So I realized this morning that you guys would think this is cool.
I am a huge Gone with the Wind fan. I love the book. I love the movie. I didn’t love the sequel, Scarlett, written by Alexandra Ripley, but I have read it more than once. Usually when I’m super depressed and want that happy ending, even though I love the real ending most.
Anyway.
This year is the 75th anniversary of the publication of Gone with the Wind. Per my google reader feed, I discovered about six weeks ago that there was a library in Southport, Connecticut that had an exhibit of the last four chapters of the typed manuscript on display for a month before they sent it to Atlanta with all the other GWTW paraphernalia. As I love this story so, so much, I desperately wanted to go. I easily convinced my roommate and her not-yet boyfriend, and we convinced another friend to come as well. He was more hesitant, but I’m pretty sure what sold him was the argument that he “needs to pay homage to the book that inspired the first movie that ever used a swear word.” It worked, and he enjoyed the exhibit.
Guys, it was SO COOL. They had the manuscript in a glass display case and you could see the copyediting marks in the margins, which was amazing. I loved being able to read it right there, and I know the book well enough to pick up on some text that changed between the manuscript and the final printing. They also had copies of foreign covers in many, many languages, which was really cool to see. A lot of the covers were done after the movie came out and had excellent likenesses of Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable. They also talked about how in America we see it as this great tragic love story, but in Europe it was read much more for the political undertones. Apparently it made a big impact on them in the way the South handles the Reconstruction and stuff, and it was even banned in Spain (I might have the country wrong) during a war for fear that the people would rebel. I had no idea it was so influential in Europe. It made me want to read the book all over again.
I took some photos on my phone to text to my mother (who loves GWTW as much as I do), so they aren’t particularly high quality. But they are still cool.
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| GWTW in Hebrew and Arabic |
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| GWTW in Danish |
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| Part of the typed manuscript. The last line on the bottom of the right-hand page is Rhett Butler's famous, "My dear, I don't give a damn." |
4 comments:
That is awesome. I have never read Gone With the Wind, but I really should. I'm sure I will love it, I've just never gotten around to it. I'm glad you got to go see the exhibit since you're such a fan!
Thanks! It was fun.
One GWTW anecdote for you; my sophomore year of high school someone was complaining about one of the books being overly romantic. My teacher said there was only one book he'd ever read that he couldn't handle because it was "over-done romanticism". When asked which book, the answer was Gone with the Wind. I unintentionally said, "Shut up!", at which point he looked startled and then laughed. Hard.
We are still friends, and I really think that's why.
So I accidentally reposted this. Didn't know that would happen. Darn blogger.
You would LOVE Ellen Brown's:
Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind: A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood
I too am a hard core GWTW fan and found this book really interesting--you definitely get a view of how long and arduous the process was! And they go into a little more detail about its effects around the globe! YAY!
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