100: Gone With The Wind

Here it is!!! Our 100th Episode.... We hope you enjoy this podcast where we discuss one of our favorite books "Gone With The Wind". See why we highly recommend this iconic book by Margaret Mitchell about the love triangle between Scarlett, Rhett and Ashley during the turbulent years of the Civil War. 

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Transcript

J Q (00:01.187)
Hello and welcome to Twin Talk. I'm Angie and I'm here with my sister Joy. And today we are so excited because we are bringing you yet another great episode. But this episode is extra special, right Joy? Yes it is. Why is that? Because... Drum roll. Drum roll, it is our hundredth episode. Yes.

So we have been making a very big deal about this on Facebook, but no one else seems to care because we actually put on Facebook a little challenge and we said, if you can guess our 100th episode, what book we're going to be doing, we are going to give you $100 and a copy of the book. Well, we had a couple of guesses, which was great. And I appreciate Bronson and Corby guessing those.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. One of the guesses was Old Yeller and one of the guesses was If I Did It by O.J. Simpson, which obviously we're not picking that book for our 100th episode. So I guess without any further ado, our book for today is Gone With The Wind.

should have had the music from Tara. And anybody that knows us well, they should, that would have been a very easy guess, especially if my sisters had gone on and tried to guess that they would have guessed it no problem, but they didn't. So, well, Joy, guess we're a hundred dollars, not richer, at least we're not a hundred dollars poorer. Yeah, that's true. Maybe we can do this again in the future on our 200th episode. okay. So you may be wondering,

Okay, why Gone With The Wind? Why did you pick that book? Well, we have a long history, a long love affair with the book, and we used to watch the movie every year with our family. And so back in the day, movies, especially epic movies like Gone With The Wind, they would come in, what, once a year? Yes. They would come on once a year, and we would all say, Gone With The Wind's coming on. And we would literally plan our evening around it to watch it. We would all be there, and we'd maybe make some popcorn or something.

J Q (02:05.794)
and we would all sit and watch Gone with the Wind. And we love the music, sorry, not the music, we love the movie so much that the dialogue even became part, I mean, even to this day, if we are all sitting around playing cards or doing something with my family and someone gets upset, like Jeannie, she'll say fiddle-dee-dee or something and every once in while someone will say Atlanta or what else, Joy? yeah, you'll be sitting there waiting on them just like a spy.

Yeah, and anytime our land comes up, because we all own a little bit of land, you know, we'll say, Tara, you know, we all refer to land as Tara. Yes, refer to our land as Tara. So, but the fact, I think our favorite one is every time we get excited, Jeannie or somebody will say, the Virginia real. And then we'll all go, because that's a really funny scene in Gone with the Winter. We think it's funny. So we also, I'm going to have to, I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but.

I own a lot of Gone With The Wind merchandise. like, I kind of used to make fun of people who like did collectors plates and stuff. I actually have a lot of, I asked when Corby and I first got married, Corby knew my love of Gone With The Wind and he bought me like an entire series of, and guess what? Some of them are still displayed up on the top of a really a hutch I have in my kitchen. Right. And our mother also has Gone With The Wind plates, plates. She has collectors plates. We have ornaments, we have calendars.

Joy, tell them what is in my bathroom across from my toilet. Angie has a Gone With The Wind movie poster in her bathroom. Yes, and that was from my friend Faith back in I didn't know she got you She bought that for me like as a senior in high school. And to this day, Faith, I doubt you'll ever listen to this, but I still have your poster. I still love it, and it's in my bathroom. Okay, let's move on. We now have confessed shamelessly that we are Gone With The Wind merchandise junkies.

Joy, this is gonna sound like a dumb question, but have you actually read the book? So, no. I mean, I listened to it on Audible, but I have not read the physical book. And I really didn't even want to listen to it because I thought I knew how long it was and how time-consuming it was gonna be. But you just went on and on about the book, so finally you convinced me to read the book and or listen to the book and I'm glad I did. Well, there's a reason, Joy.

J Q (04:27.532)
was reluctant to read it because it's a thousand and thirty seven pages. If you look at the book in person, it looks like a dictionary. It's so thick. I will admit. So I read the book once probably, I'm going to guess, 10 years or more ago, and I was really shocked at how different it is. Quite a few differences from the movie. It's funny because the movie is spot on in so many areas, even the opening scene and stuff. And I wish we could do another episode just on the movie. But there's also some very big differences from the book in the movie.

