A Lesson in Procrastination

"I'll think about it tomorrow."

-Katie Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler

Gone with the Wind

a cautionary tale about dealing with your problems today and not tomorrow.

****WARNING if you don't want major plot points of this book spoiled for you don't read this post!

Let me just make a couple statements:
-I love to read.
-My favorite books are classics.
-Many of my "literary" friends rave about Gone with the Wind.
-I saw the movie as a kid.
-I read the book for the first time in 6th grade and hated it then.
-I read it again last week and hated it still.

Why I hate it:
1. Scarlett is THE most selfish and despicable main character ever written in my opinion.
I was seriously miffed when someone in our ward kept asking me if Charlotte's name was Scarlett. "No I did not name my daughter after the most shameless hussy in literary history, thank you very much!" (no offense to people named Scarlett!)It's one of the only books where the protagonist is also the antagonist and I hate it! Even her qualities that could be admirable aren't. Example: she's very determined. Good right? Wrong.
As in she's so determined she's in love with Ashley that she loves him in spite of marrying 3 other men that she doesn't care about, in spite of the fact that Rhett is her perfect evil match, in spite of the fact that his wife is a saint, and in spite of the fact that she doesn't in fact really love him she just loves the idea of loving him. Then she has the gall to FINALLY realize at the end that she does in fact love the man that loves her and NOT Ashley. Couldn't she have figured that out 3 husbands earlier? It just makes me want to pull my hair out.
2.I hate all of the characters. Scarlett- see above. Ashley- spineless and doesn't stand up to Scarlett, can't appreciate having the best wife, Rhett- can't just either tell Scarlett how he feels or get over her, Melanie- sickeningly, unbelievably, obliviously good to the point of it becoming a vice.
3. I just want to scream at Scarlett to listen to her own conscience TODAY for a change. There is nothing she won't do to get what she wants. Including marrying a "beau" of someone else just to spite Ashley and marrying her sister's fiance' just to get money. She even considers her own children at best an inconvenience.

Only redeeming qualities of the book:

1. I love U.S. history especially during wartime, this book covers the Civil War from the South's perspective. It makes slaves appear to be dumb (not just uneducated) which I don't agree with but otherwise it almost makes you feel sympathy for the Southern side of the Civil War.
2. Interesting plot twists.
3. That's it. The characters ruin everything else for me. This book made me realize more than any other book that good plot isn't enough. I have to have at least one character to remotely like.

That being said I would read it again and recommend that everyone else read it at least once. It's an American classic. I read all 1042 pages in less than a week. I couldn't put it down. It made me decide to think about my housework tomorrow for a week. Don't worry I didn't neglect Charlotte. I read while she was sleeping or while I fed her. I just love to hate this book so much I had to tell you all about it.

I think Margaret Mitchell's daughter wrote a sequel to this book. If you read it let me know what you think without giving anything away please. Is it worth reading?