Gone with the Wind Audiobook By Margaret Mitchell cover art

Gone with the Wind

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Gone with the Wind

By: Margaret Mitchell
Narrated by: Linda Stephens
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold.

Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire: darkly handsome Rhett Butler and flirtatious Scarlett O'Hara. Behind them stand their gentler counterparts: Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton. As the lives and affairs of these absorbing characters play out against the tumult of the Civil War, Gone With the Wind reaches dramatic heights that have swept generations of fans off their feet.

Having lived in Atlanta for many years, narrator Linda Stephens has an authentic ear for the dialects of that region. Get ready to hear Gone With the Wind exactly as it was written: every word beautifully captured in a spectacular unabridged audio production.

©1964 Stephens Mitchell (P)2001 Recorded Books, LLC Classics Fiction Historical Fiction Civil War Inspiring Feel-Good War

Critic reviews

"Beyond a doubt one of the most remarkable first novels produced by an American writer. It is also one of the best." ( The New York Times)
"The best novel to have ever come out of the South...it is unsurpassed in the whole of American writing." ( The Washington Post)

Featured Article: The Best Historical Fiction Audiobooks


Often based on real people, events, and scenarios, historical fiction gives us the opportunity to learn about worlds and times we will never experience while introducing fascinating characters and stories set in their midst. Sometimes, the genre can even give us a peek into hidden storylines that routinely go unmentioned in traditional history books, showing us that those of ages past are perhaps not so different from ourselves.

Featured Article The Best Historical Fiction Audiobooks
Rich Character Development • Authentic Southern Accents • Complex Protagonists • Compelling Love Story • Multilayered Plot
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Okay, I'm not going to review the text of GWTW. It's been analyzed plenty. It's a brilliant book. 'Nuff said.

What I do want to review is the audio performance. When I saw that GWTW was available in audio format, I was dubious. I'm from the South. (Not the deep South -- Virginia). I speak with a Tidewater accent, which is different to my ear from a Georgia accent, which is different to my ear from a Charleston accent... You get the picture.

Ms. Stephens managed to get the nuances of the various accents well enough not to make me cringe. It sounds like a trivial thing, but since Mitchell, herself, made a big deal of differences of dialect in the actual novel, you need to have it in the performance. I'm so glad that the narrator did not go for that Eastern Tennessee accent that is so often touted as "Generic Southern".

If you love GWTW, get it. If you've never read it, this is a good way to enjoy the book.

Got the Accents Right

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The book is so much richer than the film could ever be. It's really a character study into the nature of the people who lived through the civil war and those who didn't. It is written through the eyes of Scarlett, who is a survivor regardless of the cost, and the people who clung to her for their own survival.
Unfortunately, this novel is politically incorrect. If I were black, I would be very angry when reading it. Considering the publication date, it should be noted that during that time, (1936) racism existed throughout the U.S. and this book, unfortunately, reflects those belief. Regardless, it remains one of the very best glimpses into the civil war south.


The real Gone with the Wind

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As far as I'm concerned, this is probably my favorite book of all time. I understand that there are folks out there who think the book is shameful and terrible, and I honestly don't understand why.

If you read it thinking that it's supposed to be a historically accurate portrayal of the south before, during, and after the Civil War, then yes, it looks like the book trivializes slavery, paints all men as idiots and all women as shrews.

If, however, you look at it as a work of fiction, it seems clear to me that it wasn't meant to describe life as it truly was, but to show what it might have looked like through the eyes of a young white girl.

With one exception, the characters are a bunch of selfish, difficult, judgmental jerks, and the protagonist (Scarlett) is the worst of the lot.

They're also a bunch of survivors, doing what they think is right, or what they think they can get away with, in order to see themselves and their families through difficult times.

This is the best credit I've ever spent, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who can separate fact from fiction, and appreciates the latter even when the subject matter is ugly.

Yes, I know

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The narrator was excellent. This novel gives the emotional side of the ramp up to the Civil War, the war itself, and subsequent reconstruction. Highly recommended.

great novel

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Would you listen to Gone with the Wind again? Why?

I feel this book gives a true depiction of how life was during this time. The narrator could NOT have been better. She brought this book to life! It's very long, but worth every minute. I couldn't stop listening and that's always a compliment from me. I honestly did not think I would care for this book much when I decided to read it. I as wrong.

What other book might you compare Gone with the Wind to and why?

I don't believe there is any book to compare to this one that I have read.

Which scene was your favorite?

There are honestly several. One was when she was in the library with Ashley, telling him her feelings for him and when he left (well, don't want to spoil it for you!) Another was when the yankee was in her home. You quickly realize just what it took for people to survive during this time.

Who was the most memorable character of Gone with the Wind and why?

Well, it is Scarlet, obviously ... she was a very intelligent person, yet she made some terrible choices ... I would really be rooting for her and then she would be so cruel to someone ... it was as if she had no feelings for others ... then she would be just the opposite. I would say she is the definition of "spoiled". But when the going got tough, she got going.

Any additional comments?

I was truly hoping for a better ending. I will now watch the movie as I have never seen it either.

I can't believe I waited 61 years to read this!

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I did not set out to listen to this once again. I just wanted to check a passage at the very beginning of the book, and so I decided to listen to that point. Probably about 150 pages in. I got sucked in to this story ONCE AGAIN.