So I have read the book twice now and I've listened to it on audio twice. So I can honestly say I know the book fairly well, but here's what's funny, Joy. Share how long the book is on Audible. On Audible, it is 49 hours long. That's lot of time investment, but here's what's weird. You know how like people say they've read through the Bible? Can you honestly say you know the Bible? No. No, so that's how I feel with Gone with the Wind. I know it very well, but I could read it again and still see stuff I don't.

that I don't remember from before. It is 49 hours long. It took me a month to listen to it on Audible during my downtime, spare time. And I love the author, the narrator on Audible. Do you remember what she sounded like? Yes. Okay, so to me, she sounded like Wheezy from Still Magnolias. Which one was Wheezy? You Shirley MacLean? she always talk like... Was it Shirley MacLean? It's character? Was that Shirley? Yeah. No.

Yes, I'm not sure. No, that's not Shirley MacLean. Okay, was it? Oh, with the overalls on and she was always fighting with the husband. She was kind of like mean and they were always fighting. Yes. But that's not Shirley MacLean. I think you're getting her confused. Maybe I am. Yeah. Anyway, but she sounds like Weezy and in my opinion, she had the characters down pat like when she would like

during the as she was reading the passages she sounded just like Vivian Lee from Scarlet O'Hara. She sounded just like the characters. All right, so we're gonna I'm gonna read the audible introduction because I thought it was really good. Gone with the Wind is the greatest love story of our time. The story of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. Margaret Mitchell's monumental epic of the south won a Pulitzer Prize and gave rise to one of the most popular motion pictures of all time. It is one of the most popular books ever written.

J Q (06:49.342)
More than 28 million copies of the book have been sold in more than 37 countries. Today, more than half a century after its initial publication, its achievements are unparalleled and it remains the most revered American saga and the most beloved word by any American writer. And I will mention just quickly that you can get a free copy of Gone with the Wind. You can download it on your computer. It's under the Gone with the Wind archives and you can get that download for free, which is pretty cool.

All right, now we're just gonna do a summary. Joy, you wanna read the summary? Okay, and just before I get started on the summary, we are in my classroom and the band is having practice on the band field. Practice field, which isn't too far from my classroom and the windows are open. So if you hear random drums and horns, that's the band. Wish they'd play Dixie. that would be so cool. All right, here's the summary. Gone with the Wind is a story about Scarlett O'Hara, a spoiled Southern belle who must adapt to life in the American South during and after the Civil War.

Ostracized for her selfishness, she uses her cunning and resilience to survive poverty and protect her family's plantation, Terra, all while being obsessed with the honorable Ashley Wilkes. She eventually marries the charismatic blockade runner, Rhett Butler, but their turbulent relationship and Scurlet's ultimate realization that she was in love with Rhett, not Ashley, form the central emotional arc of the story. The book is about the elimination of an entire

Culture so I'm guessing no other book delves so deep and describe the aspects so well. That's not part of the summary. I'm sorry No, it's okay. I just kind of had a little afterthought after reading that I was thinking that the book really is about the elimination of entire culture So Joy, what do you think about the book? Do you think it deserves all this accolades and fanfare? You think thanks. Oh, I don't think it's hopped up at all because so after this podcast we are gonna do one called the road to terror

about Margaret Mitchell's life and we'll get into a lot of this a lot more but she didn't have the internet. She didn't have you know smartphone back then and she did so much research on this book and she was very meticulous with the research because she was very worried about what her dad thought. Her dad was what was the word you used earlier? He was very

J Q (09:14.162)
now forgotten. Yeah. When you very, when you ridicule someone. Yeah, he was... my gosh, you had the perfect word a while ago. anyway, he was not easy to please and he was very critical. if you got... was very critical. And if there was any date you got wrong or any fact you got wrong about a battle, and she was terrified of writing about the battle, she said, because she didn't want to get anything wrong or have any... She didn't want any Southerners being mad at her.

Oh, that's true. She really did care what the southerners thought. So, so much research went into this book, and I don't think there was anything like it in that time period. And so I think it deserves all the accolades that it received.

Okay, so I personally agree the book deserves all the praise that's been lavished upon it. And so after I read it the second time, remember that second time's always key, I began to really admire and appreciate how Margaret Mitchell, how she interwoven so many pieces together. I kind of think of it as this big, beautiful quilt. And there's just all these pieces that come together and it just forms this one beautiful masterpiece. It's such an epic story. And the fact that she was able to tie it all in together.

And to me, the mark of a great book are characters that you can never forget. How could you ever forget Rhett and Scarlett and Melanie and Ashley and Prissy and Mammy? You just, can't. They were written so well, you can't ever They all feel like they could have been real people in my mind. And they were based on real people to an extent. Okay. Well, I wrote down six things that kind of, you know, we were...

