What are you reading right now?

I finished reading "Gone with the Wind." In total, including all the breaks (some lasting a month), it took me about 8 months to read it. Almost a year. I initially thought a big book would require a big review, but now I'm not so sure. We'll see how it goes. Overall, the themes of the work can be divided into two main parts. The first is the personal worldview of a woman, the main character, regarding those around her in general and men in particular. The second is the social life of the South, a bit before, but mostly during and after the Civil War. The first theme seemed quite banal to me personally, although looking back, in retrospect, I think that perhaps I didn't notice a certain depth in it, which becomes more apparent when you finish the book. Or maybe I'm just imagining it. Oh well. Towards the end of the book – right at the very end – all the socio-personal themes really become much deeper and more developed, and if previously they mainly revolved around men, then closer to the finale, questions of growing up, motherhood, old friends/acquaintances, and questions of reputation emerge (not for nothing was there a preface in the Russian edition: "guard your honor from a young age"). Perhaps the problem is that the author only remembered this at the very end, but I don't rule out that they were subtly present all along, I just didn't notice them until attention was drawn to them. The second theme is the theme of the South, and in many ways, it is a question of contrasting the South with the North, as well as the question of the freedom of Negroes. Well, what can I say? If this book came out now, it would definitely be labeled as racist and would certainly never receive any awards or adaptations, and in general, they would try to ostracize it. In short, the South was so great, but then the vile Yankees came and ruined everything. Giving Negroes freedom was a mistake, because they are too stupid to use it. The way Negroes speak is a separate story:

Young misses whut frowns an pushes out dey chins an' says 'Ah will' and 'Ah woan' mos' gener'ly doan ketch husbands," prophesied Mammy gloomily. "Young misses should cas' down dey eyes an' say, Well, suh, Ah mout' an' 'Jes' as you say, suh.' "

In general, it is interesting that all the characters in this book have speech problems – the most pronounced in Negroes, a little less in the half-breed of a Negro and an Indian, then come the Yankees, and finally, the poor Southerners speak almost normally. And you know who speaks clearly and without problems? The aristocrats of the South. Quite ironic, considering that now everyone laughs at the accent of rednecks. In general, if the theme of promoting racism is unpleasant to you, then I do not recommend reading this book in any case – because at times it almost turns into propaganda in this regard. There is such a film "The Birth of a Nation" (which was filmed at the beginning of the 20th century) – it is very similar to this book. I haven't watched it, though, I've only heard a summary. Is it worth reading this book? Well, if you are a girl and want to read something about girlish tears, fantasize, and think about how much the heroine resembles you, OR if you are interested in the theme of the American South and believe that it is a pity that it lost in the Civil War, then yes, definitely, this work is as if created specifically for you. Otherwise, the narrative sometimes captivated me, and sometimes became very boring, and I swung on these swings several times. Closer to the finale, however, the book suddenly picked up speed, and the ending really surprised me and seemed quite strong and even INSTRUCTIVE, although the ideas expressed through it are not new, but still important. In general, I definitely don't regret reading this book, but I can't recommend it to anyone except the categories of people mentioned above. That's the deal. I reread what I wrote – it seems that I said everything I wanted to say.