Dame Mitchell

Yes, I've dubbed Margaret Mitchell "Dame Mitchell."  Why?  Because she deserves a special title above and beyond Mrs. or Ms. Mitchell!  That woman was GENIUS, I tell you, G-E-N-I-U-S!!!!  After more than 20 years, I am re-reading Gone with the Wind (this won't be the only post on this book, I feel I must warn you, so be on the alert!).  I am so excited!  My mom re-read the book last fall and her excitement in re-reading the book has been catching.  I started reading my very old--and very treasured--hardback copy (thank you very much to my close childhood friend Melissa Corbett--I'm so sorry I can't think of her married name right this sec--who gave me that particular copy one night when I kept reading it rather than doing stuff with her on a sleep-over!), but the binding is broken on that copy, making it very difficult to hold on to--even more difficult than usual, considering the fact that the book is over a 1,000 pages long, you know!  So I got on the internet a week or so ago and found a used, but in very good condition, paper-back copy that I ordered.  It's finally here and I started the book last night!  Yes, I found that after two hours of reading, I had to force myself to put the book down!!!

What an incredible book!  Not only is the story one that sucks me in from the first page--the first sentence--the first word (I know why God decided not to give me a daughter---He knew I'd have to name her Katie Scarlett!!!!), but the WAY Dame Mitchell tells this story is incredible!!!  BTW:  I am fascinated by the fact that it's been more than 20 years, closer to 30 really, since I last read this book, yet I still remember the details of the story.  I can tell what's going to happen before I even read it.  And that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of re-reading it in ANY way!!!!!!!!!  I am at least surprised at how awesome a story it truly is!!!!

This book is INCREDIBLE.  (Get used to that word.  It's going to be used a lot during my posts about Gone with the Wind.)  I am absolutely astounded to note the care and detail Dame Mitchell used in the writing of this story.  Every single word is important to the story as a whole.  She doesn't stray from the story or tell the reader details that don't add to or help advance the plot.  Every detail is a detail we need at some point in time throughout this massive text.  As an older reader of the novel, I am amazed at the intrigue way she wove her story and her characters together.  Everything fits so seamlessly--so flawlessly!  And everything comes back around at some point or another.  If you read a passage thinking that it's not important because it has nothing to do with Scarlett or any of our other favorite characters, you realize later in the story that said detail WAS important because it has EVERYTHING to do with our beloved (and hated) Scarlett!!!!  Of course, reading it AGAIN makes a huge difference.  Since I remember so much about the story, I now know that the details I may have skimmed over when I was a young reader 20+ years ago, I am now seeing how they come in to play later!!!!!  Awesome!  Incredible!

And don't get me started on the LANGUAGE.....Dame Mitchell's use of GRAMMAR!!!!  That woman knew her stuff!  She was smart enough to use dialect and language that would be spoken by the INDIVIDUAL characters as respect to their class and station in life.  She was also smart enough to use subject/pronoun agreement correctly!!!!  Not even Rowling does that--at least not in the American-published texts!!!!  (Trust me; she uses subject/pronoun agreement incorrectly throughout all 7 books in the series; I'd be happy to show you my marked copies of the books if you'd like to see the mistakes!  Where, oh where, were her editors?!)  I am so impressed that I am able to focus on the story rather than on her grammatical mistakes!!!  Although, it appears that I'm still focusing on the grammar since I noticed so clearly that she uses it so effectively!!!!!  LOL!

And my favorite part????  Katie Scarlett O'Hara.  The character in literature, like Severus Snape, we love to hate to love.  Oh my.  That girl/woman is ROTTEN.  I love the line Dame Mitchell uses where she says in Chapter 1 on the very first page that Scarlett's "manners had been imposed upon her by her mother's gentle admonitions and the sterner discipline of her mammy;  her eyes were her own" (25).  It's all about the eyes, you know.  And Scarlett's are GREEN.  Such a beautiful color.  Even though I only read Chapter 1 so far, I remember that Scarlett's eyes play a huge role throughout the whole story.  Only Rhett learns to read her because of her "telling" eyes.  Everyone else is easily by Scarlett when she wants to deceive them.  Only Rhett looks into her eyes and sees Scarlett for who she truly is.....and still loves her anyway!!!!

What isn't to LOVE about this book?!

Scarlett truly is one of those characters who we are supposed to dislike because she simply is so BAD, but it's exactly her naughtiness that we love so much about her!  That and the fact that she proves to be a true "Steel Magnolia" in the face of adversity.  Where others (especially women) around her are weak, she is strong--even though she'd love to be just as weak as they all are!  She's not ruled by her conscience; if she sees something that needs to be done, she does it, consequences be d*****.  (You know I'm not a swearing woman!)  

Rhett is the same way.  He's so bad.  He's so very awful.  He even has a true whore as a mistress who he actually flaunts in front of Scarlett!  But he is MY favorite male fictional character of ALL time!  I would SOOO choose him over Ashley Wilkes any day, time, hour, minute, or second!!!!  It's his true love of Scarlett and his love for Bonnie Blue Butler, as well as Scarlett's other children from her previous marriages, that make him so sexy and desirable--and lovable!  What woman wouldn't forgive/overlook a man's indiscretions who loves his wife and child as much as Rhett obviously loved his?!  

Oh my, and I'm only on Chapter 2!!!!!!!!!!  I can't wait!  After I watch tonight's episode of The Big Bang Theory, I'm going to have to read Chapter 2 before I go to bed, even though I'm really tired and have a long day tomorrow!!!!!  Dame Mitchell, I can't wait to continue enjoying your genius!!!!!!!

Work Cited

Mitchell, Margaret.  Gone With the Wind, 75th Anniversary ed. with a Preface by Pat Conroy.  New York:  Scribner, 2011.  Original publication 1936.  Pring.