Joy and I as always were like, how are we gonna do this justice, you know? So I just kind of picked some things to focus on and I picked six things and what they are, the first of all was the plot. The storyline was interesting and entertaining. I just, I don't know about you, Joy, but I never got bored. Was there ever a part of the book that you got bored? she did a good job of just getting, I don't know, just keeping your attention. Yes, I mean, I don't care whether she was talking about a battle.

J Q (11:15.872)
Whether it was a personal scene between somebody or whether she was talking about the government. It didn't matter. It was interesting to me. The second thing I thought was cool was the timeline or impressive I should say. So the timeline spans pre-Civil War. So it literally starts right before the Civil War breaks out and it goes all the way to the reconstruction period. So you think about that just having a book that spans that time period. That's a lot in itself.

And then the next thing I mentioned is the historical data and Joy's already kind of talked about this, but I thought no wonder it took her so freaking long to write this book because the historical information in this book is mind-boggling. Did you have anything you want to say about that? No, was, yeah, when you think about how she did not have access to- Oh, that's what you meant when you were saying- Yeah, the fact she didn't have-

Smartphones or internet. She's literally going to courthouses and spending countless hours and she went to courthouses and libraries. Like I said, we'll get more into this in our next episode, but she spent, I can't remember, hundreds of hours doing research in courthouses and libraries. Okay, okay. I don't know why that kind of, when you said that I was happening, what do you mean? But now I get what you're saying. Okay, and the next thing was just the writing, of course. Her writing is beautiful.

Her descriptions of people, places, she talks about clothes, the way their speech, she talks about food. Anything Southern, so everything Southern flowed effortlessly. Of course, she grew up in the South and she brings us to another place and time. She brought us to the Civil War and we are going to read several passages during this podcast to give a good sample of this because I think a great book like this, you just need to...

hear it for yourself. If you haven't read this, want you, the listener, to experience what some of her writing is like. Okay, and then the next thing was, Joy's already mentioned this, but memorable characters. So she has this uncanny ability to flesh out her characters. Of course, when a book's over a thousand pages, you've got plenty of time to do that, right? Right. Yeah, so, and then her, number of characters in this book is impressive. And here's what...

J Q (13:23.916)
I got to thinking about this and I thought, wow, you know, she had characters, but she would, let's just take, for example, Scarlett, main, one of the main characters. She goes into Scarlett's family genealogy, even to the second and third generation. She explains multiple generations and you know, these people, they're related to them and they're related to them. And this is this, they're cousins, this and that. then, so by the time it's all said and done, you feel like you're reading about a real...

family, a real community gives you this sense of time. You know, it really creates this great sense of time and of history and community and I don't know. I just that impressed me for whatever reason and then I don't know why I did this but some of the names the old southern names. She used to look like Cade and Calvert or Cade Calvert was one of the characters and Rafe. Well, my son's name is Cade.

And I thought that is so cool that I named my son that he has a name. did notice that there was a Kade in the Yes, and I thought, oh, that is so cool because it's so such an old name and it gives I never would dreamed that was an old southern name ever. and I thought that's so cool because I love old southern things and to know that I unwittingly named him Kade. And I love the name Rafe too. I just think they're cool. And then the last thing that I mentioned that really stood out to me about the book was she has this really

a talent at using tension and suspense throughout the book. she, you know how like you can create a scene and you can just build all this tension until you hit the climax? And like the passage that stood out to me and I could not find it and I wanted to read it but I couldn't find it was when the Yankees were getting ready to invade Atlanta and she's in her mind, she's talking and she's like with every heartbeat, she's going, Yankees are coming.

And then she hears something explode, the Yankees are coming. And the time is all said and done. She has got you so tense and built up. It's just, she's really good at There's this tension because at the beginning of the book, they're talking about war. And then we have the war actually hit. And then after the war, they're facing literally starvation and what do they call the man who went.

J Q (15:24.26)
not the carpet baggers, but basically just stragglers who would come by and try to steal and beg for food. So through the whole book, there's hardship and tension because there's always an element of danger involved, I feel like. Yes. Yeah, I agree. All right. So, Joy, is there anything that stood out to you that you want to discuss before we read our favorite passages?

I think the thing that stood out the most to me and especially after reading Road to Terror was how much a lot of the characters paralleled actual characters in her own life. And once again, y'all need to listen to our next podcast because it's about Margaret Mitchell's life. It's called Road to Terror and we're gonna get into depth then. But so many of these characters aren't just plucked out of nowhere. They are based on people she actually knew and loved. So.

