a fun, glorious send up of Ms Scarlett, because she deserves it. ( )

The caveats: I am a white male, American by birth, though I grew up in a different culture than American. Thus I don't know that I have much right to speak to this book. But this is Library Thing, and I'm a reviewer, and therefore I will.

I loved it. I loved Gone with the Wind, both the movie and the book. I thought it one of the most romantic movies of all time. I still do. But I must confess I was somewhat clueness to the reality of the situation before reading The Wind Done Gone. Certainly, I nodded to the concept that there would be a different experience for black slaves, and that that is not well-addressed in Gone with the Wind. But until now, I didn't realize this as fully. The Wind Done Gone helps me to see the African-Americans of the novel as real people, and I must say even the minor white characters of The Wind Done Gone are enfleshed more fully than those of Gone With the Wind. Rhett Butler, despite his claims in Gone With the Wind, is well-known to be the only true gentleman of the novel and movie. He is the good guy, the one we root for. Scarlet O'Hara is, in contrast, quite annoying. But here, in The Wind Done Gone, we get to see that Rhett, also, is a product of the white hegemony of the South. He certainly cares for Cynara a great deal, and he treats her better than most any other whites would, even to the point of marrying her, but ultimately, she is still exotic Other to him, and not simply a wondrous human. Indeed, after years together, after marriage, he still doesn't know her name- because he never asked.

Gone With the Wind is the better romance of the two, by far. It moves in that sense. The Wind Done Gone is the more realistic portrayal. And it does not have the happiness and joy of Gone With the Wind (minus the ending, of course). But let's be honest. There was more happiness and joy in antebellum South for white folks than there was for black folks. And thus I am glad to know this world better, thanks to this novel. ( )

Very interesting to read along with/after Gone with the Wind. ( )

The premise for THE WIND DONE GONE was so promising, yet it turns out not to be powerful or even appealing.

It overflows with digressions, underdeveloped characters, and none that were compelling or intriguing. ( )

(14) I have meant to read this since it came out, though I was afraid it would spoil the most treasured book of my youth. It certainly didn't spoil it, but it also didn't hold a candle to GWTW. Though I understand GWTW is whitewashed and culturally insensitive, it is still magical. I have lived my life by 'Other's' credo: "I won't think of this right now, I will think of it tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day." This is Scarlett's mulatto half-sister - the love-child of Mammy and Scarlett's father called 'Planter' in this novel.

Much of the writing was in vernacular. Cynara was conflicted between her two identities, at times she wrote like a former slave and at times she wrote like an educated woman. I, indeed, loved the revelations and some of the deeper questions these revelations raised. What does it mean to be black? Is it a color, a state of mind, or a legacy? The reason for the lukewarm rating is the attempt at lyricism in the writing. These almost nonsensical sentences repeated again and again hinting at some truth that seemed either histrionic, obvious, or too elusive to grasp. The only writers I know that really pull this off are Toni Morrison and Faulkner. Here it felt contrived and annoying. Sometimes you just have to tell a story and dispense with too many attempts to make everything swim with meaning and profundity.

I enjoyed this to some degree but was glad when it ended. If the characters had not been based on GWTW it would be a 2 star rating. ( )