Cheap Scarlett : The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With the Wind (Book) (Alexandra Ripley) Price

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Customer Reviews of Scarlett : The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With the Wind

What. Is. This??
I love Gone with the Wind. It is one of my all-time favorite novels. I also love the film adaptation with Clark Gable. So, I was curious and wanted to give Alexandra Ripley's attempt at a sequel a whirl. I regret having picked up and read this poor continuation of Margaret Mitchell's classic. Scarlett picks up right where Gone with the Wind left off -- after Melanie's death and Rhett's departure. Scarlett is at Melanie's burial, thinking about her own problems and wishing she were in Tara. From then on, we are reintroduced to the characters that we know and love from the original, with some new and, to be honest, baffling twists of its own. And Scarlett and Rhett reunite after their torrid marriage. Will they ever be able to be happy together? <
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>I was disappointed with a continuation of Pride and Prejudice I read recently and vowed to never try sequels of classics again. Why did I give this a whirl then, you ask? Well, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. The real reason is that I'd like to give these kinds of efforts the benefit of the doubt and try to keep an open mind. But I couldn't keep an open mind. I wish I hadn't read this. And I wish that the question in the previous paragraph had remained unanswered. After reading this book, I no longer mind that Mitchell left us with such a big cliffhanger. The characters seem to be more of Ripley's interpretation of them rather than what Mitchell had created for us. They are no longer complex and compelling here, more like a shadow of their former selves. Scarlett doesn't have the layers and dimensions that she had in the original, and I had to force myself to finish up this mess. As I read this novel, like in Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, I found myself saying, "The *real* Scarlett would never do something like that!" and, "The *real* Rhett wouldn't have compromised his pride like that!" These characters did not feel real to me. They are not Mitchell's characters. And going back to the baffling twists, it upset me that the author decided to get rid of Mammy so soon in the story. And the subplot centered on Tara upset me. Come on! Tara is Scarlett's sanctuary -- the place she goes to whenever things go wrong in her life or when she needs to put things into perspective. How could she... Never mind. I won't spoil it for the reader who may actually feel compelled to read this. As for me, I shall erase this book from my mind and go back to wondering if Scarlett and Rhett would ever be together again.