she's tough as nails when strength of spirit is required. Ashley is so much nerdier than I realized and a terrible businessman. The war is described with some detail but made palatable by the fact that it's told through the eyes of the people of Atlanta as they become aware of what's happening or through Scarlett's eyes as she ends up nursing soldiers against her will. Seriously, what an amazing read. 

Have you read Gone With the Wind? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Not-so-Boring Letters of Private Nobody by Matthew Landis

"She was in an all-out sprint down that hill to see if you were hurt."
"I guess," Oliver said. "But so were you. Friends don't just sit there while their friends maybe impale themselves."

~p. 153

Oliver is practically an expert on the Civil War. He knows all about the battles, the heroes, the generals -- he even does Civil War reenactments and is planning to participate in the anniversary of the Gettysburg battle. He's been waiting ages for his history teacher to get around to the Civil War and he can't wait to do a Civil War project. But, then he's assigned to do a documentary on Private Raymond Stone, an everyday soldier who was killed by disease before he even got to fight in a single battle. What's the point of that? Even worse, he has to work with a partner. Ella is messy and flunking everything. The last thing he needs is someone to get in his way, much less a slacker like Ella.

But, as Oliver and Ella get to work on their project, he discovers there's more to Ella and Private Stone than he could possibly have imagined. Ella is smart and fun to work with. And, they've discovered a mystery that involves the young soldier and his enlistment. The more they dig, the more intriguing Private Stone's story turns out to be. And, the longer they work together, the more Oliver finds to like about Ella. With the help of a third friend, Kevin, the trio works to dig up the true story of Private Raymond Stone and create a film that will knock the socks off their teacher while, at the same time, Oliver is beginning to find Ella distracting in a very good way.

Highly recommended - I loved everything about The Not-so-Boring Letters of Private Nobody. It's smart, funny, educational, and a little romantic. Since the story is told from Oliver's point of view, the romance is told from a male perspective (refreshing and rare). I also loved the fact that the teacher's objective is to show his class that war is not just about the well-known names and dates; it's also about the lives of everyday people whose contribution may be small but still meaningful. But, the best thing about the book was that besides being a tremendously entertaining book, there's a realistic aspect to it. I kept finding myself thinking, "This feels like life in a real classroom," during the classroom scenes. And, wishing I had a teacher like Oliver and Ella's. Sure enough, the author is an 8th grade social studies teacher. No wonder it felt so real. And, boy, does he have a terrific sense of humor. I will definitely be looking for more books by Matthew Landis.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Hidden Light of Northern Fires by Daren Wang

Joe Bell is close to one of his final stops on the Underground Railroad when he's discovered by two men in search of escaped slaves for the reward money. After Joe is badly hurt in a confrontation and injures one of his pursuers and a beloved dog, he makes his way to Mary's house.

Mary Willis is college-educated and has very liberal opinions for a young woman. She's been hiding escaped slaves in the family barn for some time when Joe shows up, injured and feverish. Because of his confrontation with the "copperheads" and the injuries they sustained, there are two very angry men who want to find Joe, not to mention his owner, Yates Bell. It will take special courage and subterfuge to nurse Joe back to health and help him escape to Canada.

Mary's brother, Leander, has never learned to accept responsibility. Expected to work on the family farm, instead he spends much of his time drinking and hanging out with friends at the shack he built. When he's sent to town to manage his father's lumber business, he is not particularly successful. Then he meets Isabel. His problems are compounded after she introduces him to opium and convinces him that she can help him make a fortune.

When war breaks out, the young men of Town Line all sign up for the army, led by Leander. Back home, Confederates are helped to escape to Canada, where they're able to regroup and return to war; and, Town Line becomes the only town in the Union to secede.

What will happen to Joe and Mary? Will Joe's lengthy stay get them both caught? When Leander joins the army, will he finally become disciplined? What will become of the many slaves who are escaping to the North when the people of Buffalo, New York begin to clash with them over concern that the influx of strangers will mean the loss of their jobs? Will the Confederates of Town Line be able to do serious damage to the Union?

My thoughts . . . 

That was quite a big synopsis because there are quite a few threads in The Hidden Light of Northern Fires. I skipped at least a couple of the subplots. At the beginning of the book, the story is almost exclusively about Mary, her part in the smuggling of slaves to Canada, and Joe. I'd say at least 1/3 of the book is primarily about them, although there is a bit of set-up regarding Joe's owner, Yates, and Harry, the man whose dog is killed.

But, as The Hidden Light of Northern Fires progresses, the number of different threads grows. Some, I didn't fully understand. Why, for example, does Isabel choose to have Leander join her posh but drug-addled life? What is her purpose? Did she plan to just use and discard him?

There were also some characters who disappeared early on and reappeared toward the end of the book. One writes letters home but is otherwise not spoken of till his return.