One thing that stood out to me was that really like, I don't know, I mean, even to this day, I'm just kind of surprised, but all through the book, after the Civil War is over, she talks about how the northerners treated the southerners during Reconstruction. And I kept wanting to fact check, every time I'd read something, I'd be thinking, that can't be true. There's no way that they did this or they did that. And I kept wanting to fact check all these things that were going on, especially during the Reconstruction period.

And so I want to read this passage just to kind of give you an example of what I'm talking about. And maybe some of the listeners might agree with me on this. The Yankee. So this is from the book. The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep it so. The South had been tilted as by a giant malicious hand and those who had once ruled were now more helpless than their former slaves had ever been. Georgia was heavily garrisoned with troops and Atlanta had more than its share.

The command the commandant of the Yankee troops in the various cities had complete power. Even the I said commandant. I'm sorry. The command. How do you say that? Yeah. Commandment. Yeah. The commandant. I'm sorry. It is right. The commandant of the Yankee troops in the various cities had complete power. Even the power of life and death over the civilian population. And they use that power. They could and did imprison citizens for any cause or no cause.

J Q (17:37.416)
seize their property, hang them. They could and did harass and hamstring them with conflicting regulations about the operation of their business, the wages they must pay their servants, what they should say in public and private utterances, and what they should write in newspapers. They regulated how, when, and where they must dump their garbage, and they decided what songs the daughters and wives of ex-Confederates could sing, so that the singing of Dixie or Bonnie Blue Flag became an offense only a little less serious than treason.

The jails were full of prominent citizens and there they stayed without hope of early trial. And so many did get arrested. Many men thinking soberly of General Lee's words and example, wish to take the oath, become citizens again and forget the past, but they were not permitted to take it. Others who were permitted to take the oath, hotly refused to do so, scorning to swear allegiance to a government which was deliberately subjecting them to cruelty and humiliation.

Scarlett heard over and over until she could have screamed at the repetition. I'd have taken their damned oath right after the surrender if they'd acted decent. I can be restored to the Union, but by God, I can't be reconstructed into it. So were you thinking the same thing? was about... Yeah, I don't know that I ever had thoughts about it. I never thought about how did the winners treat the losers basically? How did the North treat the South? And I can believe it.

Yeah, mean, there really a lot of the methods they were using are kind of methods that are being used today in politics. It's surprising. Like, so anybody that had been in any prominent position, Southerner before the war, let's just say you were a lawyer or a doctor were not allowed to vote. Guess who was allowed to vote? All the free black people and nothing not down in them. But like was pointed out in the book is

Some of them had no education. They were just now starting to go to school, be formally educated. They were basically promising them money and land and education for their vote. For their vote, And that's going on to this day. Yeah. Okay, the next thing we're going to talk about that stood out to me in the book, actually really surprised, we're talking about things that surprised us in the book. And to me, one the things that surprised me was the character of Melanie.

J Q (19:54.854)
So I used to think that Scarlett was the heroine and she is, she's one of the main characters of the book. But I read this long article, so I don't even remember where I read it, and they were talking in this article about how really and truly Melanie is the main character and the heart of the book. And I kept thinking, what? No, she's I feel like she started out with Scarlett being the heroine and the main character, but then somehow Melanie snuck in and took over. That could be. With her character and angel.

Angelic qualities. during my second reading of the book, I thought, okay, I'm going to pay more attention to Melanie and her character. And I thought, okay, I see where this person is going now. Now I totally agree. And I do feel like Mitchell's portrayal of her, and you said angelic qualities, I put all her noble qualities, were a direct...

representation of Mitchell's idea of what the South was like before the war. I feel like Melanie- a true Christian woman should look like. Well, yeah, but the point I'm trying to make is that I feel like Melanie was a representation of how she looked at the South. Yes. She looked at the South as this noble, pure, beautiful, loving thing. Is that makes sense? does. Okay, so I am going to read this passage about Melanie just to prove that point and to kind of let the listeners know like how Melanie was looked at in the book.

The little house was always full of company. Melanie had been a favorite even as a child and the town flocked to welcome her home again. Everyone brought presents for the house, brick or brick, pictures, a silver spoon or two, linen pillowcases, small articles they had saved from Sherman and treasured, but which now they swore were of no earthly use to them. Old men who had campaigned in Mexico with her father came to see her, bringing visitors to meet old Colonel Hamilton's sweet daughter.

Her mother's old friends clustered about her, for Melanie had a respectful deference to her elders that was very soothing to dowagers in these wild days when young people seemed to have forgotten all their manners. Her contemporaries, the young wives, mothers, and widows loved her because she had suffered what they had suffered, had not become embittered, and always lent them a sympathetic ear. The young people came as young people always come, simply because they had a good time at her home.

