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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I was so excited when I first heard about this book several years ago, and now when I finally bought it, it took me some time to read it.
Although there are glimpses in Rhett's thought, it just wasn't it. I dove into this book expecting writing style similar to Margaret Mitchell's, and maybe that's why I was a little bit let down by it, instead of looking at this like a 'standalone'.
Some parts had me laughing, some left me disappointed.
I tried reading it parallel with Gone with the wind, but I just couldn't keep up, the plots were too diverse to be compared.
It's a good book, and it kinda sums up the whole Gone with the wind reading experience, but I could have lived without reading it.
Although there are glimpses in Rhett's thought, it just wasn't it. I dove into this book expecting writing style similar to Margaret Mitchell's, and maybe that's why I was a little bit let down by it, instead of looking at this like a 'standalone'.
Some parts had me laughing, some left me disappointed.
I tried reading it parallel with Gone with the wind, but I just couldn't keep up, the plots were too diverse to be compared.
It's a good book, and it kinda sums up the whole Gone with the wind reading experience, but I could have lived without reading it.
So I just happened upon this book a couple of weeks ago & I had never heard anything about it. I was totally excited that there was another book out there about my favorite characters after reading [b:Gone with the Wind|18405|Gone With The Wind|Margaret Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166913011s/18405.jpg|3358283] & Scarlett numerous times. This book definitly has a different feel to it than GWTW or Scarlett, a very masculine perspective which is obviously appropriate since it's mainly about Rhett Butler. It was so interesting to see so many holes filled that GWTW left in it's plot. We know what Scarlett is doing but Rhett remained for the most part mysterious. Now, with Rhett Butler' People, we get to not only see what Rhett really thought, felt & did during the many times away from Scarlett (maybe while she was with her many husbands), but we also get to see where he came from, how he grew up & what brought him to meet Scarlett in the first place. Donald McCaig does a great job translating the romance from GWTW over but also showing more of the harsh realities of war & particularly the Civil War. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
This book is an interesting look at Gone with the Wind from a different point of view. I have a new appreciation of Rhett Butler.
This book was actually not well-written at all, and yet, I kept reading it.
GWTW told from Rhett's perspective. I have to admit I was scared to read this at first since Scarlett was such a waste of paper but this book blew me out of the water.
We find out how Rhett got to be an outcast, how he met Belle Watling and how he really felt about Scarlett and Ashley are all explained.
I have been in love with Rhett since I was 10 years old and this book didn't change that in any way.
A must read for any fan of GWTW.
We find out how Rhett got to be an outcast, how he met Belle Watling and how he really felt about Scarlett and Ashley are all explained.
I have been in love with Rhett since I was 10 years old and this book didn't change that in any way.
A must read for any fan of GWTW.
Positives:
A solid and pleasing parallel story to Gone With the Wind, answering many of the questions that remain despite GWTW's thousand pages of epic storytelling. Simply having other view points beyond Scarlett's is a relief, considering that Scarlett O'Hara could very well be the perfect literary example of a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Daring to raise the veil on many of the alluded to events in GWTW, McCaig builds on Margaret Mitchell's vision and characters, making them fuller and more solid, adding additional background, story and secondary characters as needed, even when what is behind the veil is grotesque, morally reprehensible or simply pathetic. With Rhett Butler's People, the tragedy that is Gone With the Wind finds believable resolution and a sense of hope in the power of love.
Now for the negatives:
Absolutely no mention of Rhett knocking Scarlett down the stairs and her subsequent miscarriage was made in this book and the events surrounding Bonnie's death are relegated to a single letter. These were HUGE to the plot of GWTW and it's rather distressing that they're so mildly treated when Rhett is the one who was most severely affected emotionally by both events. There were a few inconsistencies between GWTW and RBP, but even with reading GWTW just recently, they were not so great as to stand out in my mind while reading, other than peripherally on a few occasions. It is hard to see how anyone would be able to read this book if they hadn't already read GWTW...it does not stand firmly on its own merits, but is strictly a supplement to the GWTW epic.
A solid and pleasing parallel story to Gone With the Wind, answering many of the questions that remain despite GWTW's thousand pages of epic storytelling. Simply having other view points beyond Scarlett's is a relief, considering that Scarlett O'Hara could very well be the perfect literary example of a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Daring to raise the veil on many of the alluded to events in GWTW, McCaig builds on Margaret Mitchell's vision and characters, making them fuller and more solid, adding additional background, story and secondary characters as needed, even when what is behind the veil is grotesque, morally reprehensible or simply pathetic. With Rhett Butler's People, the tragedy that is Gone With the Wind finds believable resolution and a sense of hope in the power of love.
