That Time of Year

Apparently, January is the time I read Gone with the Wind. It was the 1st book I read in 2007, and is almost the 1st book I'm reading in 2008. I picked it up last night on a whim, and totally got sucked in again. Dang it!

When I 1st read it, I was in 7th grade. I skimmed (ok, skipped) any parts having to do with the Civil War, character studies, and scenery. When I read it a few years ago, it was just after watching Ken Burns' Civil War, 12 VHS tape series. Suddenly, the war part in the book made much more sense... now that the information had something to stick to... I had some framework in my mind.

I watched the movie GWTW with my mother-in-law once, and at the end she said "Well, I don't care for Scarlett." (Or something like that.) I always forget how much deeper her character is in the book, and no, you still don't necessarily like her, but you can understand how her actions made sense to her.

Anyway, I'm stuck now, so I'll let you know how it ends this time.

BTW, don't read "Scarlett", the modern follow-up to GWTW. Just don't. And DON'T watch the made for TV movie. I beg of you. I'm trying to save you many hours of your life. (The book is somewhat better than the "movie", but that's not saying a whole lot.)

But DO read GWTW sometime. If, for no other reason, you can say you read a 900 page book. That's why I picked it back in the 7th grade... to prove that I COULD read a 900 page book. Who does that?