I think all writers have this dilemma inside of them. Do I want to write multiple books without being that well known, but be known enough to make a decent living at writing or would I rather write one great book and be known only for that great book? It's a good dilemma to contemplate. Margret Mitchell chose the later one. And what a great book she has written to be remembered by, as she sits next to a few famous one book writers: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird; J. D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye; John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces; Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights. What a list of writers to be associated with it. And what a great novel to be remembered by and one that has and will continue to stand the test of time.
Ultimately this book is classified as a romance novel. But I would add on to that classification: world building, historical novel, historical romance, social commentary, and a psychological novel.
Primarily it is a psychological novel as it explores everything that makes the main character Scarlett who she it. This character development is some of the best I've ever read in any book. The main reason this is, is because Scarlett's character isn't a very likable character. She's manipulative from the first time we see her and this continues all the way through the book as she continuously manipulates situations to her advantage all the time. She neglects her children for personal gain or purely for pleasure. She's a back biter. She's a liar. She shallow. She's selfish. But Mitchell does something with Scarlett I haven't seen done in many books. She fully explains all of Scarlett's actions so much so that I understand all her motivations for everything she did. By doing this Mitchell creates a very sympathetic character despite how "evil" a person Scarlett can be at times. This aspect of the novel I found truly mesmerizing as I was in no way expecting so in depth psychology I found myself into while I saw Scarlett grow from a teenage girl into a fully fledged woman by the end of the book. I think it's this growth that really separates Scarlett from other characters because she's sixteen when the book starts and is close to thirty or about half way through twenty when the book ends. A lot of her actions and judgements can clearly be seen as youthful decisions, affected only by age and experience. But as she gets older her character and decisions become more affected by her experience, as they would to any person so the ending of the book is quite appropriate as the reader knows Scarlett has finally changed and will be a different person than they first met her.
Normally the term world building is reserved for fantasy and sci-fi. But I would use it for this book as well as the world Mitchell creates is thriving with life as she populates Scarlett's world with a rich and deep history. This history is fully detailed and helps to give it a full sense of genuineness without a trace of falseness. The country side, the plantations, the people in this book all seem so real as if Mitchell has used real historical figures to surround Scarlett with. I know some of the people and situations in the book are historically accurate, even these historical settings only help to add the story being told as they give the reader some context and immediacy to what is happening around Scarlett. I would put this world building on par with George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It is that good and this from essentially a romance novel.
I think one book I would compare Gone with the Wind to is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and this is in now way a bad thing and I mean it as a complete compliment. The similarities are quite staggering. I noticed them a lot as I was reading this book. One of the things Mitchell does with the story of Scarlett and Rhett Butler is comment on the societal ideology and the mind set that had planted itself into the culture of that day. Jane Austen did as much with her novels as she used her characters to explore the same type of things Mitchell did with her characters. Mitchell comments on how women were thought of and treated, as Scarlett goes against many of the "normal" associations attached to being a woman of that time period. She also uses Butler character to rethink how men and especially the gentlemen were thought of at those times. Everything then was done in secret and behind closed doors, but with Scarlett and Butler, Mitchell brings things to the surface as those two characters decided to confront things head on and not behind closed doors. She really exposes the hypocrisies that were running rampant through society. Mitchell also explores a different side of the Civil War, one that isn't talked about much in the history books, and that is showing how the Civil War affected the people of the South. She presents their perspective of the war from a fresh angle that no one talks about and shows how any war destroys everything it touches for the winners and the losers, with the end result being there are no real winners in the place immediately affected by the war, only losers.
Another way Gone with the Wind is like Pride and Prejudice is in the relationship with Scarlett and Rhett as it mirrored the relationship of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. In much the same way every time Elizabeth and Darcy were together on the page the story moved a little quicker and with a faster pace than previously. It was the same way with Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett and Rhett were together on the page, the story and pace moved quicker and with more energy than before. This is an interesting thing because I was genuinely looking forward to any scene and every scene with those two characters in both novels. I wanted and desired those scenes and when those scenes came, they met every expectation.
This is one of the best best books I've read in a long time and holds up remarkable well with the classic status it's risen to over the years. It's more than worth the time to read and well worth the time to read. I highly recommend this book to read.
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