Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I FOUND THIS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VEREAD. THE CHARACTERS ARE ABOUT AS CLOSE AS MS.RIPLEY WILL GET TO THE REAL THING. ALTHOUGH I DO THINK THAT IF THE AUTHOR HAD USED MORE OF HER OWN IDEAS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER BOOK.BUT MAY I REMIND YOU THAT THE ORIGINAL AUTHORWAS A SUPURB WRITER AND NOTHING WILL COME CLOSETO GWTW, SO GIVE MS. RIPLEY A BREAK.

This is in response to some of the other reviews I just got done reading. It's true that the seaqual "Scarlett" wasn't as good as GWTW, but you should have known it wouldn't be before you read it. No one could ever possibly match Margaret Mitchell. The seaqual was still a good story though. I was very happy with the way Scarlett finally started maturing. And when she meets her Irish relatives- that part of the story is wonderful. And you have to admitt that Scarlett's daughter Cat is a great character created by Ripley. I do however have to agree with the opinions on Rhett's character- way underdeveloped. On the whole "scarlett" was a good story, I enjoyed it, although not as much as I enjoyed GWTW. Gone With the Wind will ALWAYS be my favorite.

For years I always wanted to know what might have happened. I loved gone with the wind and watching it every couple years. They don't make movies like that anymore! Where people say pardon and bless you! It was awesome to see Scarlets character evolve into and lady and an adult and have an instilled compasionate persona. This a was great and refreshing addtion to times that were almost gone with the wind.
Thanks,
Cassie

I FOUND THIS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VEREAD. THE CHARACTERS ARE ABOUT AS CLOSE AS MS.RIPLEY WILL GET TO THE REAL THING. ALTHOUGH I DO THINK THAT IF THE AUTHOR HAD USED MORE OF HER OWN IDEAS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER BOOK.BUT MAY I REMIND YOU THAT THE ORIGINAL AUTHORWAS A SUPURB WRITER AND NOTHING WILL COME CLOSETO GWTW, SO GIVE MS. RIPLEY A BREAK.

I FOUND THIS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VEREAD. THE CHARACTERS ARE ABOUT AS CLOSE AS MS.RIPLEY WILL GET TO THE REAL THING. ALTHOUGH I DO THINK THAT IF THE AUTHOR HAD USED MORE OF HER OWN IDEAS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER BOOK.BUT MAY I REMIND YOU THAT THE ORIGINAL AUTHORWAS A SUPURB WRITER AND NOTHING WILL COME CLOSETO GWTW, SO GIVE MS. RIPLEY A BREAK.

HAD RIPLEY WRITTEN THE BOOK USING HER OWN WORDS AND IDEAS, ASSUMING SHE HAD ANY, AND KEPT THE FLAVOR OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, IT MAY HAVE BEEN A BOOK WORTH READING. INSTEAD, SHE PARPHRASED MARGARET MITCHELL THROUGHOUT THE STORY TO THE POINT OF CHARACTER ASSASINATION. HAVING READ AND REREAD, ETC. THE MITCHELL BOOK APPROXIMATELY 15 TIMES OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS, I THINK I CAN SAY I KNOW THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS WELL. RIPLEY DID THEM ALL A TERRIBLE INJUSTICE. THIS WAS ONE OF THE TOP 5 WORST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. WELL ENOUGH SHOULD HAVE BEEN LEFT ALONE.

FIRST OF ALL, A COMMENT TO SLC, UTAH - USA: SCARLETT DID NOT SLEEP WITH EVERYONE. THE BOOK MADE IT VERY CLEAR THAT SCARLETT ONLY SLEPT WITH ONE MAN WHO WASN'T HER HUSBAND, AND SHE HATED EVERY SECOND OF IT BECAUSE IT WASN'T RHETT. WHAT BOOK DID YOU READ???!!! RIPLEY KEPT VERY TRUE TO SCARLETT'S CHARACTER. ALSO, THE LOVE SCENE ON THE BEACH WAS VERY TASTEFULLY DONE. I/WE APPLAUD HER! BESIDES A FEW "THIS-N-THATS", I WAS VERY HAPPY WITH THE BOOK AND ALSO VERY SURPRISED AT HOW WELL DONE AND TRUE TO THE STORY "SCARLETT" WAS. MY ONLY REAL HESITATION WAS THE ENDING. ALTHOUGH IT WAS QUITE GOOD, I JUST WISH IT HAD A LITTLE MORE TO IT, AND A BIT MORE OF A CONCLUSION & EXPLANATORY PROCESS TO IT. BUT DESPITE THAT, I/WE THANK ALEXANDRA RIPLEY FOR FINALLY GIVING US WHAT WE'VE BEEN YEARNING FOR ALL THESE YEARS: A BELIEVABLE, VERY INVOLVING, ENTERTAINING STORY THAT GAVE US RHETT & SCARLETT TOGETHER AGAIN, BETTER THAN EVER!

This book could never amount to Gone With the Wind, and it didn't. Scarlett is not only trashy and uncuth, it is totally unrealistic. The book wouldn't be so horrible if the sex wasn't to that extent. Mitchell portrayed a brave, beautiful woman. Ripley painted a piture of a wealthy tramp.

Gone With the Wind is a great book, but nothing more than a well-written historical fiction; not all are shallow romances. Alexandra Ripley has met the challenge of expanding one character in the sweeping novel, Scarlett O'Hara, and as far as I'm concerened, it is the same Scarlett about which Mitchell wrote. I've just finished my fourth reading of the novel, and it is Scarlett's growth that holds my attention. It is, to me, a fine representation of "how Scarlett grows up", which is what I wanted to know.

The beggining of this book was well done, and really followed the ending of Mitchelle's book very closely. But as the book dragged on,(most of the story moved very slowly)Ripley began to rewrite the characters. By the end of the book Scarlett and Rhett only had the same names as the original characters. The book was disguised to look like the sequel to Margret Mitchelle's classic "Gone With the Wind", but in the end fell quite short of carrying on the legacy of the greatest book ever written.