I am continuing my quest to read or reread the books of my youth and have just finished The Godfather, by Mario Puzo. I do not say this very often, but I liked the movie better. Puzo spends too much time on minor characters and storylines that, in the end, did not move the story forward or had any relevance to the climax. If this book were in the hands of a competent editor (no offense to the folks at Putnam) The Godfather probably would have been streamlined down to a novella or a short story in the New Yorker.I am a little more than halfway through Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. I have seen the movie a few million times so I thought it was about time I read the book. Three words—I love it. Scarlett is awesome and Ashley is a jerk. In the movie he comes off as a stoic gentleman, but in the book he is the king of mixed signals. No wonder Scarlett was so confused. She was only 16yrs old and he was almost 30yrs old!
I am glad I am seeing the "other-side" of the Civil War, being the Yankee that I am. I first had to get over the names they had for African-Americans and the attitude that African American had the intelligence of a 5yr old and had to be taken care of as such. It was especially hard to read Mitchell's excuses and how she seems to hold up the formation and activities of the KKK (see chapter 37). All-in-all it is good see how the mind of the Confederacy worked and how southerners of the period dealt with Reconstruction. Like they say, "Until you walk a mile in a man's shoes...blah-blah-blah"
Between The Godfather and Gone With The Wind I took a minute to read To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I know the movie is a classic and it is one of my favorites but you will be doing yourself a disservice if you do not read the book. It is a quick read and well worth every minute.
