Gone with the Wind

     This week I finished listening to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell for the second time. I loved it just as much as I did the first time (and still hate the ending). It is often called the "great novel of the South," which I think is an apt description. Reading it definitely made me more interested in the Civil War and the way it changed day-to-day life for both the North and the South.

     For some reason, I tend to enjoy books whose main characters are not likable...Gone with the Wind is definitely an example of that. In fact, you could argue that there isn't a single likable character in the entire novel. But somehow that makes it more enjoyable, more compelling. Vain, manipulative Scarlett O'Hara; coarse and unpredictable Rhett Butler; maddeningly sweet Melanie Hamilton; ineffectual Ashley Wilkes...they're all obnoxious in their own ways, yet somehow the reader can't help but love them. Or at least care what happens to them.
     One nice aspect of this book is that no character's actions are all good or all bad. (Not even Melanie's!) They're much more human in the way they all make mistakes and all have moments of goodness. There are misconstrued motives, miscommunications, volatile characters, stubborn characters, some who are both stubborn and volatile. It's easy to be pulled into a book which is so like real life. Pulled into it enough to stick with it through the entire lengthy saga.
     I listened to Gone with the Wind as an audiobook. The whole thing was just over 49 hours long. (For comparison, Les Miserables is over 60 hours and War and Peace is almost 62.) It's an exciting 49 hours! Murders, romances, parties, escapes, danger, death, humor, history...it all happens between the pages of this book.
     There is an old and very famous movie of Gone with the Wind starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. It was made in 1939 and is the highest-grossing movie of all time in Canada and the USA. It was the first major film in color, too. It's more than four hours long, but man they had to cut a lot from the story! The original cut of the movie was over seven hours. I wonder if even that was time enough for the whole story. Anyway, it's a very well-done adaptation. It would be interesting to see a newer version of it (now that film in color is no longer a novelty), but it seems that no one has undertaken the task since 1939. Ah, well, perhaps for the better.
     The main downfall of the book is its abysmal ending. Talk about no closure whatsoever! Remind me never to write an ending like that in one of my books.
     So anyway, I really like Gone With the Wind. I know some people who hate it, which I can understand. But I'd say it's worth a try for anyone who's interested in a great civil-war romance!

The new year, etc.

We've been one busy family lately. Now that the house is once again empty, I can find the time to tell you about it. 

On New Year's Eve, Claudia decided she wanted to watch all the Lord of the Rings movies in one day. We have the extended versions, so each movie is on two discs. Which makes for a grand total of approximately 11 hours of Lord of the Rings. Hoofta. Well, we did it, though we didn't manage to get through all seven endings of Return of the King before it had been 2015 for about 20 minutes. 

On New Year's Day we went to the Gerdes' house for dinner, and a lot of other people were there too. It was lots of fun and LOTS of food. To end the night we had an in-car dance party to my iPod music while driving back up the Brookings.

On Saturday Claudia left so Patrick, Tessie and I accompanied her to Sioux Falls and had Vietnamese food for lunch. Then this morning Isabel left for her college J-term and Patrick flew back to Chicago  in the evening. It's very quiet now...not even Thomas is here. He's at the SEEK conference in Nashville. Tessie and I had a homework-ful evening while mom and dad took Patrick to the airport. 

The holidays were amazingly fun, as usual. Next year I hope we have a house to make it even better! 

Jane Austen

Have I ever mentioned Jane Austen before? I certainly hope so. Mom and I love to listen to the books and watch the different movie versions of her novels. We've listened to all seven of her novels. My favorite is Emma, because it's lighthearted and hilarious, but I think Mom prefers Pride and Prejudice, which is my second favorite. There's something so universal about Jane Austen's books. Even though they're very culturally specific, the themes and issues are close to home for everyone. That must be one of the reasons they're still read today. 

I watch Pride and Prejudice every once in a while as a matter of course. We own both the newer version and the BBC miniseries. While the BBC version is far truer to the book and therefore somewhat more enjoyable for someone who has read the book...

...the newer one is still delightful. I actually watched it last night. :-)

Two days ago Mom and I watched the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility, which we hadn't seen for quite a while. It's not one of my favorite Austen books, but still a great story.

BBC did a wonderful miniseries of Emma which I love. It's much better than the movie. 

Mom and I have also watched versions of Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey. The latter is a bit silly but an entertaining read. You can tell Jane Austen was young when she wrote it. 

Lovely, all this Austen stuff. I'm so glad there are good movie versions of the books. They're some of the best movies I've watched.

(PS is there some copyright thing I'm supposed to say when I use a photo from a movie?)