I did it!

The book club selection for this month is "Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell." This is the first time I've ever read it - I've never even seen the movie before now. The only thing I knew about the story is that it's about the old South and the line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

I also knew the famous monologue featuring "With God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again." Finally, it makes sense to me!

I gave myself 2 weeks to read the novel. It is almost 750 pages in very teensy typeface. It started out sluggishly for me at first and I'd note the page number when I felt ready to stop reading and feel discouraged that I had read only 4 pages. As I got more into the story I forgot to notice the page numbers and I'd breeze through 30 pages in a session.

Margaret Mitchell spends a lot of time describing the surroundings, which I found tedious at times, but her descriptions were well-done and at times I could almost smell the damp red soil of Georgia. I also got bored with all the political talk, but since the story is about the Civil War and the politics behind it, it was necessary for the plot.

I finished the book in 16 days. I carried the book around with me everywhere I went so that I could sneak in a few minutes of reading here and there. Of all my children, The B was the most interested and often asked me, "What is Scarlett doing now, Mom?" She's anxious to read it "when she's a little bit older." The huge-ness of the book doesn't phase her at all. She's quite the reader for a 10 year old.

I got the movie from Netflix so I could compare it with the book. I was intrigued to see the film that beat out The Wizard of Oz for the Oscar that year. It's hard to believe it was almost 70 years ago!! It was primitive by todays movie-making standards, but I really enjoyed it. Even my husband watched the entire film with me, without falling asleep!!! Skins and Squeaker gave up after an hour, but Bee made it to the end as well. You gotta hand it to them... the movie is 4 hours long!

The movie was very well-done by book-to-film standards. Of course, no movie can ever be as good as the book, but it held true to the novel's main points and feelings. I felt that Vivien Leigh was EXACTLY how I envisioned Scarlett, and Clark Gable was a great Rhett. However, Ashley Wilkes was NOT how I pictured him... he was neither young, dashing, or handsome. Blech. I picuted him more like Josh Holloway... hubba hubba.

I don't know why I've never read this classic novel before. I'm glad I did.