J Q (22:08.6)
Around Melanie's tactful and self-effacing person, there rapidly grew a clique of young and old who represented what was left of the best of Atlanta's antebellum society. All poor in purse, all proud in family, diehards of the stoutest variety. It was as if Atlanta society, scattered and wrecked by war, depleted by death, bewildered by change, had found in her an unyielding nucleus about which it could reform.

Melanie was young, but she had in her all the qualities that embattled remnant, prized, poverty and pride in poverty, uncomplaining courage, gaiety, hospitality, kindness, and above all, loyalty to the old traditions. Under her roof, the old days seemed to come back again and people took her and felt even more contemptuous of the tide of wildlife and high living that was sweeping the carpet baggers and newly rich Republicans along.

She was, as the Dowager said, such an excellent and wholesome example to the young girls of the town. And because she made no parade of her virtues, the young girls did not resent her. It never occurred to Melanie that she was becoming the leader of a new society. And that was paraphrased, I should say. It was actually a much longer passage. Anything you want to say about Melanie before we move on? No, I think she's right. think she symbolized what Scarlet saw as the South and what it... Mitchell. Or Mitchell.

And just a true, like what a true, virtuous Christian woman of the South would look and act like.

Okay, the other thing that really surprised me during my second reading, again, it kind of reminds me of Weathering Heights. I never really thought of Kathy and Heathcliff as being horrible people until went back and read it. Now I went back and read Gone with the Wind. I'm like Scarlett and Rhett were horrible Oh yeah, they were made for each other. They were both rotten and they were made for each other. Yeah, so, and I just see examples, you know, people are listening and they're going, they weren't that bad. Well, this is just a couple examples. Well, Rhett, he was like a blockade runner and he would hold

J Q (24:07.59)
Cargo that people desperately needed and he would wait until they needed it so badly They would pay whatever it took to get it he was getting ocean. Yes And then so they said he would bring in all these luxury items on his boats and then but the things that they needed Like food clothes medicine, they couldn't get it, you know, so he was more interested in making money than getting people you know things they ride to live and

And then he was also accused of killing a black guy who was uppity to a white lady. And he also admitted to killing a Yankee calvary man after having words in a bar room. He didn't get caught, he wasn't charged, but he said there's someone else somewhere that probably got blamed for it. And then Scarlett, we could spend all day talking about how conniving and selfish she was. we are gonna read this passage. Joy, you wanna try to read this?

This is the passage where Scarlett steals her sister Sue Ellen's bow. All right, I can try, but you've already practiced it. I did a horrible job when I practiced it, but I'll try it again. I just did a really bad job. I can't do Scarlett's voice for some reason. You're fine. Okay, so this is in chapter 35. This is Scarlett talking to Frank Kennedy, okay? And he's inquiring about Scarlett's sister Sue Ellen because he's going to marry her, seeing as how she's doing. And this is Scarlett talking to him.

And he says, but Miss Scarlett, you must remember this. When Miss Sue Ellen and I are married, there'll always be a place for you under our roof and for Wade Hampton too. Now is the time. Surely the saints and angels watched over her to give her such a heaven sent opportunity. She managed to look very startled and embarrassed and opened her mouth as if to speak quickly and shut it with a pop.

Don't tell me you didn't know I was to be your brother-in-law this spring, he said with nervous jocularity. And then seeing her eyes fill up with tears, he questioned in alarm. What's the matter? Miss Sue's not ill, is she? no, no, there is something wrong. You must tell me. I can't. I didn't know. I thought surely she must have written you. how mean. Miss Scarlett, what is it?

J Q (26:21.62)
Frank, I didn't mean to let it out, but I thought of course you knew that she had written you written me what he was trembling. to do this to a fine man like you. What's she done? Didn't she write you? I guess she was too ashamed to write you. She should be ashamed. to have such a mean sister. By this time, Frank could not even get questions to his lips. He said he sat staring at her gray faced the rain slack in his hands.

She's going to marry Tony Fontaine next month. I'm so sorry, Frank. So sorry to be the one to tell you. She just got tired of waiting and she was afraid she'd be an old maid. She went into the house and Scarlett leaned close to Frank and whispered, do come to supper tonight. We are so lonesome. And we're going to the wedding afterward. Be our escort. And please don't say anything to Aunt Pity about Sue Ellen.

