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When it came to deciding which book/movie to focus on for this hop, the choice was easy for me:

I have loved Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind and its film adaption all of my life. Here’s why:

It’s the Great American Novel.

Many readers agree, and so did the judges of the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. It’s one of the bestselling novels of all time for its fantastic story, its depth of emotion and its evocative depiction of a seminal time in American history: the Civil War and Reconstruction.

It’s epic.

Both the book and the movie are truly epic (see my recent post ‘Epic Romance: Redefining a Classic Term at https://hannahfielding.net/staging/1129/epic-romance-redefining-a-classic-term/). I love the thickness of the book and all its vivid description, and I love the costumes, the scenery and the direction of the film.

The author is inspirational.

I love to read works by writers I admire, and since I first discovered Margaret Mitchell she has been one of my inspirations. Did you know that Margaret lost her first love, an army lieutenant who was killed in the First World War? That her first husband was an abusive bootlegger? That she wrote for the Atlanta Journal at a time when women working was shocking? Her life is fascinating. So, too, is her career as a novelist. She began work on Gone with the Wind while recuperating from a car accident, after her husband tired of lugging books home for her and suggested she write one instead. It was another nine years before she submitted it to a publisher (after which she rewrote the opening chapter several times before publication). By then, thank goodness, she had changed the heroine’s name from Pansy to Scarlett…

It has so much spirit.

Margaret Mitchell said of the book the year it was published:

If Gone with the Wind has a theme it is that of survival. What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don’t. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality ‘gumption.’ So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn’t.

That survival spirit makes any reader/viewer root for the characters.

It has one of the best couples in fiction.

Scarlett and Rhett. Phenomenal! So much chemistry, and sharp-edged banter that was well ahead of its time:

“Sir,” she said, “you are no gentleman!” “An apt observation,” he answered airily. “And, you, Miss, are no lady.” 

And on the big screen, Vivien Leigh and Clarke Gable were iconic:

It has such a powerful ending.

When Clarke Gable delivered the following line, he made cinematic history:

I am giving away the 75th Anniversary Edition of Gone with the Wind in paperback (international entry). To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit all the other blogs in the hop for more great opportunities to win books and movies. Good luck! <!– end LinkyTools script –>