Interesting facts about Gone With The Wind:
* The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936.The book sold more than fifty thousand copies in a single day, was a bestseller for two years, and, by 1965, had sold more than 12 million authorized copies.
(from http://www.answers.com/topic/gone-with-the-wind)
* It is the only novel by Margaret Mitchell published during her lifetime, and it took her ten years to write it. The novel is one of the most popular books of all time, selling more than 30 million copies
(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind)
* and it continues to sell 250,000 paperback copies in the United States each year.
(from http://www.answers.com/topic/gone-with-the-wind-novel-6)
* At home all day by herself, Margaret Mitchell occupied much of her time with reading. Regularly, her husband stopped by the library to pick up a book for her. One day, John informed his wife that she had read every book in the library, including the medical journals. Presenting her with a typewriter, he suggested she write her own book.
* Margaret wrote the last chapter of the book first.
* When it went to the publisher, Gone With The Wind had no first chapter.
* Margaret Mitchell first called the Scarlett character “Pansie.”
* The working title to Gone With The Wind was, “Tomorrow Is Another Day,” but another book at that time already had the title.
* Margaret endured much at the hands of her adoring fans. Once, a man from Tennessee appeared at her door, urgently needing to know if Scarlett and Rhett ever got back together again. His wife sent him with orders not to return without an answer for her bridge club!
(from http://www.rvfreewheelin.com/gwtw.htm)
I’m still reading Gone With the Wind, and I admit that I haven’t gotten very far. It’s a LONG book! My edition has 1011 pages. I’ve just passed page 150.
Clearly this is an award winning classic that has been adored by millions of people over the years. It won a Pulitzer for heaven’s sake! I know that when I read it, I’m judging it by more modern writing standards. Still, I can’t help but edit the book in my head (Who do I think I am I anyway?)
I’ve probably been ruined by the fact that I’ve seen the movie a couple of times, but as I’m reading I find myself thinking get on with it already! The action in the first couple of chapters is interrupted by long character sketches of Scarlett’s mother, father, suitors – just about anyone she comes into contact with really. I can only imagine what my own critique partner / editor would say if I tried something like that. “Show, don’t tell!”, “Can’t you introduce this information little by little throughout the story?” and “Information dump!”
Another problem that jumps out at me is the ever shifting point of view (POV) Most of the time it is an omniscient narrator which slips in and out of Scarlett’s head, but there is a paragraph here and there where we’ll suddenly pop into the head of whoever Scarlett is talking to. It might not bother someone who is just reading the story, but as an author, I sometimes find it difficult to ignore the technical aspects of writing. And things like ever shifting POV and excessive backstory really pull me out of the fantasy. I’m all about character development and long books don’t daunt me, nor do classics, but I have yet to lose myself in this story. I’m going to soldier on though. (get it? The Civil War? Soldiers? har har)
Aside from all of the above, Scarlett is a real twit. As I was reading about Gone With the Wind, I saw somewhere that Margaret Mitchell really wrote Melanie as the heroine of the book. She’s a little too insipid for my taste…but then again she’s got almost 1000 pages to improve.
The truth is, it’s always easier to edit someone else’s book than it is to edit your own. Actually, it would be fascinating to get a digital copy of this book and really take it apart and see how it turned out – and how long it would be in the end. Hmmm…
Okay – you caught me, I’m procrastinating again…
I read Gone with the Wind in high school. And it was stilllll a long book! Also wasn’t on the “approved” list at that time. Heh. Times do change don’t they?
by anny cook July 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 amSomeone else told me they read it in high school recently. Was that the only book you read?? It’s such a LONG book!
I have to admit, in spite of the technical flaws, the story has well and truly sucked me in now. I can hardly put it down!
by Jenyfer July 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 pmActually my senior year alone I read 387 books. How do I know? I kept a list of title and authors. And they were big fat books! Biographies, historicals, classics, mysteries…
I read a lot. Probably average 6-10 books a week, but I’m a very fast reader.
by anny cook July 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 amOkay Anny, you win! 6-10 books a week?
How do you get anything else done? I’d be broke and living in squalor if I read that much!!!
by Jenyfer July 3rd, 2008 at 12:00 pmPS – you know, I don’t know why teachers bother making kids read books like Gone With the Wind in high school. I think this is a book that is better appreciated by someone who has some life experience behind them…
by Jenyfer July 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 pmI have about 3000 books and I believe in re-reading because there’s always something you miss the first time around.
As for Gone with the Wind…when I was in high school, it was one of the “forbidden” books…along with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and some others. Times change, eh?
Kids used to read them with brown paper bag covers on them so no one could see what they were reading. Heh.
by anny cook July 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 pmOkay…see, I thought you meant it was part of your classwork. Another person told me they did read it in class. I can only imagine the lesson plans!
Love the idea of it being covered in a brown paper bag! What exactly was so shocking about it??
by Jenyfer July 4th, 2008 at 2:21 amI believe Rhett Butler wasn’t considered a very good role model…
by anny cook July 5th, 2008 at 9:33 amHa! Rhett was a whole lot better than Scarlett!
by Jenyfer July 5th, 2008 at 1:13 pm