Gone with the Wind

Last night I stayed up until midnight to finish Gone with the Wind. It is my book club book for June, and I just fell in love with it. It's dauntingly long, for those who might want to read it (1000 pp), but I recommend it. It's actually a pretty fast read, because Margaret Mitchell's writing style is not complex. I've never seen the movie, so it was all fresh. All I knew was that Rhett Butler says at the end, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a d---." So that line kept me in miserable anticipation of the ending and wondering how I would feel about him saying that to Scarlett. I cried at the ending but felt satisfied. Then I had to crawl into bed all by myself because Mr. B is on a 50 mile backpacking trip with the scouts. He didn't take his phone with him, so we can't even talk. I can't believe how much I miss him when I can't call him.
Anyway, Gone with the Wind enlightened me about the South and the Civil War, and it takes place mostly in Atlanta, which is fun because I live there. I won't go into analysis mode, but I am excited to discuss it at book club. By the way, I'm in another book club as well, and this month's meeting is tonight. The book for tonight is Tess of the D'urbervilles, which was an interesting classic (also tragedy), but not my favorite. Thomas Hardy (the author) writes very descriptively, which gets boring, and the plot was chock full of coincidences, but the title character pulled at my heartstrings. I only recommend it if you like classic literature.

Back to Gone with the Wind--our book club meeting is going to be touring the author's home in Atlanta, and then discussing the book afterwards at a cafe. I'm very excited for it!