It would distress her so much and I can't bear for her to know that my sister. I won't. I won't. Frank said hastily, wincing from the very thought. You've been so sweet to me today and done so much good. I feel right brave again. She squeezed his hand in parting and turned the full battery of her eyes up on him. So there's a pretty good example of Scarlett. She knew Frank had money and she knew he had a store. It was doing well. And she thought it's better for me to marry him.

and have his money to support my family. I don't care that my sister's in love with him and supposed to marry him. Yeah, she's like, and Frank and Sue Ellen are such good people. They'll probably just give it all away anyway. They won't. In other words, they don't know how to handle the money, but I do. Exactly. OK, so we're going to go on to there is I'm going to get into this, but we are going to mention that there is some controversy about the book even to this day. And I got upset because here.

I guess it was about a year ago. I heard that they were no longer going. There were certain stations that refused to air Gone with the Wind on TV because of the controversy. And the primary point of contention is the film's romanticizing of the Antebellum South. They say it white washes the horrors of slavery. People think the film represents the region's pre pre civil war era as a

J Q (28:39.298)
utopia of tranquil living and they think it portrays the northerners as these interlopers that are trying to disrupt the way of life. just all I have to say about this is that I personally just me feel like Mitchell portrayed the book from the perspective of a southerner. She's a southerner. She's living in the south. Of course, she's going to portray it from that perspective. If a northerner had written it, it'd be written totally different. It'd be from the perspective of a northerner.

And I will say this, she portrayed blacks and whites in positive and negative ways. And I have some examples here. So do you remember the Slatteries? They were poor white trash. She talks in the book, they are talked horribly about and they're white. They were even ranked below Negroes. Okay, Pork was black. He was the family butler. Guess who loved, loved, loved Pork, Scarlett. She thought more of him than she thought of her sisters. She really did. And then there was Miss Pitty Pat, the Dizzy Aunt.

They talked about her like she was just this total moron idiot. She's white Prissy is the little slave girl who was actually really stupid and one of my favorite lines in the book I don't know why I thought was so funny Rhett tells her to try not to be so stupid at one time when she goes yes I don't want it was just funny to me. But anyway, my point is this her characters are equally flawed It doesn't matter whether you're black or white. She simply portrayed everyone is human now. I know that the

To me it's interesting to get a southerner's perspective on it. I wish someone from the north had written a book about this time and done all the research. I would have loved to see the northerner's perspective and the southerner's perspective, but of course you're going to write it from your own life experiences. and I understand, so the controversy really, I don't guess it really lies in the fact, mean people do say it's racist.

But I think it's more about them saying that it's whitewash. Because in her book, she does make it sound like the slaves all liked working for the old Harriers and they would rather be there than be free. And I will say in the book, they talk about how lot of black people felt lost after the war because they had nowhere to go. And they did want to go back home because that's all they knew. That's all they knew. That's all they knew. Yeah.

J Q (30:45.166)
Anything else you want to say about the controversy? No. All right. We can get past that then. All right. So now we are going to read some of our favorite passages and Joy, I picked a passage out for Joy to read because I think it's really funny. And so this is about how there's these two different associations in Atlanta that have been formed and they get in a fight because one of the, some of the women want to pull weeds off of Yankee graves and some women don't. Joy, go ahead and you can read that. Okay.

Melanie had also been made secretary for both the Association for the Beautification of the Graves of Our Glorious Dead and the Sowing Circle for the Widows and Orphans of the Confederacy. This new honor came to her after an exciting joint meeting of those societies which threatened to end in violence and the severance of lifelong ties of friendship. The question had arisen at the meeting as to whether or not weed should be removed from the graves of the Union soldiers near those of Confederate soldiers.

The appearance of the scraggly Yankee mounds defeated all the efforts of the ladies to beautify those of their own dead. Immediately the fires which smoldered beneath tight bass flamed wildly and the two organizations split up and glared hostily. The sewing circle was in favor of the removal of the weeds. The ladies of the beautification were violently opposed. Mrs. Mead expressed the views of the latter group when she said, dig up the weeds off Yankee graves.

For two cents I'd dig up all the Yankees and throw them in the city dump. At these ringing words, the two associations arose and every lady spoke her mind and no one listened. The meeting was being held in Mrs. Merriweather's parlor and Grandpa Merriweather, who had been banished to the kitchen, reported afterwards that the noise sounded just like the opening guns of the Battle of Franklin and he added he guessed it was a

Dane's sight safer to be present at the Battle of Franklin than at the ladies meeting. So I love that passage. And I will say this, that was paraphrased. That was probably another two paragraphs long. I had to shorten it because it was so long. That's really funny though. And I'm not kidding. If you read this book, spend some time on that part because it is hilarious. There is a lot of humor in the book. Yeah. I was going to read the scene with.

