Six, like five but with one more!

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Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
I'll be honest, I knew this one was coming and so I've been thinking about it for a few days.  I'm not sure that thinking about sad books for days on end is the best thing in the world, but at least my brain hasn't been empty.

A book that makes me sad - again there are quite a few.  But the tip top of my list is Gone With the Wind.  I read this for the first time about 10 years ago after watching the movie.  Now, the movie - I love the movie.  I love the way it looks, I love the way they walk and talk.  The movie is a classic for a reason.  It also happens to be my mother-in-law's very favorite, which is why I came to watch it the first time and subsequently pick up the book. 

The book is so not even close to the movie.

For starters, the Scarlett of the movie may be shallow and spoiled and selfish - but she is vulnerable.  I want to like her, I want Rhett to turn around and rescue her at the end, I want Melanie's faith in Scarlett to be justified at some point.   

The Scarlett of the book might be the most rotten character in literature.  She's mean and horrible.  Did you know she has a son from her first husband?  The reason they left him out of the movie, in my opinion, is because he was completely ignored in the book by Scarlett.  Her choices throughout the book are terrible, her actions which follow even more so.  I've read this book multiple times, each time feeling worse and worse as I search for something good in Scarlett.  The last time I read it, I got so frustrated and sad by the time the book wound down that - on principle - I got rid of my copy and vowed never to read it again.

Oh, Ashley.

Comments

Tami said…
I can think of two off the top of my head: The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg - I cried my eyes out, but in a good way. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - once I figured out that he was going to die, I almost didn't finish the book. I was heartbroken!
8:26 AM
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