Now for the negatives:
Absolutely no mention of Rhett knocking Scarlett down the stairs and her subsequent miscarriage was made in this book and the events surrounding Bonnie's death are relegated to a single letter. These were HUGE to the plot of GWTW and it's rather distressing that they're so mildly treated when Rhett is the one who was most severely affected emotionally by both events. There were a few inconsistencies between GWTW and RBP, but even with reading GWTW just recently, they were not so great as to stand out in my mind while reading, other than peripherally on a few occasions. It is hard to see how anyone would be able to read this book if they hadn't already read GWTW...it does not stand firmly on its own merits, but is strictly a supplement to the GWTW epic.
I would give this a 3.5 if I could.
As a girl from Georgia, how could I not love [b:Gone With the Wind|18405|Gone With The Wind|Margaret Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166913011s/18405.jpg|3358283], and pretty much anything related to it? This was a pretty good story, as long as you don't take it too seriously, get too caught up in the details of how it related to GWTW and/or focus too much on the historical details. My biggest problem was that it dragged in the middle and ended pretty abruptly. But it was entertaining, and a good pool/summer read.
As a girl from Georgia, how could I not love [b:Gone With the Wind|18405|Gone With The Wind|Margaret Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166913011s/18405.jpg|3358283], and pretty much anything related to it? This was a pretty good story, as long as you don't take it too seriously, get too caught up in the details of how it related to GWTW and/or focus too much on the historical details. My biggest problem was that it dragged in the middle and ended pretty abruptly. But it was entertaining, and a good pool/summer read.
I really disliked this book. I like the original Gone With the Wind and after the other 'sequel' (Scarlett - which I also did not like yet for other reasons ... ) I was hoping I'd enjoy this one. However I found McCaig's writing style off putting and distracting.
He jumps around a lot and the flow is really uncomfortable. For example he'll introduce some character from Rhett's childhood and then the next paragraph will be talking about some other character all together. Then maybe three paragraph's later he'll mention (sort of in passing) the character from Rhett's childhood again and by that time I'm like, "Who was that again?" I feel like I need a freaking chart to keep all these new characters straight in my head.
Also he deviates from Margaret Mitchell's story a few times. If someone only knows this story from the film version they may not notice it but I've read Mitchell's book more than a few times and I found this to be not only condescending for a so called 'sequel' (or alternative point of view depending on how one wants to view this book) but offputting as well.
I also found his characterizations to be off in parts. For example there's a bit near the end where Melanie writes a ltter to Rhett's sister detailing her sex life with Ashley. Now they're not juicy details by any means but I found it to be rather uncharacteristic of Melanie's character. I read somewhere that McCaig only bothered to read Mitchell's book once and then relied on his wife to fill in the blanks for him. It shows.
He jumps around a lot and the flow is really uncomfortable. For example he'll introduce some character from Rhett's childhood and then the next paragraph will be talking about some other character all together. Then maybe three paragraph's later he'll mention (sort of in passing) the character from Rhett's childhood again and by that time I'm like, "Who was that again?" I feel like I need a freaking chart to keep all these new characters straight in my head.
Also he deviates from Margaret Mitchell's story a few times. If someone only knows this story from the film version they may not notice it but I've read Mitchell's book more than a few times and I found this to be not only condescending for a so called 'sequel' (or alternative point of view depending on how one wants to view this book) but offputting as well.
I also found his characterizations to be off in parts. For example there's a bit near the end where Melanie writes a ltter to Rhett's sister detailing her sex life with Ashley. Now they're not juicy details by any means but I found it to be rather uncharacteristic of Melanie's character. I read somewhere that McCaig only bothered to read Mitchell's book once and then relied on his wife to fill in the blanks for him. It shows.
So far, so good! So much better than "Scarlett", which was horrible. This gives a whole new perspective on what was going in the background of "[b:Gone With the Wind|18405|Gone With The Wind|Margaret Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166913011s/18405.jpg|3358283]"; you see why some choices were made, and Rhett's feelings on everything.
I wish there were half stars I would give it 3.5. But,what a surprisingly good book. He did a wonderful job capturing Margret Mitchell's characters. He brought more to the story of GWTW without taking away from the story. It must be so hard to right a companion book to a classic like GWTW but he did such a better job that the last attempt "Scarlett"