J Q (32:57.058)
Chrissy, where she admits about lying about knowing how to deliver babies. But I think we'll just skip that one because it's a lot, it's pretty long. So the last thing I want to mention, you know, every book has, there's some things in it that are hard or like down. And you would think a book about the Civil War that, you you would think, what you talking about, Angie? What is it you didn't like about the book? Or was it reading about the cruel war and the hardships of war? suffering and the death?

There's so much that could bring you down, but honestly, the thing that was hardest for me to read, and most people don't realize, Scarlett had a little boy named Wade, and he was Wade Hamilton, and he was from her first marriage, and he died of like pneumonia or something like that. father. Yeah, the father of Wade had died. Anyway, throughout the book, Mitchell portrays Scarlett as

not caring about this little boy. He's a nuisance. He's in her way and he just is a little boy who wants to be loved and he's loved by like Melanie and other people but Scarlett treats him horrible and I'm just going to read this this small paragraph out. This is from the book. Scarlett was as anxious as her mother to have weighed out of Atlanta not only for the child's safety but because his constant fear irritated her.

Wade was terrified to speechlessness by the shelling. And even when lulls came, he clung to Scarlett's skirts, too terrified to cry. He was afraid to go to bed at night, afraid of the dark, afraid to sleep lest the Yankees should come and get him. And the sound of his soft, nervous whimpering in the night grated unendurably on her nerves. Scarlett, or secretly, she was just as frightened as he was, but it angered her to be reminded of it every minute by his tense, drawn face.

And then another little section said, she feared to send him home and he remained in Atlanta, a frightened silent little ghost pattering about desperately after his mother, fearing to have her skirt out of his hand for even a minute. then, and then another, another place. These are, these are kind of scattered that these, these are not all part of one passage. Forgotten in the tumult little Wade crouched behind the banisters on the front porch.

J Q (35:11.649)
peering out onto the lawn like a caged rotten rabbit, his eyes wide with terror, sucking his thumb and hiccuping. Once Scarlett saw him and cried sharply, go play in the backyard, Wade Hampton. But he was too terrified, too fascinated by the man seen before him to obey. Yeah, I think this little boy's gonna need lots of counseling in his later life. She was not a good mother to him. No, and I think the reason it was so hard for me to read was because she, Mitchell.

The way she described him, he sounded so real. He's exactly how a little boy would act that was living in the middle of the Civil War. And he was terrified all the time and he was scared. And she was basically always telling him, go away. You're getting on my nerves. Just go play in the backyard. And so it just broke my heart. Even though he's not real, I'm sitting here just crying for this little boy who's just wanting attention, even though he's not real. does that not to me, that's a powerful writer that can make you feel sympathy for someone who doesn't even need this.

Okay, and then the last passage that we're going to read, which I thought was really pretty, was... Joy, you want to go ahead set it up? Yeah, this is Ashley and Scarlett are talking and this is Ashley... Isn't this Ashley describing... He's just reminiscing about the old reminiscing about the old days and it is very beautifully written. I'm glad you picked this section because... or passage because it is really... Yeah, I love this passage.

Are you gonna No, I was gonna have you read it. Oh, okay. He slipped from the table laughing softly and unbelief, putting his hand under her chin. He turned her face up to his. Ah, Scarlett, what a poor liar you are. Yes, life has a glitter now, of a sort. That's what's wrong with it. The old days had no glitter, but they had a charm, a beauty, a slow-paced glamour. Her mind pulled two ways. She dropped her eyes.

The sound of his voice, the touch of his hand were softly unlocking doors that she had locked forever. Behind those doors lay the beauty of the old days and a sad hunger for them welled up within her. But she knew that no matter what beauty lay behind, it must remain there. No one could go forward with a load of aching memories. His hand dropped from her chin and he took one of her hands between his two and held it gently. Do you remember, he said, and a warning bell in her mind rang. Don't look back, don't look back.

J Q (37:33.301)
But she swiftly disregarded, swept forward on a tide of happiness. At last she was understanding him. At last their minds had met. This moment was too precious to be lost, no matter what pain came after. Do you remember, he said, and under the spell of his voice, the bare walls of the little office faded, and the years rolled aside, and they were writing country bridle paths together in a long gone spring.

As he spoke, his light grip lightened on her hand and in his voice was the sad magic of old half forgotten songs. She could hear the gay jingles of bridal bits as they rode under the dogwood trees in the Tarleton's picnic, hear her own careless laughter, see the sun glinting on his silver gilt hair and note the poundy and note the proud easy grace with which he sat his horse. There was music in his voice, the music of fiddles and banjos to which they had danced in the White House that was no more.