At the beginning, I could barely stand to put down The Hidden Light of Northern Fires. I liked Mary, her father Nathan, Joe, and Charles (a family friend). I cared about what would happen to them. Leander was simply a wastrel - the Branwell Brontë of the Willis family. Henry is a dubious character. I never knew quite whether to love or hate him. And, there are a number of simply despicable people - a parson who doesn't mind helping the Confederate escapees who go through and finds ways to get free labor and easy money, a Marshall without a conscience, a Confederate spy who is not past cheating the people he lures into "business".

Eventually, the quantity of violent characters and the body count started to wear on me. The book centers on some historical events, like the secession of the town, the riot between Irish dock workers and freed slaves, and the secret connections that helped both Confederates and escaped slaves make their way to Canada. Those were interesting but the violence tired me and by the last third of the book, I began to just want to get the reading over with.

Recommended? Not recommended? I just don't know. I loved both the beginning and ending. I liked the setting and the fact that I learned something new (that there was a single city in the North that seceded from the Union). I liked the fact that two of the characters who appeared unredeemable actually turned out okay in the end. And, I liked the overall storyline until that last 1/3 or so. But, I found the last 75-100 pages utterly exhausting because of the violence and the sheer quantity of nasty characters. I rated the book 3.5/5 and have considered knocking it down to 3 stars, which would be an average read. But, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires was so promising in the beginning, grabbed me so hard, and ended well enough that I'm not sure I can talk myself into penalizing it too much for the parts I disliked.

©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Two Brothers: One North, One South by David

Two Brothers: One North, One South
By David H. Jones
Copyright 2008
Staghorn Press - Historical Fiction
317 pages, incl. appendix
Author's website

What led you to pick up this book? I was offered the opportunity to read it for a book tour and jumped at the chance, due to my newfound interest in the Civil War.

Describe the book without giving anything away. Two Brothers is a fictional story based on the lives of real characters. The emphasis is on the story of William and Clifton Prentiss from Maryland, who ended up on opposing sides of the Civil War -- William a Confederate and Clifton an officer for the Union. Walt Whitman befriended the mortally injured William as he lay dying in the same hospital where brother Clifton's wounds were being tended. After William's death, the elder Prentiss brothers join Walt Whitman at Clifton's bedside as Whitman describes the tales William shared during his dying days. Interspersed within the narration of William's experiences are the stories of several women who worked tirelessly to help supply the Maryland Battalion of Confederates with arms, uniforms, flags, mail from home and other essentials, often risking their own lives in the process.

What did you like most about the book? As in the case of any historical fiction, I enjoyed the learning process. There are many, many details about the Civil War to absorb and I've only recently come to understand why people dedicate decades to the study of the war and its players. I particularly enjoyed finding out that Maryland was a state with divided loyalties -- occupied by the Union but with many citizens who had ties to Virginia and thought of themselves as Southern. For some reason, I've always thought of Maryland as patently northern. Probably because it looks like it's way up on the map, from my angle (way down here in the Deep South).

Is there anything you didn't like about the book or topic? I found the prose rather heavy; it read more like non-fiction than fiction in that the characters, in their dialogue, spoke as if they were reciting details from a textbook. In particular, each character was at first identified by his or her entire name and title, regardless of how long it was (J.E.B. Stuart, for example as Colonel James Ewell Brown Stuart) and then often still abbreviated with a middle initial. All of the characters knew names, dates, places . . . things I would not presume that everyone could spit out at a dinner party. At one point in time, an important female character was rattling on about certain events and I thought in reality I could imagine someone walking up to her and saying, "Hetty, dear, you're being tiresome."

What did you think of the characters? In spite of their dialogue, I found that I cared about them and particularly enjoyed reading the little stories within their story, details that I presume the author mined from letters, news articles and other historical documents.

Just an aside: My own ancestry includes a set of brothers who fought on opposite sides of the Civil War. They lived in Missouri and, if memory serves me, I believe they were twins. Someday, I hope to dig through my mother's geneological treasures to locate the details.

In general: The use of too much historical detail is common amongst less experienced authors and I got the impression that was the problem with this book. I kept muttering, "Back story! Back story!" when it became overwhelming. If you can handle the fact that the characters are rather wooden because of overdone historical detail, it's worth reading for the information. I don't know how it would appear to those who have researched the Civil War and are already familiar with such detail.

Recommended? With reservations. I had difficulty finishing the book because I got bogged down by all those lengthy names and the dry dialogue. I would call it an average read -- not my favorite Civil War read, thus far, but I think it has its merits. There are certainly some exciting moments.

Cover thoughts: Love the cover, with half of a Confederate uniform and half Union. It tells you exactly what the story is about, as does the title. Also, the book is printed on good quality paper and has a nice, shiny cloth cover beneath the jacket -- with silver lettering and two flags on the spine. It's a really pretty book.