Frankly my dear I don't give a damn

There comes a time in every bookworms life when he or she has to confess something very shameful. For me it is finally admitting to myself and the whole world I really really truly unequivocally hate Margaret Mitchell's war dramance (drama and romance) - Gone with the wind. I don't find the book remotely romantic and I find the characters ingratiatingly pedantic. Of course not to mention the plot is painful and contrived. Basically I think the book sucks.

When I was still doing my graduation, I used to do a small show for my college radio where I would critique books. My english teacher wanted me to do a show on Gone with the wind. She excitedly told me how much she loved the book and how much I would love it myself. So I pulled the book out of my library. As it is a BIG book, I took me awhile to finish reading. So whenever someone saw me with this book, they would invariably comment "Ah this book is wonderful... Scarlet is a great character"... blah blah blah. So basically I was conditioned to like the book even before I finished reading it. But finished it I did. But there was a fly in my ointment. I did not like the book and I had to go on air to review it. (Ok maybe five people even heard my college radio but I still thought it was a big deal). So I lied.

In my review I praised the book in every way possible and ever since whenever someone brings up the subject of the book or the movie (the one with Clark Gable) I pretend to love the book. But that is far from the truth - I hate hate hate Scarlett O'Hara.

She is supposed to be this dominating, powerful, and strong female character. One of the greats according to many readers of fictional literature. To that I say - bah humbug. She really has no redeeming qualities. She is a spoilt little rich girl who whines when she doesn't get her way. To Mitchell's credit, she doesn't make any excuses for Scarlett, but doesn't make her a three dimensional character either. She has no redeeming qualities. And entire novel rests on the shoulders of the badly etched two dimensional character.

And no one really understands why she falls for Ashley Wilkes because that man has to be the weakest man-child ever created in the fictional pages. And he is shallow and he is someone who always takes the easy way out in life. He knows life life with Scarlett would be a challenge so he settles for his meek and pretty wife who won't really challenge him.

And then there is the man who supposedly makes women swoon - Rhett Butler. He judges everyone and everything. There is no reason as to why he falls for Scarlett except a misogynistic need to tame her. Again you are left to wonder why on earth you have spent a better part of a thousand odd pages reading the longest Mills and Boons book ever.

And finally the plot for the lack of a better word - sucks. This is the skeleton of the story - Boy meets girl. Lots of chemistry. But girl is a pain in the ass who is in love with a man who can never make up his mind. Boy saves the girl, girl becomes the sole breadwinner of her family. Girl marries the boy for money. Finally something happens due to which Girl realizes she is in love with her husband. But by then boy doesn't give a damn and leaves. But before that the girl is perfectly tamed as she purrs to her husband right before he leave - "If you go, what shall I do?". And even after the boy leaves her, she tries to come up with solutions where he would be back in her life again. Like I said - ew. Sure it is a historical set piece where everything happens against a backdrop of the civil war where issues such as racism, poverty and hunger have been tackled. But as a romance novel, it really is not worth a damn.