Comments on: Rhett Butler's People

By: Emily Stacy

Emily Stacy — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:29:25 +0000

Sorry people! Ive read them all, own them all, and love them all! Scarlett is hard to get into at the beginning but i assure you that once it grabs you then you will read it over and over. I didnt read GWTW until I was a senior in high school because it had too many pages. Now i have read it more times then i can count and all the sequels as well. To all of you that havent been able to get through the first few chapters of Scarlett…please give it another try. I think it is a wonderful extention of a truely iconic story.

By: Gcell Mirff

Gcell Mirff — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:49:12 +0000

Ripley’s ‘Scarlett’ was an embarrassing sequel for GWTW …I’m looking forward in reading Rhett butler’s people…

By: Sacha Nathan

Sacha Nathan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:50:01 +0000

I totally agree with you Sheila. I didn’t like Scarlett at all. When I came across ‘The Winds of Tara’, the unauthorized sequel by an Australian publisher, I was also a bit skeptical. I just finished reading it and absolutely loved it! I couldn’t put it down either. It’s a real sequel true to the spirit and style of the original masterpiece that I’m such a fan of. A must read!

By: Alana C.

Alana C. — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:21:22 +0000

I recently also bought The Winds of Tara here in Australia, and I wholeheartedy agree, THIS is the sequel that should have been authorised and released years ago – it’s everything the others weren’t: faithful to the characters, seamless continuuation and very well written. My heart goes out to all those in the U.S. who are unable to get their hands on a copy with the expensive shipping costs.

By: Sheila Ray

Sheila Ray — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:51:30 +0000

I didn’t like Scarlett, and didn’t much like Rhett Butler’s People either. I didn’t like the way either author portrayed the characters. I think Ripley is a good author as I have read some of her other work, but I was turned off when I read the article where she said she only agreed to write it because it would boost the sale of her other books. To write a sequel to a book like GWTW, you should really want to, at least. I just read another sequel (Fontaine Press) that just came out in Australia called The Winds of Tara. I was skeptical, but am glad I got it. It was really fantastic! It seemed as if I had turned a page at the end of Gone With The Wind. It was a really good story and I couldn’t put it down. The author really captured the essence of Margaret Mitchel’s characters.

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:34:44 +0000

Lisa,

Thank you for sharing a different perspective. Sorry you didn’t like this one.

Leah,

You are the first person ever in my experience to say anything nice about Ripley’s Scarlett. I suppose it’s a fair argument that the subsequent sequel should have taken into account the previous sequel as well as the original novel, but it appears that the Mitchell estate gave McCaig free reign to write a whole new sequel and I think it reasonable that he chose to write a different sequel to the original novel rather than a subsequent sequel taking into account Ms. Ripley’s work. And thank you, also for offering a different perspective. Comments that agree with a review are always nice but I learn a lot more from comments that offer other opinions and perspectives.

Alan

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:59:00 +0000

Hi all, well i must be in the minority here, because i didn’t mind “Scarlet”. Sorry. I’ve read gwtw about 400 times and love it still. However, I have to say, that i’m quite disappointed in “Rhett Butlers People” so far. Again, sorry. I’m about 1/3 of the way through it and I find myself wishing that the author didn’t completely disregard “scarlett”. There’s is so many differences between the two books that it’s making me cranky… For example Rhett sister Rosemary in “Scarlett” is a change of life baby who has grown up into an old maid. In “RBP” she is married. Rhetts mother is Elenor is “Scarlett” and Elizabeth in “RBP” . His brother is Ross in “scarlett” and Julian in ”RBP”. AAARRRGGHH. I know its trivial but Mr McCraig really should have taken into account that people would’ve read Scarlett first. I liked “Scarlett” because Scarlett finally grew up. The movie was ridiculous though!!
Thanks for letting me vent

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:52:20 +0000

The first time I read GWTW I was in the 5th grade and have read it about every 4-5 years since then. I am now 51. Having said that, it should be obvious I don’t have a problem getting through long novels. However; I just finished Rhett Butler’s People and it took me a long time to get through it. To the avid fan of the story and characters in the original novel, Rhett Butler’s People doesn’t ring true. I just kept thinking,”he doesn’t get it.” It seems that the author made a list of characters in GWTW and the wrote a book with those names in it. None of the characters seem true to the ones that Margaret Mitchell created. He doesn’t understand the characters or the culture. The crowning blow…. Melanie writing a letter to Rhett’s sister complaining that she is feeling amourous and Ashley isn’t meeting her needs…puhleeeez….

By: Book Calendar

Book Calendar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:24:03 +0000

I’m meming you. Welcome to the six word memoir meme. Dorlana from Supernatural Fairytales got me invited.

http://bookcalendar.blogspot.com/2008/03/six-word-memoir.html

By: JoyZeeBoy

JoyZeeBoy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:30:29 +0000

I’m so ashamed that I haven’t visited here lately. I love what you’ve done with the place! It’s beautiful.

Now, about GWTW. I read it in college, about 10 years after the actual war. It’s a page-turner and I loved it. Over the years I’ve seen the movie maybe 10 or 1,200 times. I remember thinking, at first viewing, that it was all about the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression for you Southern Boyz). The 2nd time I saw it I thought it was an empty-headed love story. Finally, when I saw the Turner Restoration in 1986 or thereabouts, at a giant showing at Radio City Music Hall attended by just about every gay male in the tri-state area, I realized that it was all about survival. And about doing whatever a girl had to do in order to get by in life.

I liked that interpretation best. And I’m sticking with it.

Like you, I prefer well-researched historical novels. Not antebellum “moonlight and magnolia” romance novels. (I’ve finally gotten around to reading Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth” and am loving every page of it.)

So, on your recommendation, I’m going to get “Rhett Butler’s People”.

Thanks for the tip, Alan. I can always rely on your superb taste.