My eyes and ears were much more attuned to the story outside of Scarlet and Rhett this time, which I have to confess is what must have been the only thing I paid attention to in times past. The sugar coated, slavery is a good institution pre war attitude almost made me put the book down. Then the post war, hateful, name calling, one sided -- south was right north was wrong -- attitude was excruciating, but by then I was too vested, and before long it got bearable again. I do remember hating the second part of the book when I was younger, and this must have been why. It's a far cry from even the new Harper Lee book and is just shocking.

However, if it is being told from that generation, I do think it is what the plantation owner class, esp. women, did. How else could you live with it, without sugar coating it -- no, no slave was ever beaten or mistreated in the whole county, etc. etc., our way was better, they are going to kill us all, the Clan is required, etc. etc. I guess I worry that this book will be torn down from the libraries, and I hope it won't be. We need books like this to show us where we truly were so that we can never ever go there again, and so that we can see the sins of the past do truly still cause on a people.

Books don't tend to be written one sided any more, if anything they are politically correct and show both sides so you can see that the truth is somewhere out there and dependent upon your vantage point. But if we are too politically correct, especially in historical fiction, then we are not being honest. How do we tell these stories? How do we keep these old stories from being ripped away, just because they make us hate what we are hearing and experiencing when we read them? I don't know.

As to the whole Scarlet (and Rhett, etc. etc.) thing, I think my view on her (and him, them, etc.) has not changed, but has definitely deepened. I'm perhaps more amazed that her POV was written when it was. We tend to think that that feminist revolution made women, but the fact is that it didn't, it just made a lot of women realize that there were others out there. (That is not to deny that legal changes didn't make sweeping changes for women's lives, both good and bad, but that isn't what I am talking about).

What an interesting story. Now, I confess, I'm scared to read the new Mammy version. What an indictment that must be. But I want to. Maybe I shall.

A Classic Worth Keeping

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Like the famous movie, the book begins in pre-Civil War Georgia and takes the reader through the war, the destruction of the south, influx of Yankees and carpetbaggers, and finally past reconstruction. Through characters, including the beautiful Scarlett O'Hara and the dashing Rhett Butler, an epic story unfolds which lets the listener understand the suffering, angst, and hope of the era.

The book offers many additional plot elements not found in the movie and much more insight into the main characters. If you loved the movie, you will love the audiobook twice as much.

If you have previously read Gone with the Wind but have never listened to it, this is a "must listen". With 6 parts and many hours of listening you will still find this version will keep your attention. The narrator is the best I've encountered with an audiobook, bringing the characters to life. Excellent listen.

The southern way of life - Gone with the Wind

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There's a reason why GWTH is considered one of the greatest of American novels, and Scarlett and Rhett two of the most fascinating characters ever invented on the page. This book has it all: story, history, romance, family, personalities, glamour, and tragedy. Even the secondary characters, like Mr and Mrs O'Hara, are dazzling. If, like most people, you are familiar with the film version only, you'll find that the film followed the book quite closely, right down to the final "I don't give a damn." There are a couple of notable exceptions: in the book, Scarlett has two children by her previous marriages, not just the ill-fated Bonnie. (It doesn't much matter, as she is not a terribly attentive mother.) Another surprise is the presence of the Ku Klux Klan throughout the narrative, which Margaret Mitchell treats as a force for good -- but which, of course, was eliminated from the film version.

And on that note, before you undertake reading GWTH, be aware that it is a *masterful* piece of Confederate propaganda. In Mitchell's telling, the slaves were never ill-treated; they did not seek their freedom but had it forced upon them by the evil Yankees; they did not know what to do with themselves when freed, thus many took to crime, indigence, and government handouts (a refrain which echoes even today in US politics, especially on the right). The mission of the KKK was to protect white women from being raped by freed black men. Curiously, despite the wealth of historical detail that Mitchell provides, she never mentions the assassination of President Lincoln--I can only speculate that she was at a loss to spin it in a way that cast the South in a positive light.

But if you can overlook all that, and bear in mind that the mentality of the period during which the book was written (1930s) is, itself, gone with the wind, you'll be rewarded with one hell of a read. Linda Stephens is a superb narrator, too. Her rendition of Scarlett deserves an award; it captures all her complexities, effortlessly moving from coquette to loving daughter to savior of Tara and its inhabitants. Bravo!

Tour de force but very much a product of its time

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I’d never seen the movie. I’m stunned by how good this book is. The main characters, Scarlett and Rhett, are extremely well-developed complex characters. The story is engaging. The narration—oh my goodness, this narrator/actor couldn’t possibly have done it better. WOW!!

Wow!

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If just one chapter were to be chosen to represent Mitchell’s novel, which would you choose? Chapter 49 of Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone with the Wind’ contains an explanation of the historical basis of today’s ongoing rift between America’s two political parties. Mitchell well explains the hatred southern, white Democrats have had for the Republican Party. Given the history exposed in this book, it is perplexing that American blacks could EVER consider registering as Democrats. But, most do. That is a mystery that will not be explained by the white and black southerners that live peaceably with and in appreciation of each other. Mitchell’s book is a strange enough romance novel and inspired the making of the famous movie. It encapsulates frightening insights into human nature and fleshes out a number of personality types that have been part of human evolution. Dostoevsky would have loved this book. See if you don’t place it in the top 10 books that should be in anyone’s bucket.
As a romantic, here are some of my favorite words in the novel:
“Sometimes he was a very comfortable person to live with.... He had untiring energy for the dancing and parties she loved.”

Margaret Mitchell’s Novel is a Frightening Historical Expose

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