There was the far off yelping of possum dogs in the dark swamp under cool autumn moons and the smell of eggnog bowls wreathed with holly at Christmas time and smiles on black and white faces. And old friends came trooping back laughing as though they had not been dead these many years. Stuart and Brent with their long legs and their red hair and their practical jokes. Tom and Boyd as wild as young horses. Joe Fontaine with his hot black eyes and Cated Rayford Calvert who moved with such languid grace.

There was John Wilkes too and Gerald red with brandy and a whisper and a fragrance that was Ellen. I love that. A whisper and a fragrance that was Ellen. That was her mom. Over it all rested a sense of security, a knowledge that tomorrow could only bring the same happiness today had brought. His voice stopped and they looked for a long quiet moment into each other's eyes and between them lay the sunny lost youth that they had so unthinkingly shared.

Without warning, tears started in her eyes and rose slowly down her cheeks and she stood looking at him dumbly, like a hurt bewildered child. He said no word, but took her gently in his arms, pressed her head against his shoulder, and leaning down, laid his cheek against hers.

J Q (39:40.235)
Gone with the wind. Wow. I mean, even listening to that again, I'm away by how she was able to pull all those emotions in the past, how she brought it to life and I'm just blown away by her So nostalgic and so heartbreaking at the same time. It's just so bittersweet, I guess is the word. it? know, while we're while I'm thinking about it, was this a one hit wonder? Didn't she only write Gone with the Wind?

Yes, I think she had another book she was working on but she just never could get it to be what she wanted it to be. So imagine... feel like the... I don't know. When we go over... When we do the book Road to Terror and I'll review my notes, but I can't remember if she ever actually published another book or not. I do know this is the first novel she ever wrote. Can you imagine writing one... the first novel you ever write and it's considered one of the best books that's ever written? No, I can't even fathom that. Okay, Joy, we have come to the...

one of the best parts of the podcast, our rating word. I want you to guess what is my rating word. Okay, I've thought this over. I thought it could be Atlanta.

I think it's Tara. Oh no it's not Tara. Take a guess again. Scarlet? No. How many Scarlet's? I just knew you said How many Rett Butler's? How Mammies? I don't know why thought you would get this How many Mammies? No. Prissies? It's one of our things we love to say from the book. Atlanta. Just like a spider. The Virginia Reel. How many Virginia Reels? Okay, Joy's obviously not gonna get it. Oh no. It's Fiddledee Dee.

Fiddledy dees do you give this book? well obviously I'm gonna give the book of the century five Fiddledy dees. Yeah, it's not very often that Joy and I give a book of five, but I'm going to give it five Fiddledy dees as well. a great American classic. It deserves five Fiddledy It deserves five Fiddledy dees, yeah. Matter of fact, we need to have a Twin Talk.

J Q (41:36.417)
shirt made up with our hundredth episode that we gave five fiddle dees for it. Hey guys, we're going on see 41 minutes now. Not as long as I thought it might go. So, um love the book. Highly recommend it if you're willing to invest the time. Yeah. Yeah. Um. I would say that I would recommend this to people who are interested in the Civil War. Yes. And even though it's going to focus a lot more on people's uh these fictional character stories uh and not so much on the battles, it is

well researched and there is a there are a lot there's a lot of history in the book that's supposed to be factual. If you like history and especially like Joy just said the Civil War she it will keep your attention. It is fascinating and it gives it a human element to it because you can go back in a history book and read about the Civil War and you can buy books but but when you intertwine someone's personal even though it's fictitious even when you story or intertwine people's what are probable

families were alike and what they were facing and going through it just makes it become real to me. I can't say enough about the book other than the fact that it is very very long and it did take me a month to listen to it. But memorable. It is very memorable. Now will I ever read it again? No. Or listen to it again? No. I've done that three or four times now so I'm done but

Will I watch the movie again? Yeah. Matter of fact, I'd love to do a podcast on the movie. Yeah. It's one day. we get time, we will do a podcast just on the movie. talked about just the movie, but. And there's a lot of fascinating things about the movie. I mean, it one of the biggest searches in history for who was going to play Scarlett O'Hara. Yes. Yeah, you're right. That's a whole other podcast. I know. And like I said, we always have done books. So I don't know. But hopefully, maybe one day. OK.

Alright guys, well thank you for joining us and we hope that we get to do a hundred more episodes, Lord willing. And thank you for joining us and we will see you next time on Twin Talk.