I just read it for my book club last month. I liked the ending of the book, but the movie left me cold. I think the difference is that you lose so much depth with the film. I was surprised by how much I liked the book when I didn’t like any of the major characters.
The weakness of the sequel (the book, not the movie…I didn’t see the movie) is that it lacks the undercurrent of sarcasm that the first did. MArgaret Mitchell had mixed feelings about the antebellum south. On the one hand, she admired it and the romanticism around the “lost cause”. On the other hand, though, she didn’t have much respect for those people who couldn’t get over the fact that the south had lost the war. This is reflected in GWTW. On the one hand, people like Melanie and Ashley are probably better people than Scarlett and Rhett. Melanie is probably the most noble character in the book, as a matter of fact. However, they also are fundimentally weak, and either unable or unwilling to change. The admirable characters are people like Rene Picard, or Beatrice Tarleton, who realize that the past is dead, and are willing to try to adapt to the future. Three of her other strong characters are Mammy, Pork, and Uncle Peter, all of whom, at the beginning of the book are slaves, but because of Scarlett’s impulsivity, Gerald’s childishness, and Aunt Pittypat’s indecisiveness, are able to dominate their masters. This turns on its head what was the typical attitude that a lot of books glorifying the south had…that blacks are naturally immature and childlike, and that slavery was neccesary to protect them. In GWTW, the black slaves, are in fact, more mature than their masters and mistresses, who are themselves childlike. Consider, this book has the main character say about the Civil War, “We were fools to fight that war. And the sooner we forget it, the better off we’ll be.” Gone With the Wind is a satire, aand the sequel, doesn’t recognize it. In “Scarlett”, both Scarlett and Rhett are thoroughly noble. There’s no moral ambiguity at all in the book. Unfortunately, because they are thorougly nobile, neither Scarlett or Rhett are all that much fun, nor are they compelling characters. The book has a sort of pompous arrogance that Gone With the Wind never had, and it suffers as a result, because it’s incapable of laughing at itself.
Which ending are you talking about? I like the one where Rhett and Scarlett are killed by Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory.
