Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lynneelue 's review for:
The Wind Done Gone: A Novel
by Alice Randall
As a "parody" of Gone with the Wind, I guess I was disappointed. The story mostly takes place after Gone with the Wind, so the characters all feel different from themselves. Scarlett was not depicted as a sympathetic character, but... neither was she in the original. We see Rhett primarily as an old man; he felt to me like a two dimensional constant boring character, having lost all his sass. I was disappointed at how quickly Scarlett's relationship with Rhett was brushed off. The main thing I liked about the original was the strength of the character, yet this heroine almost even sounded entitled and whiny to me without showing much beyond to make up for it.
As an original book, I appreciated the effort more. I appreciated reading a story from a mulatto perspective, though her life had more stability, with Rhett, than I expected. I appreciated the character dynamics between half-sisters, and between mother-daughter and stepmother-daughter. The misunderstanding of love shaped Cynara's coming of age, and the race relations were interesting to see how they affected character behavior.
The literary style of the author was the only thing keeping me from giving this a 1-star--not because I liked the style (I was often confused) but because I could appreciate it. No character is explicitly called out and in fact I even started over after 25 pages once I finally figured out who was who. Those 25 re-read pages then were more enjoyable than the original complete-confusion experience, but I sort of liked trying to put together the pieces and making the realization. The timing of scenes and symbolic descriptions were like a literary experimentation, where time and space are fluid and understanding the experience is like watching an interpretive dance.
As an original book, I appreciated the effort more. I appreciated reading a story from a mulatto perspective, though her life had more stability, with Rhett, than I expected. I appreciated the character dynamics between half-sisters, and between mother-daughter and stepmother-daughter. The misunderstanding of love shaped Cynara's coming of age, and the race relations were interesting to see how they affected character behavior.
The literary style of the author was the only thing keeping me from giving this a 1-star--not because I liked the style (I was often confused) but because I could appreciate it. No character is explicitly called out and in fact I even started over after 25 pages once I finally figured out who was who. Those 25 re-read pages then were more enjoyable than the original complete-confusion experience, but I sort of liked trying to put together the pieces and making the realization. The timing of scenes and symbolic descriptions were like a literary experimentation, where time and space are fluid and understanding the experience is like watching an interpretive dance.