Gone with the Wind

I still am unable to believe that this book was published in 1939! Why I should be surprised is quite unjustifiable in reality because human thoughts and emotions are not dictated by times, are they? Margaret Mitchell, the writer, has created characters that perhaps were too bold for her times but they also seem so real that one is forced to believe otherwise.

Scarlett is foolish, childish, crooked bordering on evil, naive, headstrong, hardworking, responsible, vain... all at once. Her senseless obsession with Ashley, someone she could never get along with or understand, is probably the theme around which the entire book revolves.

Rhett, on the other hand stood for genuine love which refuses to bow down to its own vulnerablity, because he knows what a schemeing, selfish little devil Scarlett is. He teases her, embarasses her and reads her mind so well that she finds his very presence extremely disconcerting. Yet she loves the fact that she has a match in Rhett, someone who does not give in to her womanly ways nor looks down upon her unwomanly acts. I shed a tear for Rhett towards the end, because he deserved better in life.

The most lovable figure is of course Melanie, Ashley's wife, who has the weakest being and the strongest mind. She hears/speaks/sees no evil when it comes to Scarlett. The book revolves around inexplicable attitudes...and perhaps that is what makes it so real.

In the background is the American civil war, Yankees, the Klu Klux Klan, strong-willed Irish men, gentle black slaves, children, Atlanta and Tara (Scarlet's hometown).

When I began the book I was unsure of whether I would finish it. It was a part of BBC's 50 Best Reads of the Century (I think?). Since a long time the name of the book was synonymous to me with 'literature' or a 'timeless classic' I think. Something I was uncertain to embark on...and yet tempted to.

One journey finished...memories for life.